DUSHANBE, June 24, 2014, Asia-Plus – Part of relics of Nikolaos the Wonderworker are expected to visit Tajikistan in late June.
On June 30, relics will be available during public prayers in churches in the northern cities of Khujand and Chkalovsk and on July 1, the relics will be available during public prayer in the Saint Nicolas Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Dushanbe.
While in Tajikistan, the relics of Nikolaos the Wonderworker will also visit churches in Qurghon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province and Tursunzoda.
Saint Nicholas (March 15, 270 – December 6, 343), also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker.
He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of “Saint Nikolaos.” His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints. In 1087, part of the relics (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in Apulia, Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. The remaining bones were taken to Venice in 1100. His feast day is December 6.
