Saint Nicholas

How cool is this. Saint Nicholas was at a friends birthday party last week. Unfortunately I missed him, but my friend's wife got a picture:


Of course I've liked Saint Nicholas since I was a cub, but as I've learned more about him, I've come to appreciate him for who he actually was. I also feel a bit closer to him, having passed through his town of Bari when I was on my way to Greece.

I particularly love one story I heard about Saint Nicholas (could you imagine of something like this happened today?!?!?):

Bishop Nicholas was a holy man, an articulate teacher, and a staunch defender of orthodoxy against Arianism. Having survived his imprisonment, he lived to see the triumph of the true faith at the Council of Nicaea, where he was an active participant. There, according to later histories, he denounced Arius forcefully. Indeed, some sources (though not entirely reliable) claim that St. Nicholas punched Arius in the nose and brought forth a “profusion of blood.”

-source

He is also a good Saint to pray to for ecuminism with the East as he is venerated by the Orthodox as well.

More on Saint Nicholas available here:
Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint Nicholas of Myra
and
EWTN: Saint Nicholas

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