Saint Nikola Ispovednik

Nicholas the Confessor is a Christian saint. Nicholas was a native of the island of Crete. He traveled to Constantinople to visit his relative Theodore, the abbot of the Studion Monastery, where he remained and became a monk. As a monk, Nicholas underwent all ascetic labors for the salvation of his soul. During the persecution of Christians by Leo V the Armenian, Theodore and Nicholas were severely tortured. After the death of St. Theodore, Nicholas became the abbot of the Studion. He healed Eudokia, the wife of Emperor Basil, and Helena, the wife of the patrician Manuel, of their illnesses. He blessed the newborn daughter of Theophilos Melissenos, a prominent nobleman whose children had previously not survived, and prophesied that she would live and be fruitful, which came to pass to the joy of her parents. He died in 868. The Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on February 4.