Nikola Zimny, he is cold, Morskoy Nikola, Nikola Travny or Veshniy, Nikola Muzhitsky, Nikola Mozhaisky. So how many was Nikol in Russia? Nikola was always alone, Nikolai the Pleasant, but he was always perceived in different ways. A saint for all, able to heal, and protect, and repulse enemies, and save on the journey, and calm the storm, and give a harvest. Nicholas the Pleasant is the most revered saint in Russia. Not a single village, not a single town was without a chapel, church or just an icon of St. Nicholas.
"There is probably no such Orthodox church, there is no home red corner, where there would be no icon of him, there is no Orthodox person who at least once in his life has not turned to him a prayer request for help and intercession."
Christian tradition dates the life of St. Nicholas to the first half of the 4th century. He was born, it is believed, in the city of Patara (the Roman province of Lycia in Asia Minor) into a Christian family. The life of the saint tells that from his earliest childhood he strove for the knowledge of the word of God, for an ascetic and solitary life. In his youth, he was ordained a priest and soon became an assistant to the bishop. After the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, St. Nicholas made the decision to devote himself to serving God in the Zion monastery. However, after a while St. Nicholas became archbishop in the city of Mira - the capital of Lycia: according to Christian legend, God called St. Nicholas to leave the monastery and go into the world, to people.
During the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian, famous for his persecution of Christians, St. Nicholas was convicted and thrown into prison, where he was tortured. After the death of Diocletian and the coming to power of the Christian Emperor Constantine, he was released from prison - by this time numerous stories about St. Nicholas: that he stood up for the unjustly convicted, saved sailors and drowning people from death, helped the suffering. Died St. Nicholas in Mir around 350. In 1087, his relics were transferred to the city of Bari, where they are kept to this day.
The image of St. Nicholas came to Russia along with its adoption of Christianity and for many centuries occupied an exceptional place in the religious consciousness of the Russian people. He was revered in Russia as a national saint, the patron saint of the Russian people, as well as a peasant saint and a peasant patron. He was called "the holy great saint of Christ, a warm intercessor and a quick helper." It was believed that Nicholas the Pleasant could pray "in all needs", that he would always help everyone, for he was kind and merciful."
Going on a long journey, they said: "Nikola is on the way, Christ the plantain!", "God is on the road, Nikola is on the way", "Mikola is with us!"; leaving for military affairs - for "bitter tsarist service", they hoped for his protection.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries. this idea of Nicholas the Pleasant found a peculiar reflection in the funeral rite, when a "letter to Nicholas" was put into the hands of the deceased, asking for forgiveness of sins.
Before the wedding, the groom was often blessed with the image of Nicholas the Pleasant instead of the image of the Savior. The girl, getting married, asked for blessings not only from the Mother of God or the Savior, but also from St. Nicholas.
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The ritual invitation to the house of the wedding friend sounded like this: "Drink from the great Nicholas Eve (honey), and eat bread from the Most Pure Theotokos."
Old Russian legends tell about, for example, how Nikolai the Ugodnik helped a peasant pull out a heavily laden cart stuck in the mud, helped a widow cover the roof with straw, protected a woman from robbers, etc. Russian people believed that Nikolai the Ugodnik helps people without any special appeal to him. Nikolai the Pleasant is also considered a good talker, a healer: they believed that he could resurrect the deceased, save a person from any disease, and among healers it was widely believed that Nikolin's day was the most favorable for the treatment of serious diseases.
Nikolai the Pleasant appears in the beliefs of the Russian people and in many other guises. Like Ilya the Prophet, Nikola was considered the patron saint of rivers, lakes, and seas. He was also the patron saint of the forest.
They believed that Nikolai the Pleasant was helping the peasants to survive the winter. On the day of St. Nicholas the Winter in the northern provinces of European Russia, for example, they slaughtered a goby in his honor, which was specially fed by the whole village for three years. The best piece of meat was "given" to Nikolai Ugodnik, that is, taken to the church, and the rest was eaten by the men of the village during a joint feast.
Many monasteries and churches throughout Russia had thrones consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas. That is why ancient external icons and altar altar crosses with images on one side of the waist or full-length figure of the saint are often found.
In Moscow, more than a hundred churches were consecrated in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker.
