Feast Day: February 3rd
The Life of Saint Nicholas: In 1868, the flock of Father Nicholas numbered about twenty Japanese… In 1911… there were 33,017 Christians in 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church…
+
Prayers
Apolytikion: O Holy Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan, you share the dignity and the Throne of the Apostles; you are a wise and faithful servant of Christ, a temple chosen by the Divine Spirit, a vessel overflowing with the love of Christ. O Hierarch Equal to the Apostles, Pray to the Life-Creating Trinity, for all your flock and for the whole world.
Kontakion: O Hierarch Nicholas, Divine thunder, Spiritual trumpet, planter of Faith and pruner of heresies, great favourite of the Trinity, while standing with the Angels before God, Pray unceasingly for us all.
Saint Nicholas spent eight years in studying the country, the language, manners and customs of the people among whom he would preach.
“The Japanese of the time looked upon foreigners as beasts, and on Christianity as a villainous sect, to which only villains and sorcerers could belong.”
+
“Sometimes Japanese protestants come to me and ask me to clarify some place in the Holy Scriptures. You have your own missionary teachers, I tell them, Go ask them. What do they say?’ “We have asked them. They say: understand as you know how. But I need to know the real thought of God, not my own personal opinion.’… It’s not like that with us [Orthodox]. Everything is clear, trustworthy and simple, since we accept Holy Tradition in addition to the Holy Scriptures. And Holy Tradition is a living, unbroken voice of our Church from the time of Christ and His Apostles until now, and which will exist until the end of the world. In it all the meaning of the Holy Scriptures are preserved.”
+
In 1868, the flock of Father Nicholas numbered about twenty Japanese… In 1911… there were 33,017 Christians in 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church.
+
