Who does St. Nicholas the Wonderworker help?
Photo: Flickr.com
The grace of God was bestowed on the saint for his deep faith and righteous life. And after death, to this day, he comes to the aid of believers.
In every house where Orthodox people live, there is always an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Someone has an old one, carefully and reverently passed on by inheritance. And for some it is simple, cardboard, but at the same time people pray in front of it with feeling and faith.
Contemporaries collected many facts when, in the form of a handsome old man, the saint appeared to people, giving them timely advice, lending a helping hand, or pointing out the right path. This phenomenon occurred immediately after, in a difficult situation, people prayed to this saint, hoping for his prayers before God.
Nicholas the Wonderworker helps everyone who sincerely believes, even if not explicitly.
In what cases should one resort to the help of a saint?
Although Saint Nicholas is a saint of non-Russian origin, in Russia he is one of the most revered saints, and people turn to him for help very often.
How does St. Nicholas the Wonderworker help:
- when traveling near and far, including traveling by ship or plane;
- in case of acute shortage of means of subsistence;
- looking for a new job;
- in case of an unfair court decision regarding an innocent person;
- helps prisoners with a fair sentence, eases their fate in places of deprivation of liberty;
- young girls when looking for a future husband;
- young wives who moved to live with their husbands;
- for mental disorders of varying severity, as well as in the period after their treatment;
- in any physical and mental ailments;
- if a Russian citizen finds himself in a difficult situation in another country;
- in difficult studies;
- in any difficult life circumstances.
It is not possible to give an exact biography of this saint, since his life was separated from us by many centuries, and very scanty information has been preserved. But he is close to Orthodox Christians spiritually - we must pray to him and believe that he will hear and help.
Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Modern miracles of St. Nicholas
It is worth talking about those miracles that occurred in the 20th and 21st centuries, when they were recorded from the words of believers, recorded by the testimony of witnesses to the miracle and are not questioned.
Zoya's standing
Photo: Pravoslavie.ru
Probably every resident of Russia knows about such a miracle as “Zoya’s Standing”. In the city of Kuibyshev in 1956, an atheist girl celebrated the New Year in a youth group. Her fiancé Nicholas did not come to the holiday; in frustration, she grabbed the icon of St. Nicholas from the iconostasis and began to dance with it. They tried to admonish her that Zoya should not blaspheme, but she boldly replied that if there is a God, then let him punish her. And then a whirlwind arose, lightning flashed, and Zoya found herself rooted to the floor, frozen as if made of stone, with an icon in her hands. It was impossible to tear it off the floorboards, put it down, or move it from its place. People came in droves to look at her. But soon the authorities learned about the miracle and closed access to this house.
For 4 months, until Easter, Zoya stood motionless; doctors, priests and relatives could not do anything with the girl. She shouted that everyone needed to pray and repent of their sins. And only shortly before Easter an old man came to the apartment and asked Zoya if she was tired of standing. After he disappeared without leaving the house, past the guards, the priest managed to take the icon from the girl’s hands. Then everyone realized that it was Saint Nicholas himself.
This icon was kept in the temple, it became miraculous. For more than half a century, people have been coming to her, turning to St. Nicholas for help and intercession.
Rescue of a geologist
Photo: Flickr.com
I would like to tell you about another miracle that happened to a girl geologist in the middle of the last century. During a storm, she was carried out to sea by a boat and washed up on some island. A believing girl turned to Nicholas the Wonderworker for help so that he could help her escape. When she came ashore, she decided to walk along the shore.
But suddenly, an old man came out to meet her and said that there was no need to walk along the shore. You should climb the hill and look around from there. The girl did just that, and from the mountain nearby she saw a house. The fisherman's family was very surprised to see a girl on the doorstep. They said that if she went near the sea, she would certainly freeze, because there was no housing nearby for hundreds of kilometers. It was undoubtedly the saint himself, because there was no one else on the island except the fisherman and his family.
Material aid
Photo: Flickr.com
A story about another miracle, which was recorded from the words of priest Alexy Timofeev. He was assigned for the first time to serve in the rebuilding temple, which had just been vacated after many years of being a veterinary hospital. The building was in terrible condition, but parishioners were gradually able to make donations for repairs. A team of builders was hired. But suddenly, the builders raised the price by one and a half times, saying that otherwise they would leave and not work. Winter was approaching, the work had to be completed urgently.
Father Alexy and his friend began to fervently pray and ask for help from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. They completely relied on him, because they had no other choice - there was nowhere to get money. And, suddenly, a person comes into the temple and donates exactly the amount that was needed to continue the work.
