Miracles of St. Nicholas!
Happy Feast of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, Wonderworker!
O sacred one, even in the womb, of the mother by divinely inspired grace, the holy wonderworker Nicholas, during his life and after his death, showed a great many miracles, patronizing the needy, those in trouble, those shipwrecked, “feeding widows and orphans.” Indicated by God Himself, Saint Nicholas ascended the episcopal throne of Myra in Lycia. Countless are the deeds of God with which the Lord magnified His saint. The relics of the saint exuded the aroma of healing myrrh, with which the sick were anointed and healed. With that holy world, not only physical, but also mental ailments were cured, and evil spirits were driven away.
Before you, dear friends, is an article about the wondrous miracles that people from all over the world at all times received from the Lord through the prayers of the wondrous Wonderworker Nicholas.
In 1078, a pious priest of the Apulian city of Baria (Italy) had a vision of St. Nicholas of Myra. “Go tell the clergy and the people,” he commanded, “so that they take my relics from Myra in Lycia and transfer them to the local city; for the Lord does not want me to remain there in the wilderness.”
The nobles set off on three ships to retrieve the precious relics. Sixty-four people set off on the journey. Among them, two priests, Fathers Lupp and Drogo, boarded the ship that day. The names of all the participants in the expedition have reached us - they are written on parchment, which is still carefully preserved in the treasury of the St. Nicholas Basilica of Bari.
In Myra, the holy relics would have been desecrated by the Turks, and most likely simply destroyed, as happened with the relics of many saints who remained under their rule. And Christians of subsequent centuries would have been deprived of the opportunity to fall to their gracious help. Bari, although by that time it had already been under the rule of the Normans for seven years, since then and forever becoming a Catholic city, the Italians ensured the safety of the shrine in the best possible way. And a reverent attitude towards her too. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of Bari, the city of sailors. And to this day, his memory is celebrated by all the residents of Bar - on this day both old and young rejoice.
For more than a thousand years, the relics of St. Nicholas have been reverently kept in the Bar Basilica of San Nicolo, they are available for veneration, the myrrh from them spreads throughout the world, bringing healing to the suffering, and all those who come to the relics have the opportunity to receive blessed consolation. Every year, tens of thousands of Russian pilgrims come to the south of Italy to venerate St. Nicholas.
In 1111, several monks, by common agreement, built a wooden church in the name of the holy wonderworker Nicholas and began to lead a fasting life. They suffered many disasters from the local inhabitants, especially from one nobleman, who, at the inspiration of the devil, did not want monks to live near him. But the wonderworker Nicholas, who never left the monastery dedicated to his name in need, when they prayed to him with faith, always provided food for these monks. It soon happened that a nobleman who lived near the monastery developed a malignant abscess on his leg, from which he suffered greatly. Then he came to his senses and, having prayed to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, received healing.
During the serious illness of her son Alexei, the future elder Aristoklius of Athos, his mother Matrona also added a vow before God to her prayers. Here is the story: the future elder Aristoclius was born in the Urals into a pious peasant family, presumably in 1838, and was named Alexei at baptism. Alexey lost his father in early childhood. At the age of ten, after a serious illness, his legs became paralyzed. Alexei’s mother, Matrona, tearfully prayed for a long time to Saint Nicholas for intercession before the Lord for the healing of her son, and in those days she vowed to go to a monastery as soon as her son entered monastic age, and not to meet with him again in this life. On the day of the Church’s celebration of St. Nicholas, December 6/19, Alexei’s miraculous healing took place. When her son was seventeen years old, Matrona retired to a monastery, and Alexey, with his mother’s blessing, went to Holy Mount Athos. Remember that the one who makes a vow asks for special help from God, but do not forget that a vow imposes obligations that cannot be changed according to your own intention or due to your own weakness and laziness.
Russia is a country where St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is dearly loved and revered by everyone. And although his birthplace was in distant Patara on the territory of modern Turkey, his relics, exuding myrrh, rest in Italian Bari, he spoke Greek, and the saint was Myra of Lycia in Asia Minor - special love and worship of St. Russian hearts are brought to Nicholas. The name of the great wonderworker is borne by tens of thousands of men; there are countless revered miraculous icons of the saint and churches consecrated in his honor.
So, the icon of St. Nicholas, called "Nikola Ratny", is many hundreds of years old. According to legend, she protected the residents of the village of Ustinka (now Shebekinsky district of the Belgorod region) from the attack of armed Tatars, who killed and took local residents into captivity. Seeing the enemy, the inhabitants of the Nikolaev Hermitage, located in the village, came out to meet him with the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The Tatars crossing the river, at the sight of the holy image and the prayers being performed, became confused, stopped, began to crowd together and fall into the water.
