Orthodox Christians celebrate translation of relics of St. Nicholas

On May 22, the Orthodox Church celebrates the translation of the holy relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the city of Myra, Turkey, to the Italian town Bari. Priest Pavel Borshevski, the bishop of the Chisinau-based church “Saint Dumitru, has told Info-Prim Neo that the feast of Saint Nicholas is observed by the Orthodox Church two times a year. The ‘winter’ feast of Saint Nicholas, celebrated on December 19 according to the old calendar, is the day when the saint departed this life. On May 22, on the ‘summer’ feast of Saint Nicholas, it is celebrated the transfer of the holy relics. Pavel Borshevski also said that Saint Nicholas, also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic saint and Greek Bishop of Myra in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, children, and students in various countries in Eastern Europe. Saint Nicholas was born in the Mediterranean port of Anatolia in 240 and lived 102 years. In 1087, part of his relics (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in southeastern Italy so as to hide them from Muslims.