Saint Nicholas

According to popular tradition, Saint Nicholas of Myra participated in Church fasts even when he was an infant nursing at his mother's breast. He was born at the end of the third century CE in Roman-occupied Anatolia (Turkey). He became bishop of Myra when the emperor Diocletian's persecution of the Church left many Roman provinces without bishops. During his tenure as bishop, Nicholas relied on charity and gift giving to create alliances with local pagan aristocracy, eventually relying on their control of the region to replace paganism with Christianity. Nicholas attended the council of Nicea in 325 CE where he participated in theological debates against the Arians, clarifying the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Today he is still venerated by Eastern Orthodox churches, while European and American Christians associate him with Christmas and the spirit of gift giving.