Such a true miracle was recorded, there are many witnesses.
News from Taganrog, Rostov region
On December 19, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This saint has long been revered in all Slavic cities and countries, but in Taganrog especially. Because Saint Nicholas is considered the patron saint of travelers, sailors and fishermen.
In Taganrog, the St. Nicholas Church appeared thanks to the Russian-Turkish War of 1768-1774, which was victorious for Russia. Its construction began in 1777, and in 1778 it was already consecrated. The Admiralty Church, dedicated to the patron saint of sailors, St. Nicholas, became a visible symbol of the victory of Orthodoxy and Russia. There is a living legend that the very place where Peter the Great’s tent stood when he first arrived at Cape Taganrog and took depth measurements in the sea was chosen for this temple. Taganrog St. Nicholas Church became the first Admiralty Church of the South of Russia.
Our interlocutor was the assistant to the dean of the parishes of the Taganrog district, the priest of the St. Nicholas Church, Priest Georgy Kancha.
— Father George, the oldest Taganrog church is dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. They say that this saint of ours often helps Muslims, Buddhists and even atheists. Does he always help Christians?..
“I wouldn’t put the question exactly like that.” It’s just that often we don’t always see the results of this help. Because a person often wants and asks for something that is not God’s will. We know that once even the strongest request was not fulfilled. When Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked God the Father that the cup of suffering and death would pass from Him: His human nature and will resisted the impending painful death, did not want it. However, He added: “But not My will, but Thine be done!” And a Christian prays to God that God’s will be done in his life. This is what distinguishes Christian prayer from magic, when a person seeks to control God: a person hopes to perform some kind of ritual, as a result of which God will fulfill his, human will. So no prayer to God and His saints remains unattended. And often miracles happen, which not only God does, but also - by His power and His grace - the saints. God often shows miracles to an unbeliever in order to convince him of His existence and to help him at the initial stage. And subsequently a person must learn to trust God even without this. Therefore, in a non-Christian environment, miracles can happen more often: there must be evidence of the peculiarities of our faith.
— Regarding the peculiarities of our faith. Islam teaches Muslims to love all people, not just Muslims, since God created all people as brothers. In addition, Muslims revere Christ and the Holy Virgin Mary and, moreover, believe in the Second Coming of Christ. So, do Christians and Muslims believe in the same God?
— We pray to the same God as Muslims. Muslims accept Jesus Christ and the Gospel, except for the most important thing that Christians have - the fact of death on the Cross and Resurrection. Muslims believe that Allah could not allow the death of a righteous man, so another was crucified on the cross instead of Him, and Christ did not die and was not resurrected, but ascended and will have to die like all people in order to be resurrected with them. Our faith in His divinity is based on the event of the Resurrection of Christ. The two religions closest to each other diverge on the most important point. Muslims, for their part, believe that we attribute something unnecessary to God. But there is nothing surprising in the fact that we Christians and Muslims believe in the One God differently. After all, we ourselves, Orthodox Christians, can go to the same church, partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ from the same chalice, listen to the same sermons, and at the same time everyone can have their own religious experience.
“But Muslims are also confused by the fact that we turn to other people with prayers for help...
“This confuses Protestants too. But the very essence of our appeal to the saints is simply evidence that the Kingdom of God is visible and achievable. According to the Orthodox understanding, saints are already united with God, and because of this they can perform miracles. And we glorify not other people, but God’s grace that rests on them. They do miracles not by their own power. They are not gods by any means. They are those who have united with God. This is the purpose of Christianity. If, through the prayers of the saints, miracles happened during their earthly lives, why can’t they happen after their death? And miracles happen. And this is evidence of the fullness of Orthodoxy.
— So, it’s not in vain that the temple in the old Christian Taganrog cemetery was consecrated in honor of all saints?
- Certainly! Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko) said that we have many saints still unknown to the world buried in this cemetery.
Anton SAKHNOVSKY
How to Pray to a Saint
Believers often have a question: how to ask St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for help? For reading there is an akathist, a canon, and prayers to St. Nicholas in Church Slavonic (all Orthodox church services in Russia are conducted in this language).
About prayers to Nicholas the Ugodnik:
- Prayer for a prisoner
- Prayer for good luck and luck
- Prayer for family
You can purchase a prayer book in which prayers are written either in Glagolitic alphabet (Old Russian alphabet) or in modern Cyrillic letters. In any case, the main essence of the prayer will be understandable to a Russian-speaking person. But you can pray in your own words, the main thing is faith and purity of intentions. You can also order a prayer for health to this saint.
