The feast day of St Nicholas is celebrated on 6 December.
Known as Nicholas the Wonderworker because of the miracles attributed to him, the saint was born on 15 March 270 in the seaport of Patara, Lycia, to wealthy Christian parents, during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great. As a young man, he wished to espouse a solitary life and he eventually became the Bishop of Myra following many good deeds and a pilgrimage to Egypt and Palestine.
His good deeds include the rescue of three girls being forced into prostitution. The saint saved the girls by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so that their father could pay a dowry for them.
Another of his deeds include him calming a storm at sea and saving three innocent soldiers from being wrongfully executed, whereas another famous legend tells of how he resurrected three children who had been murdered and pickled in brine by a butcher planning to sell them as pork.
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, prostitutes, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, and students in various cities and countries around Europe.
Though Greece celebrates Saint Basil (1 December) as the saint for gift-giving, Saint Nicholas is the traditional model of Santa Claus for many countries around Europe due to his legendary habit of secret gift giving.
The earliest accounts of his life were written centuries after his death on 6 December 343.
READ MORE: Patriarch inaugurates reconstructed St Nicholas church at Ground Zero site
St Nicholas Church was built in Myra under the orders of Theodosius II fewer than 200 years following his death. His relics, initially kept at the church, were moved without authorisation and are now kept in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari.
Happy Name Day to people bearing the names Nicholas, Nikolaos, Nick, Nikolis, Nicolette, Nicoletta, Niki, Nicky, Nicole, Nicoli, Nicolitsa and other derivatives of the saint’s name.
