Congratulations on St. Nicholas Day on May 22 are accepted not only by Nicholas, but by all Orthodox Christian believers. Indeed, on this day they remember one historical event - the transfer of the holy relics of Nicholas of Myra (the Wonderworker) from the city of Myra to the Italian city of Bari. Since then, every year at this time they celebrate St. Nicholas of the Spring (spring), glorifying this Saint. Nicholas the Wonderworker helps not only travelers, sailors, outcasts or lonely people, he helps everyone. Therefore, do not forget to honor the memory of Nikolai Ugodnik. Especially for May 22, we have prepared beautiful spring pictures and cards with congratulations on St. Nicholas Day. We invite you to download them for free and send them to your family, friends and acquaintances to remind you of this wonderful holiday - St. Nicholas the Veshny. You will also find here congratulations to Nikolai on his name day.
What date is Nikola Summer in 2021?
St. Nicholas of Summer (also St. Nicholas of Spring) is an Orthodox holiday in honor of the day of remembrance of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the Italian city of Bari at the end of the 11th century . Summer St. Nicholas is one of the permanent church holidays and is celebrated annually by the Orthodox Church on May 22 according to the new style .
In the Orthodox tradition, Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered one of the most revered saints, the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children, as well as the protector of the innocently convicted.
Saint Nicholas was born in the Greek colony of Lycia (now Turkey) around 270 into a family of wealthy Christian parents. From early childhood, Nikolai was religious: he studied the Scriptures, read divine books, and attended liturgies. The saint's uncle was a bishop, and he ordained Nicholas to the priesthood and instructed him to preach lessons to the flock. The parishioners fell in love with the new presbyter for his mercy, attentiveness to the grief of others and incredible generosity. Thus, having inherited the fortune of his parents after their death, Saint Nicholas distributed it to the poor. Being modest and meek, the saint strove to give alms in secret and hid his good deeds.
Tomb of St. Nicholas in Bari
Saint Nicholas made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visiting the most important places in the life of the Savior. Soon after returning to Lycia, Nicholas was elected Bishop of Myra in Lycia. Having accepted the rank of bishop, the saint remained the same great ascetic, showing to his flock the image of meekness, gentleness and love for people. But despite his humility and purity, the saint was a zealous and daring warrior of the Church of Christ: he waged an irreconcilable struggle against paganism and heresy.
During his life, Saint Nicholas performed many miracles, for which he was called the Wonderworker: he denounced injustice, saved the poor, healed the sick, and even resurrected the dead.
Having reached a very old age, Nicholas the Wonderworker peacefully departed to the Lord around 342-351. The relics of the saint were kept incorrupt in the local cathedral church and exuded healing myrrh, from which many received healings.
Nikola summer and winter
In the 11th century, Turkish raids on the Greek empire began: the Turks attempted to destroy the relics of St. Nicholas, deeply revered by the entire Christian world. In 1087, Italian merchants, fearing the desecration of the shrine by Muslims, intended to transfer the relics of the saint from Myra Lycia to the city of Bari.
Arriving at the temple where the relics of the saint rested, the merchants went to the tomb of the Wonderworker. The guard monks, suspecting nothing, pointed out to the strangers the platform under which the saint’s tomb was hidden. One of the monks told one elder about the appearance of St. Nicholas the day before. In this vision, the Saint ordered that his relics be preserved more carefully. This story inspired the nobles; They saw for themselves in this phenomenon the permission and, as it were, an indication of the Holy One. To facilitate their actions, they revealed to the monks their intentions to transfer the relics and offered them a ransom. The watchmen refused the money and wanted to notify the residents of the misfortune that threatened them. But the aliens tied them up and placed their guards at the doors. They smashed the church platform, under which stood a tomb with relics. Having opened the tomb, the nobles saw that the sarcophagus was filled with fragrant holy myrrh.
Church of St. Nicholas in Bari
Due to the absence of the ark, the nobles wrapped the saint’s relics in outer clothing and transferred them to the ship. On May 21, the ships sailed to Bari, and soon the good news spread throughout the city. The next day, May 22, the relics of St. Nicholas were solemnly transferred to the Church of St. Stephen. The celebration of the transfer of the shrine was accompanied by numerous miraculous healings of the sick, which inspired even greater reverence for the great Saint. A year later, a church in the name of St. Nicholas was built in Bari. The relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker are kept in this church even now - everyone can venerate them.
