Free Copts Website Hacked

The Story here (link)

It seems to me that if someone felt it was lies they would argue against it. If they felt it was true they would erase and attack it.

But the truth always has a way of coming back. It will not be silent. And neither will those who stand for the truth. Those who support the Copts and those who suffer are not faceless cyberspace pirates, they are people with faces and real stories. They stand up and point to the injustice and do what they can. Because that's what love and loving each other does.

St. Nicholas

There is almost no saint as beloved as St. Nicholas. Parton of many things...but first and foremost children, the innocent and the poor.

St. Nicholas was a wealthy man. But money did not move his heart, it was moved by our Lord. The St. Nicholas center writes of his life:

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Nicholas was legendary in his giving to others. The story is told:

In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver.

The dignity of others was always important to Nicholas, who had the heart of a child and a deep faith. And he exercised these in a legendary, but simple way. His care and love for others is basically that. Simple.

In a way he is one of the best examples of exercising effortless love with supreme effort, as Christ taught us. In the end, is that not the call of a Christian: effortless love with supreme effort.

Pray for us, St. Nicholas and lead us to a better understanding of Christ.

Advent Begins...Let's take a look at St. Nicholas

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.