In the southwest of Asia Minor, on the territory of modern Turkey, there was once a rich state of Lycia. Persians, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic dynasty - whoever had nothing to do with its history … But one of its brightest pages is associated not with wars and deaths, but with human kindness and nobility. Here, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in the 3rd century, a man was born, whom the world knows today as Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and even as the "Christmas Father".
… In the second half of the III century, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in the city of Patara, a son Nicholas (Nikolai) was born into a wealthy family. He devoted himself early to the service of God. The young man was ordained and did a lot of charity work, made a pilgrimage to Palestine. On the way, Nicholas discovered in himself the gift of working miracles: he tamed a storm at sea, resurrected a crashed sailor. Upon his return, he settled in his hometown of Mira and was soon appointed archbishop.
Nicholas did many wonderful things. He saved Mira from hunger by appearing in a dream to a merchant who was carrying bread for sale by sea, and persuading him to donate grain - the cargo of a whole ship - to the inhabitants of Mira dying of hunger. Nicholas helped sailors at sea during a storm, saved maidens from debauchery, and helped pacify an uprising in one of the regions of Phrygia. During the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine, Nicholas, having appeared at the place of execution of three innocently convicted citizens of Myra, snatched the sword from the hands of the executioner and publicly denounced the bribed judge.
Having received a great fortune from his parents, Nikolai always helped the poor and unfortunate. His fame spread to other countries. He provided patronage to kidnapped and ruined children: he always found them and brought them back to life.
There is a legend about three sisters. Not far from the church of Bishop Nicholas lived three sisters, whose father was very poor and could not give his daughters any dowry. And without him, they could not get married. One cold Christmas night, the sisters started talking about how they could get married. The eldest decided to sell herself into slavery, and with the proceeds, give a dowry to her beloved sisters. But they did not agree. Their conversation through the open window was heard by Nikolai passing by. He went to church, took a wallet with gold and threw it in the window of the house where the sisters lived. The dowry was enough for one of them. A year later, on the same day, St. Nikolai threw in his wallet, and the middle sister got married.
In the third year, Christmas turned out to be very cold, the windows in all houses were closed, and Nikolai climbed onto the roof of the house and threw his wallet into the chimney. The younger sister had just washed her stockings and hung them on a rope by the hearth. The purse fell right into the stocking. Since then, it has become the custom. Every year on Christmas morning, the poor families of Mira found apples, sweets and toys, put in bright stockings, at the doorstep.
Meanwhile, no one in the city guessed: who is this mysterious person who helps the poor and orphans. And they came up with the image of a kind old man with a bag of gifts, who comes down from Mount Beidalari and helps the inhabitants of Mira. The sailors saw Saint Nicholas as a patron and protector, the peasants - a sympathetic helper.
There are many descriptions of Nikolai's appearance - a high forehead, a caring gaze of a shepherd, in which either softness or strict discernment prevails.
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Nikolai died at a ripe old age in Mir and was buried in the local cathedral. After his death, he was numbered among the clique of saints, and his relics are one of the most revered Christian shrines.
In the XI century, Mira suffered from Turkish raids. Everything Christian was defiled or put on fire. And then the Christians secretly took the relics of the miracle worker to the Italian city of Bar (now Bari). It happened on May 9 (22), 1087. This day in Russia is celebrated as the feast of the Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari. There is a legend: when the sarcophagus of St. Nicholas was opened to take away his relics, such a fragrance emanated from there that for several days the whole city was enveloped in a wonderful scent.
Some scholars, mostly Turkish, suggest that the relics exported to Italy did not belong to St. Nikolay. They explain this by the fact that during the centuries-old Islamization of the country, a significant part of the values from the church was hidden by Christians in different places. And most likely the sarcophagus of St. Nicholas could be indicated by them incorrectly with the intention of preserving the shrine from possible desecration. Scientists do not exclude such a version: the relics of St. Nicholas are still here in the church, but hidden deep under the ground. After all, the church was rebuilt many times.
During the Arab raids of the 9th century, the Church of St. Nicholas in Mira was badly destroyed, but two centuries later it was practically restored - frescoes and mosaics sparkled again on its walls. However, over the years, the church was covered with sand, and she plunged into oblivion. In 1853, representatives of the Russian Empire, among whom was Princess Anna Golitsyna, bought out a plot of land around the church in order to establish a Russian colony in the monastery of St. Nicholas. An agreement on the sale of land with representatives of the Ottoman Empire was signed, and excavations of the church began. However, the Crimean War soon began and the Turkish authorities withdrew the signed agreement.
Only in 1951, scientists from the University of Ankara began restoration work. Today, you can already admire a small but majestic part of the reconstructed church. Despite the fact that the destruction was significant, it was still possible to reconstruct the main thing: the powerful columns supporting the massive dome. The sarcophagus where St. Nikolay. (Although controversy continues over its authenticity.) The yellowish marble is engraved with drawings that look like fancy flowers. Skilled Byzantine craftsmen conveyed the beauty of life and immortality, creating for the saint a last abode of exquisite beauty.
For many years, scientists could not come to a consensus: whether this is the sarcophagus or of a later period, whether it really contained the relics of St. Nicholas ?!
Quite recently, having carried out painstaking work on the study of the sarcophagus, it was nevertheless established that its lid undoubtedly belongs to the time of St. Nicholas. The opening on the upper side is funnel-shaped, which can only be found on sarcophagi from the Byzantine period. There is a hole in the floor of the sarcophagus opposite the funnel. In ancient times, church wine and oil were poured inside. The oil was collected inside and then used to fill special vessels brought by pilgrims. The lid of the sarcophagus is decorated with acanthus leaves skillfully carved in stone - another proof, because later the lids had a different shape ("wedge").
