Translation of the relics of St Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra to Bari (1087)
In 1087 the Saint’s relics were taken from Myra in Lycia (on the southern coast of present-day Turkey) to the town of Bari in Italy. This was done due to a Muslim attack on Lycia. At that time Bari was Orthodox and under the administration of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Saint’s relics now lie in a Roman Catholic church in Bari; each year the casket containing the relics is opened by a Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishop together, and quantities of fragrant myrrh are removed, for the healing and encouragement of the faithful.
Holy Prophet Isaiah (7th c. BC)
He is counted as the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets. His incomparably beautiful verses foretell Christ in many places. He chastised, comforted, and counseled the pious king Hezekiah; but when he denounced the impiety and lawlessness of Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, he was sawn in two outside Jerusalem, receiving a martyr’s crown. His name means “The Lord is helper.”
The Fifth Biblical Ode, “Out of the night my spirit waketh at dawn unto Thee, O God…” is taken from Isaiah.
Holy Martyr Christopher (3rd c.)
He was originally named Reprobus. In the time of the persecutions under the Emperor Decius, Reprobus, seeing the sufferings of the Christians, rebuked the rulers for their cruelty. The governor sent soldiers to arrest him, but he converted them and was baptised along with them, receiving the name Christopher. After he was brought before the governor, he was imprisoned with two harlots sent to seduce him, but he converted them also. He, the soldiers, and the former harlots were subjected to torture and finally beheaded.
It is this Saint Christopher who is portrayed on the medals often worn for protection in the Latin West. The image of him carrying the child Jesus comes from his name, which means ‘Christ-bearer,’ not from any incident in his life.