The event associated with the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas was called the Feast of St. Nicholas of the Summer, which is celebrated on May 22 according to the new style . At the beginning, the feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas was celebrated only by residents of the Italian city of Bari. In other countries of the Christian world it was not accepted, due to the fact that in the Middle Ages mainly local shrines were honored. In addition, the Greek Church did not establish a celebration of this date, because the loss of the relics of the Saint was a sad event for it.
The Russian Orthodox Church established the commemoration of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra in Lycia to Bari shortly after 1087 on the basis of the deep, established veneration of St. Nicholas by the Russian people.
St. Nicholas the Winter (Cold) the day of the death of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Just like St. Nicholas the Summer, this day is one of the non-transitionable days and is celebrated on December 19 according to the new style.
In Rus' it was believed that on this day Nikolai Ugodnik descended from heaven to the snow-covered earth and traveled across Russian soil, expelling dark spirits.
Congratulations on Angel Nicholas Day on May 22 in verse and prose
Congratulations to you today - the bright holiday has arrived! On St. Nicholas Day - Happiness, vigor and strength!
Let your wishes come true, All good things will come! May he be rewarded for his efforts, And may he be lucky in all matters!
A magical holiday has come to us - I congratulate you today, I wish you to find happiness on St. Nicholas Day.
Let there be many miracles, Let the world be decorated with goodness, Let there be happiness to the skies, And let life only be more beautiful!
They say that on St. Nicholas Day, people's dreams come true. I wish you this from the bottom of my heart, just like love and beauty.
Let the world be filled with beauty - Boundless happiness, kindness, Let your eyes shine with a clear light, May there be peace in your heart, and peace in your soul.
Happy St. Nicholas Day! Let magical and fabulous events happen on this holiday! Good luck to you, happiness and love, warm family gatherings and long-awaited sweets under your pillow. Let there be prosperity in every home, let it be a cozy atmosphere full of positivity and laughter. Joy, warmth and sincerity!
Congratulations on St. Nicholas Day! I wish that he and his Helping Angels bring you great happiness, may all your dreams come true - both big and small! May the sun warm you, and may your loved ones love and take care of you! Let your health be good, and let tears shine in your eyes only from joy! May everything be wonderful every day and every hour of your life!
Happy St. Nicholas Day! I wish to live in abundance, peace, prosperity, love and constant surroundings by pleasant people, I wish to improve every day and do only good deeds. May Saint Nicholas give inspiration, strengthen faith, instill hope in your heart and send good luck into your life.
Icons of St. Nicholas the Pleasant
In the Russian Church, two images of the Wonderworker are especially common: full-length and half-length. One of the classic examples of a life-size icon is a fresco from the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, painted at the beginning of the 12th century (kept in the Tretyakov Gallery). In this fresco the saint is depicted in full growth, with his blessing right hand and an open Gospel in his left hand.
Fresco of the Cathedral of the Ferapontov Monastery (Dionysius, 1502)
On belt-type icons the saint is depicted with a closed Gospel on his left hand. In Rus', the earliest surviving similar image dates back to the end of the 12th century. Ivan the Terrible brought it from Novgorod the Great and placed it in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent (also kept in the Tretyakov Gallery).
Also in the iconography of the saint, the icons of St. Nicholas the Winter and St. Nicholas the Summer are sometimes distinguished, corresponding to the days of veneration in the year. At the same time, the “winter” Nikola is depicted in a bishop’s miter, and the “summer” one with his head uncovered. On most icons, on the sides of the head of St. Nicholas there are also small images of the Lord with the Gospel and the Most Holy Theotokos with the bishop's omophorion in his hands.
