St. Nicholas exhibition travels from Bari to Russia; Orthodox Church approves

[stumbler]

Miracle Worker
The Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, visited for centuries by both Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims, brings its treasures to Moscow.

By Anna Malpas
July 8, 2005
Moscow Times

The patron saint of pawnbrokers and the protector of sailors, but best known as Santa Claus, St. Nicholas wears many guises. Revered by Catholics and Orthodox Christians alike, the saint is now the central figure of an exhibition at the Historical Museum, which opened last month with the approval of the Russian Orthodox Church and features unique items such as the seal from his tomb in southern Italy.

All of the treasures on display come from the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, which has housed the relics of St. Nicholas since 1087. . . .

---

Full Article

 

[JOHNYJ]

The Russian Orthodox shrine of Saint Nicholas is staffed by Orthodox priests and is. Inside a Roman Catholic cathedral. Something you will never see in reverse.

 

[HagiaSophia]

From an earlier thread on the subject:

Some insightful comments from an Eastern Rite priest in Italy - followed up by a brief narrative on the “disagreement” over the bones of St. Nicholas

"…The priest, it turns out, was Fr. Antonio Magnocavallo, pastor since 1975 of the local Byzantine Rite parish, called St. John Chrysostom in Bari. The members of his small flock are fully Orthodox, Magnocavallo insists, since they embrace the rites and spiritual traditions of the ancient Eastern church, but they are also fully Catholic, in communion with the Holy See. The Byzantine rite is one of the 21 Eastern churches that form part of the universal Catholic Church. If you ask Magnocavallo if he’s Orthodox, his answer is “yes”; if you ask if he’s Catholic, it’s also “yes.”

"…For the most part, however, St. Nicholas seems to function today more as an agent of Catholic-Orthodox unity than division. During the annual festival in Bari in May, Orthodox clergy routinely join their Catholic counterparts in the processions, the veneration of the icon, and the exposition of the manna. The relics, and especially the miraculous manna that devotees believe they produce, still draw thousands of Orthodox pilgrims to Italy each year.

In that sense, perhaps St. Nicholas could be invoked as the patron saint of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, a figure whose own story illustrates that old wounds do not have to be decisive for the future."

nationalcatholicreporter…/word053105.htm