ST. NICOLAS, BRINGER OF GIFTS AND REANIMATOR OF CORPSES It sounds like a nightmare straight out of American Horror Story, and certainly not what we would typically imagine when thinking of jolly ole St. Nick. It was during a time of great famine, and the people were hungry—so hungry, in fact, that some resorted to the most desperate of actions in order to quell their hunger pangs. For example, one person—a butcher—lured three innocent children into his shop, proceeded to chop them up and began preparations for selling them as packaged meat. But first, the bodies had to be placed in brine and cured. Nicolas was in the area at the time, busy doing what he usually does, caring for the less fortunate, tossing gold coins around and feeding the hungry. He realized what had happened when he had a vision of the butchered bodies of three children curing in barrels. Horrified and determined to right the wrong, Nicolas performed his first miracle by resurrecting the three children from the dead through his powerful prayers. Needless to say, the butcher was on the naughty list that year. 🌿🌿🌿 In a different version of this story, the slaughtered victims were three clerks or theology students. The three clerks needed a place to stay for the evening and asked to spend the night at the butcher’s home. He agreed, and then promptly murdered all three. The butcher’s wife—clearly a sociopath—told her husband to turn the dead bodies into meat pies. Nicolas saw through this evil crime and through his powerful prayers, brought the men back to life. These stories explain St. Nicolas’ patronage to children, clerks and students. 🌿🌿🌿 Whatever may be the case, it is not putting dismembered bodies back together or reanimating corpses that put St. Nicolas on the world map. Before he was a saint, Nicolas was well-known for his gift giving - he would secretly put coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him and he would routinely help the hungry and the needy. He was a true philanthropist. Because of his generous nature and penchant for gift-giving, he became the role model for the modern day Santa. https://www.creolemoon.com/store/p255/st-nicolas-candle.html #stnicolas #candle (at Prescott, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq3pls-gTOZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14enog1bihtol