Prayers to Nicholas the Wonderworker
Troparion to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
Voice 4
The rule of faith and the image of meekness and abstinence as a teacher show you to your flock as the truth of things: for this reason you have acquired high humility, rich in poverty. Father Hierarch Nicholas, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Translation:
The teacher showed you the rule of faith, the example of meekness and abstinence, to your flock. And therefore, through humility you acquired greatness, through poverty - wealth: Father Hierarch Nicholas, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
Voice 3
In Mireh, the holy, the priest appeared: For Christ, O Reverend, having fulfilled the Gospel, you laid down your soul for your people, and saved the innocent from death; For this reason you have been sanctified, as the great hidden place of God’s grace.
Translation:
In the Worlds, you, saint, appeared as the performer of sacred rites: having fulfilled the Gospel teaching of Christ, you, reverend, laid down your soul for your people and delivered the innocent from death. That is why he was sanctified as a great minister of the sacraments of God’s grace.
First prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Oh, all-holy Nicholas, exceedingly saintly servant of the Lord, our warm intercessor, and everywhere in sorrow a quick helper!
Help me, a sinner and sad person in this present life, beg the Lord God to grant me forgiveness of all my sins, which I have sinned greatly from my youth, in all my life, in deed, word, thought and all my feelings; and at the end of my soul, help me the accursed, beg the Lord God, the Creator of all creation, to deliver me from airy ordeals and eternal torment: may I always glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and your merciful intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.
Second prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-praised, great wonderworker, saint of Christ, Father Nicholas!
We pray to you, awaken the hope of all Christians, protector of the faithful, feeder of the hungry, joy of the weeping, doctor of the sick, steward of those floating on the sea, feeder of the poor and orphans, and quick helper and patron of all, may we live a peaceful life here and may we be worthy to see the glory of God’s elect in heaven , and with them unceasingly sing the praises of the one worshiped God in the Trinity forever and ever. Amen.
Third prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O all-praised and all-pious bishop, great Wonderworker, Saint of Christ, Father Nicholas, man of God and faithful servant, man of desires, chosen vessel, strong pillar of the church, bright lamp, shining star and illuminating the whole universe: you are a righteous man, like a blossoming date planted in the courts of your Lord, living in Myra, you were fragrant with the world, and the myrrh flowed with the ever-flowing grace of God.
By your procession, holy father, the sea was illuminated, when your many-wonderful relics marched into the city of Barsky, from east to west praise the name of the Lord.
O most graceful and wondrous Wonderworker, quick helper, warm intercessor, kind shepherd, saving the verbal flock from all troubles, we glorify and magnify you, as the hope of all Christians, the source of miracles, the protector of the faithful, the wise teacher, those who hunger for a feeder, those who cry are glad, the naked are clothed , the sick physician, the sea-floating steward, the liberator of captives, the nourisher and protector of widows and orphans, the guardian of chastity, the meek chastiser of infants, the old fortification, the fasting mentor, the toiling rapture, the poor and wretched abundant wealth.
Hear us praying to you and running under your roof, show your intercession for us to the Most High, and intercede with your God-pleasing prayers, everything useful for the salvation of our souls and bodies: preserve this holy monastery (or this temple), every city and all, and every Christian country, and people living from all bitterness with your help:
We know, we know, how the prayer of the righteous can do much to hasten for good: for you, the righteous, according to the most blessed Virgin Mary, imams, intercessor to the All-Merciful God, and to yours, most kind father, warm intercession and intercession we humbly flow: you keep us as you are vigorous and kind shepherd, from all enemies, destruction, cowardice, hail, famine, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners, and in all our troubles and sorrows, give us a helping hand, and open the doors of God’s mercy, since we are unworthy to see the heights of heaven, from many of our iniquities are bound by the bonds of sin, and we have not done the will of our Creator nor have we preserved his commandments.
In the same way, we bow our contrite and humble hearts to our Creator, and we ask for your fatherly intercession to Him:
Help us, O Pleasant of God, so that we do not perish with our iniquities, deliver us from all evil and from all things that are resistant, guide our minds and strengthen our hearts in the right faith, in it through your intercession and intercession, neither with wounds, nor rebuke, nor pestilence, he will give me no wrath to live in this age, and he will deliver me from this place, and he will make me worthy to join all the saints. Amen.
