Venerable Nicholas the General

Life

Some think that this great saint was of Balkan Slavic origin. In the time of Emperor Nicephorus, Nicholas was a general and commanded over one part of the army which went to war against the Bulgarians. On the way Nicholas spent the night in a certain inn, where Nicholas had a great temptation and a strange dream. This dream completely came true in the war, in which the Greeks were terribly defeated by the Bulgarians in the year 811. Nicholas was saved; and out of gratitude to God's Providence Nicholas left his military rank and became a monk. Nicholas labored long in asceticism and by ascetic effort so perfected himself that Nicholas became a great clairvoyant and one pleasing to God. Nicholas died peacefully in the ninth century and passed to the blessed Kingdom of Christ the Lord.