#St. Nicholas of Myra

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (December 6)

On December 6, the faithful commemorate a bishop in the early church who was known for generosity and love of children.

Born around the late third or fourth century in Lycia, Asia Minor, St. Nicholas of Myra is more than just the inspiration for the modern day Santa.

As a young man, he is said to have made a pilgrimage to Palestine and Egypt in order to study in the school of the Desert Fathers.

On returning some years later, he was almost immediately ordained Bishop of Myra, which is now Demre, on the coast of modern day Turkey.

The bishop was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution. He was only released when Constantine the Great came to power and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

One of the most famous stories of the generosity of St. Nicholas says that he threw bags of gold through an open window in the house of a poor man to serve as dowry for the man’s daughters, who otherwise would have been forced into prostitution.

The gold is said to have landed in the family’s shoes, which were drying near the fire.

This is why children leave their shoes out by the door, or hang their stockings by the fireplace, in the hopes of receiving a gift on the eve of his feast.

St. Nicholas is associated with Christmas because of the tradition that he had with the custom of giving secret gifts to children.

It is also conjectured that the saint, who was known to wear red robes and have a long white beard, was culturally converted into the large man with a reindeer-drawn sled full of toys because in German, his name is “San Nikolaus,” which almost sounds like “Santa Claus.”

In the East, he is known as St. Nicholas of Myra for the town in which he was bishop.

But in the West, he is called St. Nicholas of Bari because, during the Muslim conquest of Turkey in 1087, his relics were taken to Bari by the Italians.

St Nicholas is the patron of children and sailors.

His intercession is sought by the shipwrecked, by those in difficult economic circumstances, and for those affected by fires.

He died on 6 December 346.

[alohapromisesforever]

As Every Child Knows

As Every Child Knowsby Michael DoyleThere is a lot that isn't knownAnd still yet, the legend has grownWas he real, or was he notOr maybe, as with many, much has been forgotSt. Nicholas of Myra is one of the fewSt. Francis of Assisi makes it twoOf saints who, to me, truly do inspireAnd of whom, I seemingly never tireSeen as a champion and Christian PoseidonNicholas was a Bishop who could be relied…

[tomicscomics]

12/09/2024

(C_C;)

The saints' RPG adventure continues every Monday and Friday through December!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. Continuing from the last few cartoons, an angel is running a fantasy RPG for some saints in heaven, namely Sts. Thomas Aquinas, Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, and Nicholas of Myra. If you haven't seen the previous parts yet, go get caught up, lest I be caught up in rage. 2. Before they start playing, the angel asks his players if they have any fears or topics they'd like the story to avoid. This is one of they many questions game-masters might ask an unfamiliar group, giving the table a chance to discuss the overall tone they'd prefer. 3. However, for saints, this question is silly. Since they're in heaven, they're maximally peaceful and fulfilled. Thus, they feel no fear. However, because I am a jokey jokester who is liking to be telling the jokes, and because the whole premise of this RPG story arc is absurd on its face, I can't leave things at that. Instead, Joan pipes up and declares that she doesn't want burning alive to be part of the upcoming story, since it's how she was killed by her enemies on earth. 4. Joan is technically not an official martyr, having been sentenced for her private revelations and not for her faith in Christ. However, that’s not very hashtag Sigma, so I called her a martyr in this cartoon. If they have to revoke my Catholic cartoonist license for this, so be it. 5. After Joan says she doesn't want burning alive to be part of the game, the angel looks down at the monster he prepared for the end of the story: a fire-breathing dragon with a ton of fiery attacks. To accommodate Joan, he changes the "fire" dragon to an "ice" dragon and calls it good. He can fix the attack names later.

[breakaway71]

I need someone to write me the multiverse fic where the Santa Claus of Red One (Saint Nicholas on Myra, of Greek descent) meets the Santa Claus of Violent Night (Nikamund the Red, a once-warrior of viking descent) and the Santa Claus of Rise of the Guardians (Nicholas St. North, a once-bandit of Russian descent). It would be, as North would say, EPIC. And I 1000% do not have the brainpower to write it myself. So please. I am on my knees begging. Somebody please make this happen.

[secretmellowblog]

I've said this before but the funny thing about the Cosette adoption chapters is that, from Cosette's perspective, she literally just got adopted by Santa Claus. Valjean is a mysterious kind semi-magical white-haired figure who arrives on Christmas eve to give Cosette her dream gifts, and then drops a coin in her shoe as is a Christmas tradition! And then he gives Cosette the best Christmas gift of taking her away to the North Pole Paris. Even outside of the Cosette stuff, all the parallels between Valjean and the historical Saint Nicholas of Myra are really funny...The fact that he breaks into people's houses to secretly give them money, for example, is a very St Nick Thing(tm). He also makes toys out of straw for children in M-Sur-M! But the interesting thing is that the historical St Nicholas was, among other things, the patron saint of repented thieves and children. He was known for saving people from poverty, execution, and unjust prison sentences, which are thematically relevant. But yeah. Good on Cosette for getting swept away by Convict Santa. Sadly i don't think the sleigh and reindeer were part of the legend yet and that's super sad, bc they couldve helped against Javert later u_u

[principiumindividuationis777]

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

In honor of Christmas, could you please provide me with some fun facts about St Nicholas? I read a bit on Wikipedia, but I trust you more lol

Awwww thank you Anonie. I’ve only recently began learning about saints but I’ve known about Saint Nicholas.

I’ve been praying to St Nicky a lot lately. He’s famous for the story of how he sneakily gave dowry money to 3 young women whose father could not afford to give them the money for it.

