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Icon: Life of Nicholas

No saint is as popular, either in the East or the West, as the miracle worker St. Nicholas. He was Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, and is believed to have lived in the 4th century. Nicholas can be recognised from his short beard and his high forehead, a sign of great wisdom.

A well known saying in Old Russia was, ‘If God dies,we’ll make Nicholas God’. People believed that Nicholas understood human weakness better than any other saint. He defended them against every injustice and protected them. He also protected travellers if they got into difficulty. He became the patron of countless churches, professions and communities. He is present in almost every icon corner of a Russian house because he is also considered to be the patron saint of men.

At the center of the icon, Nicholas dressed in Bishop’s vestments delivers a blessing and holds an open book of the Gospels to Luke 6:17 (the Beatitudes). At his shoulder height on the left, Christ presents the Gospels and on the right the Mother of God presents his bishop’s stole. The title in white letters next to his halo reads: Nicholas the Miracle Worker (Svayatuiy Nikolae Chudotvorets).

The central image is surrounded by the following scenes, from left to right and from top to bottom:

1. Birth of Nicholas
2. Baptism of Nicholas, (He stands an hour after his birth expounding wisdom.)
3. The healing of the woman with a withered arm
4. Nicholas at school
5. His consecration as Deacon
6. His consecration as Bishop
7. The saving of three girls by providing a dowry
8. His appearance in the dreams of Emperor Constantine and of the general
9. The rescuing of three men condemned to execution
10. The placing of the icon of Nicholas in a church
11. The saving of Dimitri whose boat was sinking
12. The saving of the drowning boy
13. The returning of the boy Agricola (abducted by Saracens) to his parents
14. The saving a poor merchant by buying and returning his rug
15. The entombment of Nicholas
16. The transfer of the relics of Nicholas from Myra to Bari

The miniature paintings are in excellent condition.

For a full elaborate description see: https://russianicons.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/a-few-key-church-slavic-words-to-remember/