There is an oral tradition that Russian soldiers carried this icon in 1812 to fight the French, and before the battle, with the image of St. Nicholas the Ratnoy in their hands, Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov himself blessed them. She inspired our soldiers both during the Russo-Japanese War and in other troubles and adversities that befell our Fatherland. Now the miraculous icon is in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Belgorod.
In another city, Mozhaisk, when the enemy threatened to destroy the St. Nicholas Cathedral, the saint miraculously appeared in a formidable form standing in the air above the cathedral and holding a sword in one hand, and in the other - the cathedral surrounded by a fortress. The enemy fled, frightened by the vision, and the miracle caused the appearance of a new icon - “Nicholas of Mozhaisk”.
What persecutions there were against the Church, how the Soviet authorities mocked the believers and the priesthood!
In the family of priest Sergius Sidorov, the parents slept on the floor, all their clothes hung on nails, and the belongings of the four children were stored in parcel boxes. One day a burglar snuck into their room. He was very embarrassed to see such poverty. Noticing Mother Tatyana, he only said: “Nothing, there is no need to be afraid of need, everything will work out.”
After the arrest of the priest and the birth of her fifth child, the mother and children fell into extreme need. But the Lord did not leave them. The eldest daughter recalled:
– Mom was breastfeeding three-month-old Seryozha, and I was doing something. Suddenly my mother says to me: “Vera, look in the chest under the linen: maybe there was at least one package left there by chance (a small change wrapped in a piece of paper).” But I knew that there had been nothing in our only chest for a long time. I told my mother about this, but she objected to me: “You pray to Nicholas the Pleasant. You’re a child, he’ll hear you better.” I quietly prayed, opened the chest and began to rummage through our incredibly old and torn shirts and sheets. And suddenly - my heart still clenches - I shout to my mother: “Bundle!” I'm unfolding it. It contains 20-kopeck coins! I start searching further and see: one, two, three bundles, and in each one there are not copper, but silver coins! I found seven packages then. Mom didn’t believe me when I shouted to her about this: after all, the chest had been rummaged through more than once in recent months, everything had been spent a long time ago. “Thank Saint Nicholas, Vera,” my mother told me.
They pray in front of the icon of St. Nicholas on all occasions in life and the saint, with his intercessory prayer, helps in healing from serious mental and physical illnesses, in enlightening the minds of children, in uniting lovers in legal marriage, especially in the desire of parents for the successful marriage of their daughters. Prayer in front of this image helps in ending any civil strife - family, neighborhood, military.
PRAYER TO ST. NICHOLAS
Oh , all-holy Nicholas, the most wonderful servant of the Lord, our warm intercessor and quick helper everywhere in sorrow. Help me, a sinner and sad person, in this life, beg the Lord God to grant me forgiveness of all my sins, most of which I have sinned from my youth, in all my life, in deed, word, thought and with all my feelings, and help me in the exodus of my soul, accursed one, beg the Lord God, the Creator of all creation, to deliver me from airy ordeals and eternal torment, so that I always glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit and your merciful intercession, now no, forever and ever. Amen.
The Life of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
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Five miracles of St. Nicholas the Pleasant
Saint Nicholas is considered the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children. However, absolutely everyone turns to him with everyday problems: it is believed that Nikolai Ugodnik is the fastest helper, a source of spiritual support, an intercessor and savior from injustice and unnecessary death. Nicholas performed miracles both during his life and after his death. Here are some of them.
The theft that saved the shrine
Surprisingly, the most “popular” saint in Russia was born in the 3rd century after the Nativity of Christ in Asia Minor - on the territory of modern Turkey. In the town square in the Turkish city of Demre, a huge Santa Claus rises - this is St. Nicholas. Also in the city is the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. In the southern part of the temple there is a sarcophagus in which the saint was originally buried. In 1087, the Italians stole about 80 percent of the relics of St. Nicholas from the Byzantine church and reburied them in the city of Bari.
After this, the temple was attacked and subsequently flooded by the dirty waters of the Miros River. But the saint’s relics were already safe - they miraculously survived. According to church sources, this did not happen by chance: Nicholas the Pleasant appeared to one of the Italian priests in a dream, ordering his relics to be transported to Bari.
fragrant branch
The remaining part of the relics, nine years after the Barian raid, was removed from the sarcophagus in Demre by the Venetians. They dismantled the tomb, where they found only water and church oil, and then searched the entire church, subjecting the guards to torture. One of them could not stand it and showed the relics, but of two other saints - the predecessors of St. Nicholas: the martyr Theodore and the uncle of St. Nicholas, who was also a priest.
When the Venetians were already sailing from the shore, they suddenly felt a fragrance emanating from the direction of the church. Returning there and breaking the floor of the altar, they began to dig and discovered another floor under a layer of earth. Having destroyed it, they found a thick layer of glassy substance, and in the middle - a mass of petrified asphalt. When they opened it, they saw inside another sintered mixture of metal and asphalt, and inside it were the holy relics of the wonderworker Nicholas. A wonderful fragrance spread throughout the church.