Important: Prayers are ordered before the morning service in any Orthodox church.
You can pray to the saint in church or at home. In general, church prayer is considered stronger and more effective than home prayer. Much like the spiritual level of a church is higher than the level of an ordinary house.
In the church you can always buy and light a candle in front of the image of St. Nicholas. Then pray or read the akathist (canon), or say a request in your own words. But you can also pray at home.
It is advisable to purchase an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and place it in your home in the corner farthest from the door. At home, circumstances do not always allow you to light a candle or lamp, so you can do without it. When reading the akathist, the sign of the cross is made with a bow from the waist after each kontakion and ikos. When reading the canon - after each chorus.
Important: Daily reading of the akathist to the saint, along with the usual morning and evening rules (according to the prayer book), has a strong effect.
It is best to keep a diary and note in it the date of reading the akathist. Do this for forty days - read the akathist forty times. Then go and order a thanksgiving prayer to the Savior with the blessing of water in any church.
And there are three such cycles. Three times: forty times the daily rule and thanksgiving prayer.
More about Orthodox prayers of thanksgiving:
- Thanksgiving for every good deed of God
- Akathist of gratitude “Glory to God for everything”
- Prayers of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker for marriage, reviews of people who helped
Hen-party. Prihozhanka.ru - women's Orthodox forum
There is also a saying that one cannot step into the same river twice! I personally am 100% convinced of this.
I felt something similar, and it’s this feeling that haunts me, but I don’t know whether to believe my heart.
I don’t know what to advise, I can only translate my example. Despite the fact that I prayed for marriage and took care of myself for my husband, I fell for a gigolo and a deceiver, who at first pretended to be a believer and after painting he immediately changed. took off his mask. Whatever the day, there are tears. At first I was offended by God, but I prayed, I asked how could this happen. But then I realized that God had nothing to do with it, that I myself followed my passions because... At that time, another guy offered to meet me, he was more decent and homely. But I didn’t go by reason, but by the call of my heart. really fell in love
“If you didn’t have to choose a husband out of passion or carnal love, then you should thank God for this, because those who marry out of passion are most often unhappy in life.” (St. Joseph of Optina)
And then after the divorce. I decided that no one needed me and that I would never meet anyone decent, and besides, I had gained a lot of weight. And in general, my ex-husband cut my wings and my self-confidence. I was always plump, but here I was completely destroyed. I decided to live alone. And then they brought the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Pryazhevskaya” to the temple and I went to venerate it and then in the church I sat on a bench and a young family with 2 small children came in. So good and I really wanted to have my soul mate, I was so tired of being alone. I didn’t ask or pray for anything that day, but I wanted it with all my heart and thought about it while looking at the icon. I asked myself if my other half was anywhere in this world. I was also very afraid that I would start a life like many single women, dating married people or different people. I was very afraid of this and didn’t want it
After which, at home, I went online and quite by accident ended up on a dating forum (I just had nothing better to do, I clicked banner after banner and got there) and I saw everyone was writing advertisements, so I wrote, and I didn’t take it seriously and didn’t believe it. But the ad was answered. At first, everything was wrong for me and it wasn’t the same when we met in person. But I removed all my nagging and requests and decided to accept the person as he is and not demand anything from him, and now I am happy, calm and love came with time.
Nicholas the Wonderworker is a very revered and reverently loved saint all over the world, and especially in Russia, his name is well known not only in the Orthodox and Catholic churches, but also in Islam and Buddhism.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker is always quick to help those who call him in difficult and difficult times.
This saint coped with incurable diseases better than any doctor, and performed many miraculous healings not only during his life, but also after death. For the huge number of miracles associated with his name and performed by him during his life, he was called the Wonderworker.
The people acquired a bright and pure image of an intercessor and helper in the hope of the best in this life.
The saint came every time, protecting and helping everyone who believed and prayed to him, as well as all loved ones and relatives of the person turning to him, be it a praying mother for a terminally ill child or a wife who has not known news about her husband for a long time.
It often seemed that there was no way out of a situation; despair and hopelessness could wash over a person. But suddenly everything is resolved, and not without help from above.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker is considered the patron saint of sailors and travelers, and also protects schoolchildren and young children in general.
Nicholas the Wonderworker quickly helps everyone who sincerely turns to him with all their heart and soul. He also responds to the requests of girls who strive for family and children.
This desire is natural and sooner or later every girl comes to it. It’s good if it is filled with love and the need to give this love to someone.
For St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Lord there are no difficulties - to marry not only a beautiful girl, but also a woman with three or more children, well over 30 years of age.
