St Nicholas the Wonderworker, Abp. of Myra in Lycia
Vigil. Kept with an All-Night Vigil.
Fast day.
Commemorated today
- Our Father among the Saints Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra (345)Hierarch · d. 345 life on this site
The life we have written
Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra
A bishop on the southern coast of Asia Minor who gave money away in secret, and whose name is now attached to the largest commercial season on earth.
- Era
- Late third and early fourth century; died about 335
- Region
- Lycia, on the southern coast of what is now Turkey
- Category
- Hierarch and wonderworker
- Principal feast for this profile
- December 6
- New Martyr Nicolas Karamos of Smyrna (1657)New Martyr — killed under Ottoman or modern persecution · d. 1657
What is known
A new martyr died in one of the later persecutions rather than the Roman ones — most often under Ottoman rule, or in the twentieth century under Soviet and other modern regimes. The word new distinguishes the era, not the manner.
The title places them at Smyrna. The year given is 1657.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
- St Maximus, Metropolitan of Kiev & Vladimir (1305)Hierarch · d. 1305
What is known
A hierarch is a bishop — including patriarchs, metropolitans and archbishops. The Church commemorates bishops in this rank whether they are remembered chiefly for teaching, for governing, or for holding a see through a difficult century.
The title places them at Kiev. The year given is 1305.
Beyond this, no life of them survives that could be checked — which is true of most of the saints kept on any given day. The commemoration is the record.
Appointed readings
- Composite 2 – Proverbs 10, 3, 8
- Proverbs 10:31–11:12 continues in 11
- Wisdom of Solomon 4:7–15
- John 10:9–16
- Hebrews 13:17–21
- Luke 6:17–23
About this page. This is the Menaion date — the fixed calendar. Parishes on the New Calendar keep it on December 6 by the civil calendar. On the Julian calendar this same commemoration is kept on December 19 by the civil calendar. The movable cycle, which turns on the date of Pascha and changes every year, is on the calendar page. Where a life has been written on this site the name links to it; where it has not, only what the commemoration itself attests is shown, and nothing is added to it.