My wife is named Nicolle, so I have a special fondness for St. Nicholas. Many people know at least something about the great saint, mainly because he is the seed of the Santa Clause stuff. There is a great site: (link) It is the St. Nicholas Center. It does ol' St. Nick more justice than I could. The related info section is very well done.
He is patron of alot. Such as Sailors:
St. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors. Saint for all those tossed about in life by the many problems that confront us. Perhaps it is a good time to invoke his intersession for our armed forces overseas and for all those who feel lost on the ocean of problems that beset our daily lives.
Eternal God,
In your great love you gave your servant Nicholas
A perpetual name for deeds of kindness
on land and sea.
Grant that your church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
And Thieves????
So why is Ol' St. Nick also the patron of thieves? Well, he is good at getting into houses. Seriously, Nicholas is above all the patron of children and the poor, and there is a strong connection than the one between poverty and theft.
Think about the days in which St. Nicholas lived. Alot of people were poor and very few were rich. The space between those classes was huge and most of the poor had to steal to survive. Nicholas however, is not the saint to help you break into a house. He is rather, the saint to help you break out of your old life.
St. Nicholas was rich, very rich. There are hundreds of stories where he would give to the poor so they would not have to turn to sin or crime. St. Nicholas is a saint for when there seem to be no other options. When the choice was between feeding your family or stealing, Nicholas was the hand that lifted the poor up and kept them from crime.
He is the patron of thieves who repent and an enemy of those who rob the poor of dignity.
And he is patron of....
Apothecaries (pharmacists)
Armed forces police
Bakers
Bankers
Bargemen
Barrel makers
Boatmen
Boot blacks & shoe shiners
Bottlers
Boys
Brides
Brewers
Businessmen
Butchers
Buttonmakers
Candle makers
Captives
Chandlers (suppliers of ships)
Children
Choristers
Citizens
Clergy
Clerks
Cloth trade & merchants
Coopers (barrelmakers)
Corn measurers & merchants
Court recorders, registrars, clerks
Dock workers, longshoremen
Drapers
Embalmers
Ferrymen
Firefighters
Fishermen
Florists
Grain dealers & merchants
Grocers
Grooms
Haberdashers
Infants
Infertile
Judges
Lace makers & sellers
Lawsuits lost unjustly
Lawyers
Lemko people, Ukraine
Linen merchants
Longshoremen
Lovers
Maidens
Mariners
Merchants
Military intelligence
Millers Murderers
Navigators
Newlyweds
Notaries
Oil merchants
Orphans
Packers
Parish clerks
Paupers
Pawnbrokers
Pedlars
Perfumeries, perfumers
Pharmacists
Pilgrims
Pirates
Poets
Poor people
Preachers
Prisoners
Prostitutes
Pupils
Ribbon weavers
Robbers & thieves
Schoolchildren
Sailors & mariners
Scholars & students
Seed merchants
Shearmen
Shipwreck victims
Shipwrights and gaugers
Ships carpenters
Shoemakers
Shopkeepers
Skippers
Soldiers
Spice-dealers
Spinsters
Tanners
Teachers
Thieves
Timber merchants
Travelers
Unjustly condemned
Unmarried men
Unmarried women
Virgins
Watermen
Weavers
Wine porters, merchants & vendors
Women, desirous of marrying
Woodturners
Austria
Belgium
Germany
Greece
Italy
Kingdom of Naples (Italy)
Netherlands
Sicily
Norway (with Saint Olaf)
Apulia (Italy)
Lorraine (France)
Switzerland
CITIES & TOWNS
Albania
Sveti Nikola
Argentina
San Nicolás
Aruba
Sint Nicolaas
Australia
Sankt Nikolai
Austria
Dorfbeueren; Saalbach; Sankt Nikolai im Sausal, Sankt Nikolai ob Drassling, Steiermark; St. Nikola an der Donau (on the Danube); Traboch
Belgium
Ghent; Kampenhout; Liege; Lochristi; Sint-Niklaas, Flanders
Bulgaria
Sveti Nikola, Prokhod
Canada
Saint-Nicolas, Quebec
England
Liverpool
Portsmouth
France
Amiens; Civray; Le Souich; Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, Lorraine
Germany
Albaching; Altenberg; Altenbruch (Land Hadeln); Gamhurst; Idenheim; Konz; Lubeck; Nieheim; Pfersdorf; Rheurdt; Wald
Greece
Corfu
Parga
Hungary
Dánszentmiklós
Szigetszentmiklós
Ireland
Galway; Limerick
Italy
Ancona; Bari, Apulia; Duronia; Fossalto
Macedonia
Sveti Nikole
Malta
Siggiewi
Mexico
San Nicolás, Durango; San Nicolas, Sonora; San Nicolás, Tamaulipos; San Nicolás de Ibarra
Netherlands
Amsterdam, Benschop, Biervliet, Blankenham, Blija, Broek in Waterland, Broekhuizen, Denekamp, Deventer, Dordrecht, Dwingelo, Edam, Eemnes, Elburg, Ellekom, Groningen, Haps (now in Cuijck), Harderwijk, Heino, Helvoirt (now in Haaren), Hendrik-Udo-Ambacht, Heythuizen, Ijhorst, Ijsselstein, Kampen, Koudekerk, Krommenie, Kuinre, Lutjebroek, Meijel, Midlum, Monnickendam, Muiden, Nieuwveen, Odijk (now in Bunnik), Olde Markt, Nijland, Oosterwierum, Oosterwolde, Poppenwier, Purmerend, Schelluinen, Schoonebeek, St. Nicolaasga, Tienhoven, Valkenswaard, Vollenhove, Vreeland, Wespe, Westerland, Wieuwerd, Wijhe, Zoetermeer
Palestine
Beit Jala
Peru
San Nicolás
Phillipines
San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte; San Nicolas, Pangesinan
Russia
Moscow; Zaraisk
Scotland
Aberdeen
Spain
Alicante
Switzerland
Fribourg; Lucerne; Sankt Niklaus
United States
New York City, New York; San Nicolas Island, California
Venezuela
Porlamar
Wales
Saint Nicholas
I don't really think that I can say anything else...except that Santa is alot buiser than you thought. So why? Why is Nicholas so very loved. The answer is in the story of his life.
For St. Nicholas Day...which is soon (December 6th). I'll do a post on his life.
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