By Sergei V. Bulgakov
In church hymns St. Nicholas is glorified as "the candle holder of the enlightened", "the rule of Orthodoxy", "the pillar of the Church", "the adversary of impiety and the accessory of piety", "a nourisher of widows and orphans ", "the comfort of the weeping", "the most merciful and mightiest petitioner", "the great and warm helper turning to those in trouble, who travel by land or by sea". Calling all to the glorification of the hierarch of Myra, Lycia, the Holy Church appeals: "Let all of us faithful praise the wisest hierarch, the God-bearing Nicholas, as the warmth of those in trouble and a helper and defender for those in sorrow before God: for he prays to the Lord for the faithful who work and sing his divine memory. "Let kings and princes gather together", "Let us all shout", "Pastors and teachers, the good shepherd", "Let us gather together to praise the physician of the infirm, and the deliverer from those in trouble, the help of sinners, the treasury of the poor, and the comforter of the sorrowful, the companion of travelers, the pilot of the seafaring, and for all everywhere the warm anticipator. Therefore let all who praise the great hierarch now say: All Holy Nicholas, anticipate and deliver us from every real trouble and save your flock through your prayers".
