December 6 is the feast day of Saint Nicholas, the bishop of Myra (in present-day Turkey).
He was a good and kind man, devoted to serving the poor. Here’s a short video about his life, and how he became the familiar Santa of today.
@GJDS When does the Eastern Orthodox world observe Saint Nicholas day?
Nice Greek icon!!! Im named after him .Cool guy
The orthodox chruch at Greece celebrates on 6th as well
Great! Our episcopal church has some Orthodox icons. They are beautiful and so full of meaning.
How come? i though western christianity didnt venerate icons
Thought you only have frescos and statues.Like Catholics
There is a lot of variety in western Christianity, especially among Protestants. We commissioned a new icon of our patron Saint Thomas. You can read about it here
And we have a beautiful antique Russian Orthodox icon of Christ.
And of course we have our western sacred art all over the place, inside and out.
How to identify Saint Nicholas:
You say the word “Homoiousios”, how does he react?
If he is confused, then this is not Saint Nicholas.
If he agrees with you, then he is definitely not Saint Nicholas.
If he starts arguing that “homoousios” is the right word, then slaps you in the heat of the debate, then he might be Saint Nicholas.
Ok, I’ll bite–what on earth? I know what the “h” word stands for, but I don’t know the story behind St Nicholas that bears out the apparently contradictory stances? Thanks 
A friend in Tennessee was a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy. He was very nice–his house, when I went over to visit, had beautiful icons. I was interested in his manner of praying before the meal–he stood while praying. He offered that I pray after him, but I had no interest in testing to see if God would bless the food in a different way!
Nicholas never really punched our Arius. Arius wasn’t even a bishop. But it’s a fun story
and @NickolaosPappas A former coworker is a Mennonite and has an icon (don’t remember if it’s Greek or Russian) as part of a worship corner he has put together in his home. There’s some variety in these parts.
According to certain portions of the hagiography of Nicholas, the debates at Nicaea got sufficiently heated that at one point Nicholas struck Arius across the face.
thanks–that helps! Wow.
Article about his tomb. Note his bones were moved to Italy by crusaders.
Arius wasn’t there because he was not a bishop. But it’s a good story.
Something interesting I came across today-- I’ve been watching the cute Disney+ show “The Santa Clauses.” It’s a situation comedy–totally secular with with elves, magical reindeer, and all that. But when they talked a bit about the history of Santa Claus, they mentioned Nicholas the Bishop of Myra, and talked about how he inherited great wealth but gave it all to the poor, and continued to care for the poor throughout his life.
In my light-hearted poem about the doctrine of the Trinity, I give this Nicholas/Arius incident an honorable mention:
There was no incident. I don’t even know that they ever met. But I know someone I can ask about it.
He’s making a list and checking it twice, going to find out who’s been naughty and nice -
beaglelady - have you been a good little girl this year?
How did Saint Nicholas the Bishop of Myra become the icon of works righteousness?
Oh wow wow wow!
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
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