Prayer four to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
O our good shepherd and God-wise mentor, Saint Nicholas of Christ! Hear us sinners, praying to you and calling for your speedy intercession for help; see us weak, caught from everywhere, deprived of every good and darkened in mind from cowardice; Try, O servant of God, not to leave us in the captivity of sin, so that we may not joyfully become our enemies and not die in our evil deeds.
Pray for us, unworthy, to our Creator and Master, to whom you stand with disembodied faces: make our God merciful to us in this life and in the future, so that He will not reward us according to our deeds and the impurity of our hearts, but according to His goodness He will reward us .
We trust in your intercession, we boast of your intercession, we call on your intercession for help, and falling to your most holy image, we ask for help: deliver us, servant of Christ, from the evils that come upon us, and tame the waves of passions and troubles that rise up against us, and for the sake of Your holy prayers will not overwhelm us and we will not wallow in the abyss of sin and in the mud of our passions. Pray to Saint Nicholas of Christ, Christ our God, that he may grant us a peaceful life and remission of sins, salvation and great mercy for our souls, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Prayers to the soldier's mother Nikola Ugodnik
On the Internet you can also find the so-called “prayer of the soldier’s mother to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.” In addition to the prayer itself to Nicholas the Pleasant, the description contains whole instructions on what a mother who is worried about her son, who is in the army, should do. So, after reading the prayer, you need to buy candles for the house and every time, worrying about your son, light a candle and imagine the image of your child. The author of the prayer calls this approach a good psychological technique that helps “on an energetic level” not only to the employee, but also to the mother herself.
For advice on the authenticity and reliability of this approach, we turned to Archpriest Alexei Mityushin, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Kozhukhovo :
«It must be said that any prayer is, first of all, not a spell, but a live conversation with God. The ancient ascetics did not read prayers according to a prayer book, but prayed from their hearts. We, ordinary people, often lack high words when addressing the Lord. However, we should remember that in order to turn to God with all our dedication, it is enough for us to use the prayers that the holy saints of God left for us.
Therefore, if any mother wants to pray for her son, who is in need or serving in the army, it is better to turn to God with the usual prayer from the Orthodox prayer book.
Having looked at such a prayer, which is interspersed with conspiracies and witchcraft (which the author of this prayer clearly writes about), a person will continue to delve deeper into these non-church prayers and conspiracies. And in the future, he may even begin to practice some kind of meditation, which will ultimately end in communication with unclean spirits.
In this regard, there is no need to invent a wheel, look for special prayers, or follow techniques invented by someone. If parents want their son to be under the protection of God, then they must first of all live as Christians themselves, accept the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, and then pray tirelessly - it doesn’t matter which saint, the main thing is that this prayer comes from the heart.
When addressing St. Nicholas the Pleasant, one can read an akathist to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, kontakion, magnification, and sing a troparion to the saint. These prayers are traditional and composed correctly, according to church canons.”
The editor-in-chief has collected the most heartfelt ideas for congratulations on Angel Nicholas Day.
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of all boys named Kolya. So on December 19, Nicholas’s main name day is celebrated according to the church calendar.
Nikolay: name meaning and characteristics
Temples of St. Nicholas the Pleasant
In Rus', the first church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in Kyiv by Princess Olga in 882, even before the adoption of Christianity. In many Russian cities, the main cathedrals and monasteries were named after St. Nicholas: in Veliky Novgorod, Zaraysk, Kyiv, Smolensk, Pskov, Galich, Arkhangelsk, Tobolsk and many other cities. Three Nikolsky monasteries were built in the Moscow province: Nikolo-Grechesky (Old) in Kitai-Gorod, Nikolo-Perervinsky and Nikolo-Ugreshsky. In addition, one of the main towers of the capital's Kremlin is named Nikolskaya.
Currently, there are about 50 churches named in honor of St. Nicholas in Moscow alone.
The most famous churches of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the world are: the basilica at the place of the saint’s ministry in Myra Lycia (now Demre, Turkey), as well as the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari (Italy), where the relics of the saint are kept.
Photo source: wikipedia.org
The announcement features a fragment of the painting The Rescue of Sailors by St. Nicholas. (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425)
