64. The Wonderful Works of Saint Nicholas, Part Two – Fake News?

Why do People make up Stories? Many liberal Protestants and even a few Roman Catholics have believed that the Apostles invented the story of Jesus’ Resurrection: “Hey, guys, let’s make up a tale about Jesus rising from the dead, so we can get chased out of our synagogs and homeland and spend our lives on […]

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63. The Wonderful Works of Saint Nicholas – Part One

Saint Nicholas in May? Because on May 9, 1087 Saint Nicholas arrived in Bari in southern Italy. Merchants from Bari had translated (moved) his body from his tomb in his home town, Myra of Lycia in Asia Minor. Well, actually they stole him. This seems to have been chiefly a business venture. Holy Nicholas would […]

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57. Saint Patrick: Celtic, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican – and Coptic!

OK, so March 17 was last week. The article on Other Faiths took longer than I expected. But all times are right for Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick of Ireland, claimed by everybody except the Aztecs. No matter, those were the days when Christians were united, so he belongs to everybody. We’ll talk about all that […]

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45. January 1 – A Day of two and a half Celebrations

But first, let’s get Christmas out of the way. Sorry, folks, it’s all over. Western Christians get a full 12 days of Christmas, but we Orthodox get only 7. In our liturgical calendar December 31 is the “Leavetaking (last day) of Christmas”. No fair? Or is it over? Our fast-free period lasts for 12 days […]

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44. The Real Santa Claus: Part Two – How Saint Nicholas was stolen, twice

Saint Nicholas’ Last Days in the East For many centuries Nicholas’ burial place at Myra was a pilgrimage center. However, as time went on, the eastern Mediterranean became a Muslim sea with many pirates, unsafe for travelers. Fewer and fewer came to visit. Then an earthquake devastated Myra leaving the shrine in ruins, his vault […]

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