The bishop wrapped the saint's relics in his robe. Here the first miracle took place at the relics of St. Nicholas - a palm branch brought by the Saint from Jerusalem and placed with him in the coffin sprouted. The Venetians took the branch with them as proof of God's power.
Miracles on the water
The saint performed many miracles while traveling by ship to Palestine, where he went to venerate the holy places. On the ship, Nikolai showed the gift of foresight: one day the saint of God announced to the sailors about a storm. The bad weather did not keep us waiting long: the wind rose, which tossed the ship from side to side, and the sky became clouded with lead clouds. Panic began on the ship, but Nikolai calmed the sailors and turned to God. His prayers were heard: the rampant elements, not having time to cause trouble, began to subside.
Soon here Saint Nicholas performed another miracle - he resurrected a man. One of the sailors slipped and fell on the deck. Seeing their lifeless comrade, the sailors turned to the miracle worker for help. After Nicholas’ prayer, the young man came to life.
On the way, the ship often stopped off the coast. The saint physically and spiritually healed local residents: he healed some from illnesses, drove out evil spirits from others, and gave others consolation in sorrows and sorrows.
Rescue of native people
There is a legend that while visiting the holy places of Palestine, Saint Nicholas decided one night to pray in the temple. Approaching the doors, he saw that they were locked. And then, under the influence of miraculous power, the doors themselves opened before God’s chosen one. But he was not destined to remain to serve the Lord in Palestine - people in his native Lycia needed Nicholas more.
At this time, food supplies in the Lycian country became scarce: the population experienced severe hunger. The disaster was becoming increasingly widespread. But Saint Nicholas did not allow a terrible disaster to happen.
One merchant, having loaded his ship with bread in Italy, before sailing, saw in a dream the Wonderworker Nicholas, who ordered him to take the bread for sale to Lycia and gave him a deposit of three gold coins. When the merchant woke up, he actually found money in his hand. He considered it his duty to fulfill the will of the saint, and went to Lycia, where he sold his bread and told about his prophetic dream.
The appearance of Nikola in the sky over Mozhaisk
Evidence of the mercy of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for our country and for our ancestors is the miraculous image of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk. It received its name from the city of Mozhaisk in the Moscow region, where it was located in the cathedral church named after the Saint. The origin of the Mozhaisk image dates back to approximately the 14th century.
During the siege of Mozhaisk by the Mongols, an amazing sign appeared in the sky. Saint Nicholas appeared standing in the air above the cathedral: in one hand he held a sword, and in the other - an image of a temple surrounded by a fortress, which delighted the Mozhaisk people and frightened the enemies. The enemy was frightened by the vision, lifted the siege and fled. After this, a revered image of the Pleasant was created in gratitude for his wonderful help.
Perhaps in memory of this incredible appearance of the Wonderworker to save the city, the image is now called revealed, and new miraculous signs confirmed its glory as a miracle worker.
Zoya's standing
In 1956, in Kuibyshev (today’s Samara), events took place that shocked the Orthodox world - the famous “Standing of Zoya”.
During the New Year celebration, the girl Zoya, an employee of a pipe factory, could not wait for her groom: he was delayed somewhere. Music was playing, young people were dancing and having fun, but Zoya did not have a partner. The annoyed girl took the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the wall and began to dance with it, saying: “If God exists, let Him punish me!” And suddenly Zoya froze in place with the icon of the saint pressed to her chest and turned to stone - they could not move her. At the same time, the girl’s heart continued to beat.
The news of the miracle quickly spread throughout the city, people came in droves to watch Zoino's Standing. But after some time, the authorities blocked the passages to the house, placing a squad of policemen on duty around it.
Before the Feast of the Annunciation, a certain handsome old man asked the guards to let him through, but he, like everyone else, was refused. He tried to enter the house several times, and in the end, on the very day of the Annunciation, he succeeded. The old man turned to Zoya: “Well, are you tired of standing?” When the guards looked into the room, they did not find the elder there. Witnesses of this miracle are convinced: it was St. Nicholas himself.
Zoya stood motionless for four months - 128 days. On Easter, she began to come to life, the petrification of the tissues began to subside, but the girl constantly asked everyone to pray for a world that was perishing in sins and iniquities, and she prayed herself - thanks to the prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Lord had mercy on her.
These events so struck the local residents of Kuibyshev that many rushed to church with repentance: they began to atone for their sins, be baptized, and order crosses. So this amazing incident turned hundreds of people to faith - to faith in justice and the power of repentance, to faith in St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and God.
