Saint Nicholas in Roman Catholic sitesPart of the Saint Nicholas Page honoring Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker |
Saint Nicholas Bishop of Myra and Saint Nicholas of Bari are one and the same man. Since Saint Nicholas lived long before the tragic schism of the Western (Roman Catholic) Church from the Churches of Eastern Orthodoxy, he is common to both traditions. After the fall of Myra (modern Demre, Turkey) to the Muslim Saracens, the relics of Saint Nicholas were "rescued from the infidels" and transported to Bari, Italy in 1087, during the time of the Crusades, when not only Muslims, but also Orthodox Christians were under attack by Western Christians. Various accounts hold that this transport was either with or without the consent of the Orthodox monks who until that time retained stewardship of the relics, and was done by either businessmen or pirates. The relics of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker thus passed from the hands of Orthodox Christians into the possession of the Roman Catholic Church. See also another account of the transfer of the relics of Saint Nicholas to Bari. The modern Turkish account is that the relics were stolen. In any event, most of the relics are in Christian hands.
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Last modified December 13, 2008, St. Herman of Alaska.
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