Going back to the old stories

The real St. Nicholas was a bishop in the early part of the fourth century. He born in Patara, a trading city on the coast of the Roman province of Lycia, in the year 270, or perhaps 280. As a relatively young man, he became the bishop of Myra, the principal city of Lycia. He had been Bishop of Myra only a few years when the Diocletian persecutions began. He was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. After many years, the Emperor Constantine, the son of a Christian mother, ended the persecutions and ordered the release of the Christians still in prison. Bishop Nicholas was free.

He returned to Myra, where he lived and worked until his death in the year 343. He was buried in a tomb in Myra. In 1087, Italian sailors stole the bones and took them to Bari, Italy. Based on the evidence of those bones, we know that St. Nicholas was not quite 5 feet 6 inches tall (an average height for a man at the time), that he was slender, and that he had severe arthritis in his spine and pelvis. His nose had been quite badly broken, and had healed crooked. It is almost certain that he lived with chronic pain from the time he was released from prison until his death.

The stories of his life don’t mention his pain. They just talk about his love for God and his love for other people. They are stories worth reading and sharing.

You can find many stories about St. Nicholas on Charlotte’s blog.