AntiLoh.info
My husband went fishing, my son went to visit friends... I decided to wash my hair and go to church. I think: while I’m washing my hair, I’ll put some potatoes in - they’ll be cooked just before I leave. I put the potatoes on the stove, washed myself and went to the temple. And only towards the end of the service I remembered the pan on the stove. I ran out to the embankment and started hailing a taxi to get home faster. Nobody stopped. Then I prayed to Saint Nicholas, and immediately a GAZelle stopped in front of me. I told the driver about my trouble, asked him to drive faster, and asked his name. "Nikolai!" - he answered. Well, that means the Saint heard me! We rushed home, and then I saw that the potatoes were calmly boiling on the stove, and even a few hours later! — the water in the pan did not decrease at all. This struck me the most.
My husband and I were picking mushrooms, but the rain drove us out of the forest. We discovered missing documents in the car: license, registration certificate, which were dropped in the forest. We looked for them for a long time, asked God, but we didn’t find them. A week later, I advised my husband to pray on his knees before the image of St. Nicholas, to ask him for help. The husband agreed, only asked: “What should we do after prayer, go to the forest again?” I answered: “As God willing.” A minute later they called us and said that they had found our documents safe and sound, despite the fact that it had been pouring rain for a week. Returned free of charge.
V. went to work with his comrades. They built dachas outside the city. They lived near the construction site in trailers, which were heated in winter with electric heating devices, often homemade. One day, the men left the electric stove on overnight, and washed clothes were hung around it above it. At night, when everyone was sleeping, a fire broke out. Half-asleep workers jumped out of the trailer in horror. V. didn’t wake up right away, and when he woke up, it was too late to run away and there was nowhere to run. He sat in the middle of the trailer, and flames raged on all sides. Suddenly, among the fire and smoke, he saw St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint called him, and then abruptly pushed him through the window. V. received burns, but survived. The hands were especially damaged, but they did not lose their functionality. Soon V. recovered and changed his profession. Now he is a priest.
For many years I suffered from insomnia, and for the last two or three years I could only fall asleep with pills. And then I found out that the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. He will also be in Tolyatti, where I live. I was looking forward to this day with impatience and hope. When the image was brought to the temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, a religious procession was held. There were a lot of people: it seemed that the whole city had gathered. My soul was light and joyful, and my heart harbored hope for healing. And thanks to God's mercy it came. Now I sleep soundly. And every morning I thank our Savior, His Most Pure Mother and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Kaliningrad is a port city. Many people live there whose fate is connected with the sea. Therefore, a special providence is visible in the fact that the first city church was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of sailors. The church has a chapel in honor of All Saints who shone in the Russian land, above the entrance to which from the street side hangs an icon of St. Nicholas. One day, late in the evening, several guys walked past the temple. They decided to remove the image of the saint, which was not very high above the ground. Having done this, one of them gouged out the saint’s eyes on the icon... A few days later, to Fr. A woman came running to Mariana, one of the priests of the temple, and began to ask forgiveness for her son. It turned out that this was the mother of a guy who became blind after the incident. What happened next is unknown.
I have an image of St. Nicholas, simple in execution, but complex in its grace-filled power. I cut it out from the calendar, and it seemed to me - Lord, forgive me - not very successful: the face was too dark. But I just looked into the eyes of St. Nikolai Ugodnik felt uneasy: his gaze was stern, looking straight into your soul, and there was no escaping this gaze. It’s like in childhood: you stand in front of your parents and feel that they know about your fault, but they are waiting for you to confess, and it is impossible to evade it in any way. So I hung this paper image in the holy corner. And soon I found out that my mother’s friend’s son had disappeared. I have not been at home for four days: I left work and did not return. She rushed to the holy corner. Who should I pray to? How to pray? And suddenly there was a completely clear thought in my head: to pray for the prisoner. Usually in difficult moments I turn to St. Blessed Xenia, but the prayer was especially warm when I prayed to St. Nicholas. With tears, in simple words, she prayed and asked for a quick helper in sorrow to return the prisoner. I didn’t expect everything to happen so quickly: half an hour later my mother called and said that our friend had been released. All beaten up, he returned home. Moreover, he later said that suddenly the robbers stopped demanding money from him and brought him to the house.
It was on the market. A strong wind was blowing, and a 4-meter iron sheet was torn off the roof of one of the pavilions. The sellers, white with horror, watched the iron colossus flying straight at me , and I walked and prayed to Nikolai Ugodnik about something of my own, I was so carried away by the “conversation” with the saint that I did not immediately realize what was what. And suddenly this huge leaf rolls up into a tube, barely touching my shoulder, and stands rooted to the spot. The seller Nikolai, who witnessed the miracle (who was born on December 19 and was named strictly according to the calendar!), quietly congratulated me: “Happy birthday! You almost died, we saw it... So happy new birthday to you...". And it would be ungrateful not to talk about it.
