Some Facts About Saint Nicholas (pt. 1)

Records of Nicholas' life weren't written down till about the 8th or 9th centuries A.D. Nicholas (which in Greek means "people's victor") was born in about A.D. 280 in a small town called Patara in the province of Lycia (modern day Turkey). His parents were Christians named Theophanes and Nonna. Theophanes' profession isn't known, but they were both well-off people. A plague hit Lycia sometime after he was seven and killed his parents. He ended up living with his uncle and training for the priesthood, even traveling to the "Holy Land" (Jerusalem). He completed his training and his uncle ordained him as priest. Records indicate that he did a myriad of good, righteous things during this time. One story told is of a poor family who couldn't support themselves. When Nicholas heard about them and saw their troubles, he, using the inheritance from his parents, put several gold coins in a pouch and secretly dropped it in their window at night while they were sleeping (some say there was a shoe or a hanging stocking that it fell in). The family was overjoyed. They were able to support themselves and get one of their daughters married. Nicholas did this secretly two more times so that they could continue living and getting their two other daughters married. The third time the father was able to catch Nicholas and find out that he was giving them the money all along. The father thanked him, but Nicholas told him not to tell anyone what he had done.

Eventually he was chosen to be bishop of Myra, a city several miles east of Patara.

Soon after that, the Great Persecution broke out on the Christian church. The emperor, Diocletian, who became emperor in A.D. 284, was determined to bring order back to Rome. Chaos was spreading due to constant attacks on all sides by people outside Rome's borders and riots were going on within the boundaries. Diocletian and his heir, Galerius, blamed the Christians who did not worship the old gods of Rome or sacrifice to the emperors. In A.D. 303, Diocletian decreed that "Christian churches were to be destroyed, services banned, and scriptures burned," (William J. Bennett, "The True Saint Nicholas", pg. 27). Nicholas was imprisoned for his faith, but he still kept his faith in God and continually ministered to his fellow captives. After a twenty-year reign, Diocletian renounced the throne. Galerius was next in line. He redoubled the persecutions on Christians, but on his deathbed he "issued an edict of toleration restoring rights to the Christians in parts of the empire," (William J. Bennett, "The True Saint Nicholas," pg. 29). Nicholas was set free from prison where he began ministering and comforting the afflicted people in Myra.