What is not commonly known is how their father was gonna sell them into sex slavery. And that depending on who you ask he had wasted the money that should’ve been there’s on pleasures of the flesh. So… yeah. He is not merely a saint of generosity and humility, but also of the protection of young women and against the sexual slave trade (May our God of Love and Justice destroy the sex slave industry).

He is also famously a protector of sailors. His home town Myra is a sailing port so sailors pray to him a lot. There’s also a story of some sailors stuck in a storm and who thought they were going to die (I’m remembering this from memory so anyone correct me if I’m wrong). But, Saint Nicholas prayed to God and the storm was rebuked.

I often refer to him as “Patron of those Lost at Sea” and since my family’s been going thru it, and Christmas is a dark season for many people, I have been praying to him that he may intercede on behalf of all those who feel like they’re drowning.

I remember that when he was a young child, his parents died and he gave all of his wealth away to the poor and dedicated himself to the local church.

There are more stories I know of but not many details: St Nick saving the lives of 3 boys killed by an innkeeper; saving the lives of some innocent men

Merry Christmas and may we all be moved to greater love, generosity, and righteousness as we remember the birth of our Savior.

[tildeathiwillwrite]

Actually I'm not done memeing this quite yet

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (December 6)

On December 6, the faithful commemorate a bishop in the early church who was known for generosity and love of children.

Born in Lycia in Asia Minor around the late third or fourth century, St. Nicholas of Myra is more than just the inspiration for the modern day Santa.

As a young man, he is said to have made a pilgrimage to Palestine and Egypt in order to study in the school of the Desert Fathers.

On returning some years later, he was almost immediately ordained Bishop of Myra, which is now Demre, on the coast of modern day Turkey.

The bishop was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution. He was only released when Constantine the Great came to power and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

One of the most famous stories of the generosity of St. Nicholas says that he threw bags of gold through an open window in the house of a poor man to serve as dowry for the man’s daughters, who otherwise would have been forced into prostitution.

The gold is said to have landed in the family’s shoes, which were drying near the fire.

This is why children leave their shoes out by the door, or hang their stockings by the fireplace in the hopes of receiving a gift on the eve of his feast.

St. Nicholas is associated with Christmas because of the tradition that he had the custom of giving secret gifts to children.

It is also conjectured that the saint, who was known to wear red robes and have a long white beard, was culturally converted into the large man with a reindeer-drawn sled full of toys because in German, his name is “San Nikolaus,” which almost sounds like “Santa Claus.”

In the East, he is known as St. Nicholas of Myra for the town in which he was bishop.

But in the West, he is called St. Nicholas of Bari because, during the Muslim conquest of Turkey in 1087, his relics were taken to Bari by the Italians.

St Nicholas is the patron of children and of sailors.

His intercession is sought by the shipwrecked, by those in difficult economic circumstances, and for those affected by fires.

He died on 6 December 346.

[alohapromisesforever]

First Principles: The Give of Every Good and Perfect Gift Has Called Upon Us To Mimic God's Giving, By Grace, Through Faith, and This Is Not of Ourselves

“The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic Gods giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.” – St. Nicholas of Myra

[catholic-saint-tournament]

About St Barbara

About St Nicholas

PRE-SCHISM SAINTS ROUND 1 WINNERS/ROUND 2 BRACKET

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion | Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.

The Rebellion continues with a number of bloody skirmishes throughout the country involving ill-trained, enthusiastic rebels fighting professional English soldiers. The Battle of Carlow sees an estimated 600 Irish rebels killed with only nominal English casualties. Twenty-eight prisoners are executed by the local garrison in the British army barracks base of Carnew Castle, Co Wicklow and…

[allaboutyoupostnthings]

Celebrate Saint Nicholas Day: Traditions and History

December 6th marks the celebration of Saint Nicholas Day, a joyous occasion that fills hearts with warmth and kindness. Known as the protector of children and sailors, Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, has a rich history and tradition that brings people together in the spirit of giving and goodwill. A Brief History: Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century Bishop of Myra, was known for his generosity and…

[tomicscomics]

12/30/2024

And so it ends... FOR NOW?!?!?

___ AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, it's finally over. Thanks for sticking through it with me. This series was really fun to draw, and it gave me a chance to do two things I found surprisingly fun: (1) draw several anachronistic saints interacting with each other and (2) make a bunch of RPG jokes in a religious context. To be honest, it was stressful. First off, I hardly have any time to draw these days, so committing to two comics a week was an insane thing to do, especially for the holidays. Second, I had the whole 10-part series planned out at the beginning, but then my mind was so flooded with new jokes as I went that I had to re-write and re-plan almost every week in order to keep the series to the original 10 parts. I have a ton of jokes I had to skip, but I'll keep note of them in case I revisit this concept in the future. Ultimately, I'm frayed and unsatisfied, but I enjoyed myself and learned as I went, and that about sums it up. Maybe I'll write a retrospective to post on Patreon, if I can get my thoughts in order. Anyway, once again, thank you all for indulging me in this incredibly unusual series. Tomics will return to relative normalcy soon. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. Continuing from the last few cartoons, an angel has been introducing a few saints to playing a tabletop roleplaying game. This series has covered them learning how to make characters, culminating in them introducing their characters and ending with the story finally about to begin. 2. Most RPG players know the struggle of trying to find a group of like-minded players, of scheduling regular sessions, and of actually making it to the end of a full campaign. Many campaigns end prematurely because the players start having interpersonal drama, or because their busy schedules just don't match up, or because the group simply gets burnt out. The end of this cartoon makes light of this earthly reality. Hypothetically, if an angel DID run an RPG campaign for some saints in heaven, they'd all be free of the all the flaws and struggles that would normally force a campaign to end prematurely.