St Nicholas and the Luckless Sailor
After surviving a terrible storm, a crew-member on St Nicholas’s ship met with a tragic accident.
300-320
The Age of Constantine 313-337
After surviving a terrible storm, a crew-member on St Nicholas’s ship met with a tragic accident.
300-320
The Age of Constantine 313-337
This post is number 2 in the series Miracles of Nicholas
St Nicholas (d. 343), who became Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, is known as the patron of seamen, and it is a pity that a sea-faring nation such as Britain should have largely forgotten about him. Here is one of many miracles attributed to him.
INTENDING to visit the Holy Sepulchre, Nicholas boarded an Egyptian ship headed for Jerusalem. One night during his voyage, he dreamt that the ship was caught in a terrible storm, and that Satan had cut the rigging and broken the wheel.
Next day, he told the ship’s captain that should a storm arise, he must not be afraid, because it was the devil’s work and God would help them.
Sure enough, a great storm arose and his fellow-passengers, who were expecting to be drowned at any moment, clustered helplessly around Nicholas. He took to his knees, and soon the raging wind dropped, and the sea grew calm.
But an unlucky sailor who had climbed the mast to mend the sail slipped, and fell to his death on the deck far below.
Rushing to his side, Nicholas called on God once again, and before their astonished eyes the passengers saw him wake as if from a refreshing sleep, and return to work.
Next in series: St Nicholas and the Empty Granary