Page 138 - Sarpedon’dan Keykubad’a Bir Zamanlar Antalya

Nicholas was born to a religious Christian family in Patara.
Since he wanted to be a great religious man from his childhood,
he migrated to the city of Myra, which was the episcopal center
of Lycia at that time. From this moment on, Nicholas, who is on
the way to become a brilliant clergyman, began to work for the
diocese. It was at this time that the first sign that he would be-
come a great saint appeared. Nicholas began to work on the
construction of a newly built church within the diocese. During
this work, the walls of the church suddenly collapsed and Nicho-
las remained under the walls. Seeing that her son was buried be-
neath the rubble, Nicholas’ mother begins to weep pathetically in
the face of this situation. At that moment, the wall of stones shat-
tered and Nicholas was saved from death. This is the first sign
that this saint was protected by God. From this moment onwards,
events that will enable him to achieve his reputation began one
by one to happen. Nicholaos, who went to Jerusalem and fulfilled
his pilgrimage, retreated to a cave in Bethlehem there. Deciding
to return to Lycia after a dream he had during his seclusion there,
Nicholas became a candidate for the archbishopric elections af-
ter the death of the bishop of Myra bishop Ionnes, on his return
to Lycia. On election day, an angel convinced the church lead-
ers to choose the first person to enter the church as their bish-
op. Thereupon, Nicholas, who was the first to enter the church,
began to serve as Bishop, and during this process, he became
famous for his miracles and became the protector of children,
sailors, travelers and the poor. Nicholas has always been with
the young people who can’t get married. One day, he meets a
father who cannot marry his three young daughters, who are of
marriageable age, because he is poor. Impressed by his father’s
condition, Nicholas decides to help the man. However, he is so
sensitive that he always intends to provide help in secret. He
doesn’t want to put anyone in any trouble. That’s why he goes
to the man’s house one night and secretly throws three bags of
gold into the house and then walks away. With this myth, it is still
believed today that St. Nicholas secretly brought gifts to children.

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