In the 11th century, the Greek Empire was going through a difficult time. The Turks devastated her possessions in Asia Minor, ravaged towns and villages, killing their inhabitants, and accompanied their cruelties by insulting holy temples, relics, icons and books. Muslims attempted to destroy the relics of St. Nicholas, deeply revered by the entire Christian world.
In 792, Caliph Aaron Al-Rashid sent Humaid, the chief of the fleet, to plunder the island of Rhodes. Having devastated this island, Humaid went to the Lycian Worlds with the intention of breaking into the tomb of St. Nicholas. But instead, he hacked into another one, which stood next to the tomb of the Saint. Hardly had the blasphemers managed to do this, when a terrible storm arose at sea and almost all the ships were wrecked.
The desecration of shrines angered not only Eastern, but also Western Christians. Christians in Italy, among whom there were many Greeks, were especially afraid for the relics of St. Nicholas. Residents of the town of Bar, located on the Adriatic coast, decided to save the relics of St. Nicholas.
In 1087, the bar and Venetian merchants went to Antioch to trade. Both of them intended to take the relics of St. Nicholas on the way back and transport them to Italy. In this intention, the inhabitants of Bar were ahead of the Venetians and were the first to land in the Worlds. Two men were sent ahead, who, upon returning, reported that everything was quiet in the city, and they met only four monks in the church where the greatest shrine rests. Immediately 47 people, armed, went to the church of St. Nicholas, the monks-watchmen, suspecting nothing, pointed out to them the platform under which the tomb of the saint was hidden, where, according to custom, strangers were anointed with myrrh from the relics of the saint. At the same time, the monk told an elder about the appearance of St. Nicholas the day before. In this vision, the Saint ordered to keep his relics more carefully. This story inspired the Baryans; they saw for themselves in this phenomenon the permission and, as it were, the indication of the Saint. To facilitate their actions, they revealed their intentions to the monks and offered them a ransom of 300 gold coins. The guards refused the money and wanted to notify the residents of the disaster that threatened them. But the aliens tied them up and put their guards at the door. They smashed the church platform, under which there was a tomb with relics. In this case, the young man Matthew was particularly zealous, who wanted to discover the relics of the Saint as soon as possible. In his impatience, he broke the lid and the gentlemen saw that the sarcophagus was filled with fragrant holy myrrh. Baryan's compatriots, presbyters Lupp and Drogo, performed a litany, after which the same Matthew began to extract the relics of the Saint from the overflowing sarcophagus. This happened on April 20, 1087.
Due to the absence of the ark, Presbyter Drogo wrapped the relics in an outer garment and, accompanied by baryan, carried them to the ship. The freed monks informed the city of the sad news about the abduction of the relics of the Wonderworker by foreigners. Crowds of people gathered on the shore, but it was too late...
On May 8, the ships arrived in Bar, and soon the good news spread all over the city. The next day, on May 9, the relics of St. Nicholas were solemnly transferred to the church of St. Stephen, located near the sea. The celebration of the transfer of the shrine was accompanied by numerous miraculous healings of the sick, which aroused even greater reverence for the great saint of God. A year later, a church was built in the name of St. Nicholas and consecrated by Pope Urban II.
The event associated with the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas caused special veneration of the Wonderworker and was marked by the establishment of a special holiday on May 9. At first, the feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas was celebrated only by residents of the Italian city of Bar. In other countries of the Christian East and West, it was not accepted, despite the fact that the transfer of the relics was widely known. This circumstance is explained by the custom peculiar to the Middle Ages of honoring mainly local shrines. In addition, the Greek Church did not establish a celebration of this memory, because the loss of the relics of the Saint was a sad event for her.
Russian Russian Orthodox Church commemoration of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from the World of Lycia to Bar on May 9 was established shortly after 1087 on the basis of deep, already established veneration by the Russian people of the great saint of God, who came from Greece at the same time with the adoption of Christianity. The glory of the miracles performed by the Saint on earth and at sea was widely known to the Russian people. Their inexhaustible power and abundance testify to the special grace-filled help of the great saint to suffering humanity. The image of the Saint, the all-powerful Miracle Worker and benefactor, became especially dear to the heart of the Russian people, because he instilled deep faith in him and hope for his help. Countless miracles marked the faith of the Russian people in the inexhaustible help of the Saint of God.
Significant literature about him was compiled very early in Russian literature. Legends about the miracles of the Saint performed on Russian soil began to be recorded in ancient times. Shortly after the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from the Lycian World to Bar Grad, a Russian edition of the life and the story of the transfer of his holy relics, written by a contemporary of this event, appeared. Even earlier, the word praiseworthy to the Miracle Worker was written. Every Thursday, the Russian Orthodox Church pays special tribute to his memory.
Numerous temples and monasteries were erected in honor of St. Nicholas, and Russian people named their children after him at Baptism. Numerous miraculous icons of the great Saint have been preserved in Russia. The most famous among them are the image of Mozhaisk, Zaraisky, Volokolamsk, Ugreshsky, Ratny. There is not a single house or a single temple in the Russian Church in which there would not be an image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The meaning of the gracious intercession of the great saint of God is expressed by the ancient compiler of the life, according to which St. Nicholas "performed many great and glorious miracles on earth and on the seas, helping those in distress and saving them from drowning, and from the depths of the sea to dryly wearing out, admiring from corruption and bringing into the house, freeing from bonds and prisons, interceding from the sword of the cross and freeing from death, many have many ways of healing: blind sight, lame walking, deaf hearing, mute speaking. To enrich many in the squalor and poverty of the last suffering, to give food to the poor and to everyone in every need a ready helper, a warm intercessor and a speedy advocate and defender, and to those who call upon him helps and delivers from troubles. The message of this great Wonderworker is from the East and the West and all the ends of the earth are leading his miracles."