NICHOLAS

NICHOLAS, Bishop of Myra in Lycia, Patron of Russia, St. (?-ca. 343). His name is listed among those who participated in the First Ecumenical Council (q.v.) at Nicaea in 325, though virtually nothing else of his life is certain. Traditional Lives speak of him as a vigorous opponent of the heresiarch, Arius (q.v.), and as possessing remarkable generosity and solicitude for the poor. Popular piety (q.v.) throughout the Orthodox oikoumene (q.v.) has singled him out for special reverence. In Greece, for example, he is the patron of those at sea, while in Russia his memory is connected with charitable giving. His relics (q.v.) were removed from his episcopal see by Italian sailors on 9 May 1087 and deposited in Bari, Italy (q.v.), which repository popularized his cult in the West.