"Eighty-six years have I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?”
--declared the aged Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John, as he stood in 155 A.D. before the Roman judge who ordered him to deny his faith or be killed.
The church was born into a one-world anti-christian government -- the Roman Empire.
The Christian experience for three centuries was intense persecution by the government.
One notable church leader who was persecuted in the late 3rd and early 4th century was Saint Nicholas.
St. Nicholas is the most renowned saint in Greek Orthodox tradition, as St. Peter in Catholic tradition. He is as important to Greeks and Russians as:
- St. Patrick is to the Irish; or
- St. Boniface/Winifred to Germans; or
- St. Thomas to India; or
- St. Genevieve to Paris; or
- St. Olga of Kyiv to Ukraine.
Greek Orthodox tradition tells of Saint Nicholas being born around A.D. 270, the only child of a wealthy, elderly couple who lived in the town Patara in Asia Minor, present-day Turkey.
When his parents died in a plague, Nicholas inherited their wealth.
About this time, in the 3rd century, a pietist monastic movement began, where sincere converts to Christianity would give away all their money to the poor, then withdraw from the world to join a monastery or live in a cave as a hermit.
They sought to follow what Jesus told the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:21:
“If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”
Nicholas generously gave away all his money to the poor, but he did so anonymously, as he wanted the glory to go to God alone.
One notable incident was when a merchant in his town had gone bankrupt. Creditors threatened to take not only his house and property, but also his children.
The merchant had three daughters. He knew if they were taken it would probably condemn them to tragic lives of forced marriages, or worse, being sex-trafficked into prostitution.
The merchant had the idea of quickly marrying his daughters off so the creditors could not take them. Unfortunately, he did not have money for a dowry, which was needed in that area of the world for a legally recognized wedding.
Nicholas heard of the merchant's dilemma and late one night threw a bag of money in the window for the oldest daughter's dowry.
Supposedly the bag of money landed in a shoe or a stocking that was drying by the fireplace.
It was the talk of the town when the first daughter was able to get married.
Nicholas then threw a bag of money in the window for the second daughter, and she was able to get married.
Expecting money for his third daughter, the merchant waited up. When Nicholas threw the money in, the father ran outside and caught him.
Nicholas made the father promise not to tell where the money came from, as he wanted the credit to go to God alone.
This was the origin of secret gift-giving, midnight visits, and hanging stockings by the fireplace on the anniversary of Saint Nicholas' death, which was December 6, 343 A.D.
Church artwork of St. Nicholas often depicts him holding three gold balls to symbolized the three bags of gold he threw in the window.
Nicholas became the patron saint of pawnbrokers, who hang three gold balls outside their pawnshops, presenting themselves as rescuing families in their times of financial need.
After Nicholas gave away all his money, he decided to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and join the secluded Monastery of Sion.
He reportedly visited holy places, including the Church of the Nativity.
Mark Twain wrote of his visit to the Holy Land in Innocents Abroad, 1869, describing the Church of the Nativity:
"This spot where the very first 'Merry Christmas' was uttered in all the world, and from whence the friend of my childhood, Santa Claus, departed on his first journey, to gladden and continue to gladden roaring firesides on wintry mornings in many a distant land forever and forever."
Before Nicholas made his final vows to join the monastery, somehow the Lord impressed upon him "not to hide his light under a bushel."
He decided to go back to Asia Minor, to the coastal Mediterranean city of Myra.
Unbeknownst to him, the bishop had just died, and the church leaders could not decide who was to be their next bishop.
An elderly church leaders had a dream that the first person to come through the door of the church the next morning would be named "Nicholas" and he was to be their next bishop.
Nicholas, as with many of the pious, would fast all night and not eat until after communion, then "break the fast," which is the origin of the word "breakfast."
Nicholas had the habit of being the first person to church on Sunday. When he walked through the door, the church leaders asked him his name. When he answered, they brought him to the room where they had been praying and told him the dream and that he was to be the bishop.
Nicholas was hesitant to accept, as the Roman Emperor was arresting bishops and killing them. He knew that accepting the position would make him a target for government persecution.
Nevertheless, he relented and became the Bishop of Myra.
Sure enough, soon after this Nicholas was arrested and imprisoned during Emperor Diocletian's brutal persecution of Christians.
There were ten major persecutions of Christians in the first three centuries, and Diocletian's was the worst. Believers met in catacombs and risked their lives every time they gathered together.
A list of the persecutions include:
64-68 A.D. - Nero
89-96 A.D. - Domitian
109-117 A.D. - Trajan
138-180 A.D. - Antoninus Pius & Marcus Aurelius
193-211 A.D. - Septimius Severus
235-238 A.D. - Maximinus the Thracian
249-251 A.D. - Decius
253-260 A.D. - Valerian
274-287 A.D. - Aurelian
285-305 A.D. - Diocletian
305-311 A.D. - Galerius
Roman Governor Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan, 111 A.D.:
“I ask them if they are Christians. If they admit it, I repeat the question … threatening capital punishment; if they persist, I sentence them to death.”
Emperor Trajan replied, 112 A.D.:
“If anyone denies that he is a Christian and actually proves it by worshiping our gods, he shall be pardoned as a result of his recantation.”
