Historical role model

St. Nicholas was a bishop in Myra

(Bild: APA/dpa/Henning Kaiser)

Apart from Christmas, there is probably no other festival in the year that is so eagerly awaited by children as the feast of St. Nicholas. The elderly white-bearded man who knocks on the door on December 6 to distribute his gifts to children has a historical role model.

St. Nicholas was born towards the end of the third century to wealthy parents in ancient Patara, a town to the west of his later episcopal seat of Myra, the capital of the Roman province of Lycia in Asia Minor (now Turkey).

Even as a teenager, he read the Holy Scriptures avidly and later studied theology in a monastery. He was elected bishop on the basis of a prophecy. As such, he took part in the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the heresy of the presbyter Arius was condemned, according to which Christ and God the Father were not identical in essence, but only similar in nature.

Nicholas of Myra on a Russian icon by Aleksa Petrov from the year 1294

(Bild: Wikipedia (gemeinfrei))

Numerous legends handed down
Numerous miracles and legends have been handed down about Nicholas. The best known are the legends of his gift to three girls to secure their dowry, of his appearance in a dream of Emperor Constantine to pardon innocently convicted and imprisoned soldiers, and of saving Myra from a famine. He took and distributed wheat from a ship en route from Egypt to Constantinople. Nevertheless, it arrived there with a full load. This is probably one of the origins of the sailors' devotion to Nicholas. Later, sailors in the Mediterranean said goodbye to each other before setting sail with the phrase "May St. Nicholas steer your ship".

Many churches built in his honor
Bishop Nicholas died around the year 350, whether on a December 6 (his feast day now accepted by all Christian denominations) is not exactly documented. He was buried in an old Roman sarcophagus in his episcopal church. As early as the sixth century, St. Nicholas became one of the most famous and popular saints of the Greek and the entire Byzantine Empire. According to the writings of Procopius, the historiographer of Emperor Justinian, magnificent churches were built in his honor in Myra and Constantinople, among other places.

Emergency helper and patron saint of numerous professions
His veneration quickly spread throughout the Greek Church and the Slavic countries. Nicholas has also been venerated in Western Europe since the eleventh century. He is considered one of the 14 holy helpers and is the patron saint of countless churches - 45 churches are dedicated to him in Carinthia alone - brotherhoods, professions and estates. Numerous legends, some of which, however, can be traced back to other personalities of the same name from the sixth century, keep the memory of the Bishop of Myra alive.

St. Nicholas with a Krampus as a companion

(Bild: APA/Barabara Gindl)

The menacing "companions" of St. Nicholas, the Krampus (pictured above), were only added later - in the 19th century - and actually have nothing to do with the feast of St. Nicholas.