St Nicholas

Feast Day: December 6

One of the most popular medieval saints, both in the Eastern Church and the Church in the West, was Nicholas of Myra. Nearly nothing is known of his life aside from his being a Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor during the 4lh century. This, however, has not prevented the creation of a multitude of legends or readings, to supply the need for a colorful life of the saint. Although Myra is the site of Nicholas’ episcopate, Bari in Northern Italy is the place where his reputed remains lie, the result of the theft from his tomb by Italian merchants in 1087 in order to provide a pilgrimage center where miracles could take place through the saint’s intercession. Venice procured the relics of Saint Mark by a similar theft from Alexandria in 468 for the honor attached to the shrine of an evangelist and securing his patronage. Such pilfering is often given the euphemistic name of translation and celebrated by a special feast day commemorating the transferal.

(Image: The medieval stone sculpture of Saint Nicholas located in the upper floor of the narthex in the Portsmouth Abbey Church was given to the monastery shortly before the construction of the church by the Hearst Foundation. On his feast day a lighted candle is placed before his statue, burning from dawn till dusk, calling to mind the donor and to show our veneration to the beloved saint.)