Diocletian's persecution began when Roman generals had lost some battles with Persia and he asked why. They blamed it on the army neglecting to worship the Roman gods.
Diocletian issued a mandate forcing all the soldiers to return to worshiping the Roman gods. This created a problem, as many in the military had become Christians since the previous Emperor, Gallienus, had been tolerant.
When Diocletian became aware that the 6,000 soldiers of the Theban Legion had become Christian, he reportedly decimated, then executed all of them.
Once all the Christians were purged from the military, Diocletian decided to use the military to force the entire Roman Empire to return to worshiping Roman gods.
This began the worst persecution of the first three centuries. Pastors were arrested, believers were forbidden to meet, churches were torn down, scriptures were confiscated, and church records were destroyed. Christians were bullied, harassed, had their tongues cut out, boiled in oil and burned alive.
Christians cried out in fervent prayer, and suddenly Diocletian was struck with an intestinal disease so painful that he abdicated the throne on May 1, 305 A.D.
The next emperor, Galerius, continued the persecution, but was also struck with an intestinal disease and died in 311 A.D.
With no emperor, the Roman Empire was thrown into confusion. The four most powerful generals decided to fight it out as to who would be the next emperor.
General Constantine was in York, Britain, when he received the news. His men surrounded him and shouted "Hail Caesar!"
Constantine marched toward Rome to fight General Maxentius. The day before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, October 28, 312 A.D., Constantine reportedly saw the sign of Christ in the sky.
The sign of Christ was thought to be first two letters of the Greek name for "Christ":
ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ = CHRISTUS
The first letter "X" is called "Chi" and the second letter "P" is called "Rho."
Constantine put the "Chi-Rho" or "XP" on all his military banners.
After his victory, he ended the persecution of Christians with the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D. -- the first time in history that Christians were not persecuted by the government.
Over the centuries, the sign of Christ was shortened to just the "Chi" or "X."
It was called the "Christ's Cross" or "Criss-Cross." This is the origin of "X-mas."
He condemned the worship of the fertility goddess Artemis or Diana, whose temple was nearby, just as the Apostle Paul did as recorded in the Book of Acts, chapter 19.
The Temple to Diana at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, twice as big as the Parthenon in Athens, having 127 huge pillars -- and temple prostitutes.
It was the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean world.
Nicholas' fiery preaching led the people of Myra to tear down their local temple to Diana, and shortly thereafter, through the preaching of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, A.D. 397-403, the people tore down the enormous temple to Diana at Ephesus.
During this time, the Greek Olympics were stopped, as they were considered pagan, with athletes competing naked.
Nicholas preached against divination, human sacrifice, and exposure of unwanted infants, which was the Roman pagan equivalent of abortion and killing babies after birth.
Then the first major heresy in church history began. A church leader named Arius began the Arian Heresy, saying Jesus was a created being and less than God.
Arius wrote a catchy song that led to many Visigoth immigrants converting to Arianism.
The heresy not only split the church, but the Roman Empire.
To settle it, Constantine ordered all the bishops to come to Nicea in 325 A.D.
It was the first time that all the bishops throughout the known world met together.
There they ended the heresy by writing the Nicene Creed.
The tradition is that St. Nicholas attended the Council of Nicea and was so upset at Arius for starting this heresy that he slapped him across the face. Evidently, Jolly Old St. Nick had a little temper!
Not only did Nicholas confront heretics, but also corrupt government leaders.
One story was of a corrupt governor, in order to cover up his immoral acts, had falsely accused some innocent soldiers and sentenced them to be executed.
This is similar to some modern-day politicians who have had so many former associated meet untimely deaths that terms have been invented, "suicided" or "body count list."
When Nicholas heard of planned executions, he rushed down and broke through the crowd.
He grabbed the executioner's sword and threw it down, and then, by knowledge given him by the Holy Spirit, publicly revealed the governor's evil deeds.
The Governor, realizing that Nicholas had no way of knowing these details except by divine insight from God, fell on his knees and begged Nicholas to pray for him.
Greek Orthodox tradition attributes many miraculous answers to St. Nicholas' prayers.
Once a storm was so violent that fishermen and sailors were unable to get back to shore, so the people begged Nicholas for help.
He went down to the docks and prayed, and the sea became calm so the fishermen and sailors could return safely to port, similar to the way Jesus calmed the sea as recorded in Matthew, chapter 8.
This led to Nicholas later being considered the "patron saint" of sailors.
When a famine spread across the land, Nicholas asked merchant ships carrying grain from North Africa to Rome, to unload some grain for his people, promising that God would bless them.
On their return trip, they reported that the grain that was left in their ship had multiplied, like the little widow's meal barrel as promised by Elijah in the First Book of Kings 17:16.
St. Nicholas died December 6, 343 A.D. He is remembered for giving to the poor anonymously so the glory would go to God alone.
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Cannot wait to give this book to sll the households in my family !!!
Love that Dr. Federer took the time to research all the true facts about the birth of our Savior And that indeed, Christmas is really on Dec 25th!!
Such a comprehensive story about St. Nicholus. Thank you.
Thank you Bill for this valuable information! More to Santa than most know!
History that includes biographies from others, plus ones own writings is so exciting and believable. Thank you for this summary of a saint we can emmulate.