![]() The young man who retrieves the cross also becomes a member of an elite brotherhood, called on to represent the Orthodox faith. as dozens of teen boys dive into the chilly waters of the bayou in the hopes of being the first to retrieve it and receive a year's worth of blessings. The archbishop will then throw the white cross into the water at 1:30 p.m. If we teach our children about him, and help them to see the true gift that is God’s love for us, then we have truly understood the Christmas miracle.His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, archbishop of America for the Green Orthodox Church, will be on hand to offer the invocation, followed by the release of a white dove, representing the Holy Spirit and hope for peace and, this year in particular, good health in the coming year. ![]() It makes sense that the feast of the Nativity during which the Christ child is born would come to be associated with his patronage. Basilios still had the kings golden cup in his hands!įrom stories such as these, we see that this gentle, courageous man has a great desire to protect children. At this very moment, the boy was miraculously transported into the arms of Nicholas, who blessed the boy and set him down at home in front of his astonished mother. Nicholas approached, his mother still grieved and would not celebrate, instead she prayed to St. The pirates sold the boy, Basilios, to a king, where he became a cupbearer. They also kidnapped a young boy to use as a slave. The people of Myra, where he had been bishop, were celebrating his feast day when a band of pirates attacked and stole from the Church. I’ll tell one more story, this one taking place after his death. You can always recognize him in artwork by this symbol. Nicholas in it and he is holding 3 gold balls, the story is sometimes told this way instead of with coins. At our art museum here there is a painting with St. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings on the mantle or putting out shoes so that St. The bags landed in shoes left before the fire to dry. Nick heard of it, climbed up on their roof and tossed 3 bags of gold down the chimney. ![]() This poor man's daughters had nothing and were almost certainly going to be poor unwed house servants or even slaves. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. In those days the father had to offer a prospective husband something of value-a dowry. The most famous story tells of a poor man with three daughters. There are many other fascinating events from his life. Now, this is not particularly commendable and he did get in trouble and repent, but I share it because it is nice to know that even Santa Claus lost his temper sometimes! Santa Claus only did what he did because he loves the Catholic Church. Nicholas was one of the bishops who supported the writing of the creed and at one point he became so frustrated with Arius that he followed him into the bathroom and punched him. It directly refutes Arius and declares that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father, with the same essence, meaning fully God. As a result of their heroic defense of the faith, the Nicene Creed was written. It took courage because the Roman emperor actually agreed with Arius and many bishops were persecuted after the council. At Nicaea, the bishops with great courage defended the divinity of Christ. He had many followers and the Church was in danger of actually splitting in half over the issue. At the time there was a theologian named Arius who taught that Jesus was a god but not the God. It was the year 325 and this council was to be the most famous in the history of the Church. Once the Church was free again, a few theological issues needed to be settled, so a great council was called in the city of Nicaea. After a time the persecution relented because they needed the prison space for actual criminals. At the time of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, many Christians were imprisoned for their faith, St. He became a Bishop and was known for his continued love for the poor and for children. His parents died while he was still young, and Nick gave away his entire inheritance to the poor and he entered the Church. Rd century in a town on the southern coast of Turkey. I personally have no problem with Santa Claus, but I will say that once we hear the actual, true history of this remarkable man, the secular legend seems boring in comparison. This coming Saturday, Dec 6 is the feast day of St.
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