, and then he himself was ordained as a priest to serve in the church, where his uncle, bishop nicholas of patarsky, was the rector. after the parents of saint nicholas departed to the lord, he distributed all his inheritance to the poor and continued his church service. when the attitude of the roman emperors towards christians became more tolerant, persecution nevertheless continued. because he was kind, meek, people loved the new archbishop very much, fair, responsive, not a single request to him went unanswered. with all this nicholas was remembered by his contemporaries as an incomparable fighter against paganism and heresies. he destroyed idols and temples. defended christianity and denounced heretics. during his lifetime , the saint became famous for many miracles. once, with his fervent prayer to christ, he saved the city of myra from a terrible famine. the saint also repeatedly helped sailors drowning on ships and rescued those unjustly convicted from captivity. saint nicholas lived to a ripe old age and died. lord in the middle of the century. his relics turned out to be incorruptible due