If a girl strives for female happiness and the joy of motherhood, if her heart is filled with tenderness and the need to take care of someone, then that’s how it will be, you should forget about uncertainty and disbelief in your own destiny.
It is very important to maintain pure thoughts that come from the heart and soul, and it is also necessary to realize that if you turn to a saint, you should not treat him like a wizard and read the prayer as if you were performing a ritual action.
All efforts will be in vain in this case. It is necessary to understand that a sincere appeal to religion and in particular to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for help imposes on us certain obligations in our thoughts, actions, actions, in our attitude towards the world.
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker for marriage and deliverance from loneliness:
O all-holy Nicholas, exceedingly pleasing servant of the Lord! During your life, you have never refused anyone’s requests, but do not refuse the servant of God (the name of the girl who wants to get married). Send down your mercy and ask the Lord for my speedy marriage. I surrender to the will of the Lord and trust in His mercy. Amen.
It is recommended to do this for a certain period, every day, preferably 40 days.
During this period, it is very favorable to fast, go to church, confess and receive communion, engage in secret charitable activities, not quarrel with anyone, and not allow envy, resentment, anger, arrogance into your heart.
In no case and under no circumstances should a girl date and sleep with married men, have abortions, offend her parents and her family in general, and if this did happen, then she must realize her mistakes and sincerely repent.
Close relationships should be approached very carefully and gradually; frequent changes of partners are highly discouraged - this dries out and hardens a woman’s soul and does not bring any satisfaction.
You can turn to the saint with a prayer for love:
With a love-weary heart, I turn to you, Nicholas the Wonderworker. Do not be angry with me for a sinful request, but unite the destinies of your servants (your name and the name of your loved one) forever and ever. Send me a miracle in the form of mutual love and reject all demonic vices. Ask the Lord God for a blessing and call us husband and wife. Thy will be done. Amen.
If you want to radically change your destiny, then it would be very good to live in a holy place for some time, bathe in holy fonts.
At the same time, every day read a prayer that changes fate:
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.
Completely trust Nicholas the Wonderworker and God, do not doubt their help and support. A request and pure desire will definitely be heard and fulfilled.
Turning to Nicholas the Wonderworker will certainly lead you to harmony and a confident and calm attitude towards everything that happens, will allow you to find peace in your soul and will encourage you to follow your own path.
Very often you can hear different reviews from girls who turned to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
For example, that they married a person who had never attracted them before and that they themselves had changed a lot internally, and their lives had changed in a way that they had never imagined even in their wildest dreams. Well, you need to be prepared for this.
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The prayer below to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for marriage will help that woman who wants to get married as soon as possible.
People turn to Saint Nicholas the Pleasant with various requests, since he was considered one of the most respected saints in the Orthodox Church. Knowing how many miracles Saint Nicholas performed during his lifetime, a large number of people still turn to him.
There is no strictly obligatory list of things to do to pray to each saint. Therefore, you can pray to St. Nicholas, like other saints, for help in all difficult situations. For example, about marriage, recalling the legend that one day Saint Nicholas secretly gave three bundles of gold to the elder parent. With the help of this money, the poor father's daughters were married off.
From time immemorial, the appeals of women who dreamed of starting a family to Saint Nicholas did not go unanswered - he always came to the rescue and gave the joy of marriage and love until the end of the days of the spouses. Not only young girls came to Nikolai, but also older women who were never able to find female happiness in the family, and everyone left him with the belief that very soon everything would get better, and that’s exactly what happened - after all, his prayer is one of the most effective.
A single woman should ask Nikolai Ugodnik to meet a fairly good person, and so that in the future he will become a worthy and, most importantly, loving husband for many years to come. The main thing is that this desire is not a mercantile one, according to the principle - marrying a rich man, even if unloved, just to live in luxury - nothing will work out.
It is necessary to read this prayer to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker about marriage in a good mood and with incredible faith in the heart. You should definitely rewrite this prayer on a completely blank sheet of paper.
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker for marriage
O all-holy Nicholas, exceedingly pleasing servant of the Lord!
During your life, you never refused anyone’s requests,
Do not refuse the servant of God (the name of the girl who wants to get married).
Send down your mercy and ask the Lord for my speedy marriage.
I surrender to the will of the Lord and trust in His mercy. Amen.
I wish you happiness, dear women! And, if there is such a need, the help of this prayer, the power and effect of which has been experienced by thousands of people whom it helped build family happiness.
Prayer to Nicholas the Wonderworker, fulfilling wishes