There are chapels in the church on two different sides. In one of them, a burial under an arched vault was miraculously preserved. On the lid of the sarcophagus there are inscriptions in Church Slavonic. Scientists date them to the 19th century. It is known that this slab was donated to the church by the Russian Tsar Alexander II. He helped finance the restoration of the church in 1863. The text on the lid of the sarcophagus reads: “The rule of faith and the image of meekness, abstinence of the teacher, reveal the truth to your flock even of things: for this sake, the humble acquired a high, rich poverty. Father Superior Nicholas, pray to Christ God that our souls be saved. Unfortunately, the carver who made the inscription was not familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet, and therefore made many mistakes and misrepresented some letters. Still, the meaning of what has been written is quite understandable.
The cult of Nicholas penetrated into Russia very early. In 882 in Kiev there was already a merchant church in honor of St. Nicholas. The day of the transfer of the relics of the miracle worker in Bari in Russia has become a spring holiday, which is popularly called Nikola vernal, spring Nikolin's day, Nikola grassy, warm.
Veshny Nikola is also known as a "horse festival". Nikola is the patron saint of crops, agriculture, a reliable assistant in the affairs and concerns of the peasants. The holiday was celebrated as follows: the horses were driven out into the field, the priest served a special prayer service, after which the grooms and horses were sprinkled with holy water. For the first time, the guys went at night and in the meadows, celebrating their simple feast by the light of bonfires. After sunset, the girls came running too. Supervision from the elders was not supposed, and the young people, in complete freedom, led round dances, sang songs and danced until morning.
At this time, summer was established and the sowing of spring crops was determined. The upcoming harvest was judged by the behavior of the frogs. If frogs begin to croak at Nikola, oats will be good. "The frog quacks in Nikolay - the oats gallops", "If the alder has bloomed, this buckwheat", "You should not swim until the spring of Nikolai."
Great mercy if it rains on Nikolin's day.
Father Nikolai!
Let's rain big!
On our rye, On woman's flax
Water with a bucket!
In Ancient Russia, Nicholas the Wonderworker was revered as a heavenly patron in military affairs, as a tireless defender in the fight against the enemies of the Fatherland. In some icons, Nicholas is depicted with a menacingly raised sword in his right hand. But the most widespread cult of this saint is his marine, water protection. Many churches were built to the beloved and revered Saint Nicholas, and they were called "Nicholas the Wet".
Rarely in which house did the icon of St. Nicholas in the red corner next to the icon of the Savior and the Mother of God. Russian people have always believed: "There is no champion for us against Nikola", "Ask for Nikolay, and he will tell the Savior." That is why they talked about him: “All gods have their boots on, and Nicholas is sicker that walks the share”, “Good miracle worker Nicholas has two holidays a year, and Kasyan the unmerciful one in four years”, “Nicholas is the second intercessor after God. Patron of agriculture and cattle breeding, master of earthly waters, merciful saint, protector from all troubles and misfortunes. " The Russian people have put together not only many proverbs and sayings associated with the name of Nikolai, but also legends. For example, about the merchant Sadko and Nikolai Mozhaisky, about the rivalry of St. Nicholas with Elijah the Prophet …
Day of death of the Wonderworker - December 19 - gave birth to another Russian holiday: St. Nicholas winter, cold. In the era of serfdom, the day of the winter St. The peasants carried bread, meat, milk along the sled path, and also brought in quitrent money. A proverb has survived to this day: "Nikolin's train for the boyar treasury is more expensive than gold."
On Nikolin's day, all the work on the field ended, the harvest was received, the peasant was calculating whether it would be enough until the new harvest. In the villages on this holiday, the priests went from house to house with prayers.
In the western provinces of Russia there was a custom of twisting a large - 15–20 kilograms - worldly candle to Nikolai. On Nikolin's winter day, it was supposed to eat honey in combs. The wax left over from the meal was collected from house to house to make a large worldly candle. Then she was brought to the church and placed before the icon of the saint.
In good years Nikolschina was celebrated: beer was brewed from the grain of the new crop, pies were baked, and general fun went on for 3-4 days. "On Nikolskiy day there is beer in every house", "Call a friend to Nikolschina, call a vorog - both will be friends", "They drink Nikolskaya braga, and they beat Nikolskoye hangover", "Nikolschina does not bow to the master's yard."
The time of matchmaking began with the winter Nikola. Prayers were served by those who are thinking of marrying or getting married.
At this important moment in the life of a young man, the old men taught them folk wisdom: “Choose not a bride, but a matchmaker”, “Only a matchmaker swears for someone else’s life”, “Do not break a mountain ash will not ripen, do not woo a girl without knowing it”, “One married - saw the light, another married - lost his head”,“Do not repent, getting up early; repent, marrying early "," A good wife and an honest husband."
They don't work for Nikola in the evening. Young people gathered for gatherings. Well done, they asked the girls to sing a special song. After it was over, the guys offered to kiss, and the girls could not refuse: "She spiced herself, she kissed herself."
The people have a lot of signs for Nikolin's day: "Praise the winter after Nikolina's day", "The first frosts - Nikolskie", "Before Nikolay there will be frost - oats will be good", "Frost on Nikolas - for the harvest."
From the book: "100 Great Holidays". Elena Olegovna Chekulaeva