On this, the feast of St. Nicholas of Myrna , we honor the good Saint for all his good Christian deeds ... especially punching the heretic, Arius, in the face. So how did St. Nick become the patron saint of the left hook? Home of the best

Arius , a priest from Alexandria, taught that the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, was a creation of God the Father, not co-eternal with Him. Arius' teaching is summarized in his quote: "There was a time when the Son was not." In short, Arius denied the divinity of Christ. Nevertheless, Arianism was the orthodox position in the Church until the Council of Nicaea in 325AD. Even after Arianism was rejected by the Church, however, it remained the majority position for some time. This was in part due t Roman emperors, including Constantius II and Valens , and many of the ruling elite adopting the position.





Actual footage of Jesus watching

events unfold at the Council of Nicaea

Arianism would prove to be a tough nut to crack, so St. Nick got cracking from the get go. Though Nicholas' name does not appear on the lists of bishops that attended the Council of Nicaea, there is some evidence in the historical record that the Man who would be Santa actually punched the heretic during the ecumenical council of bishops. From Damascenos the Monk, who wrote the Life of Saint Nicholas the Wonder-Worker in the 16th century, we have the following account:

After the king seated himself on the throne, one hundred and fifty nine fathers seated themselves at either side of him, both they and Arius arguing with much unease. Saint Nicholas, noticing that Arius was about to quash all the archpriests and moved by divine zeal, rose up and gave him a slap that shook all his members.

The account ends with Arius complaining to the king about the slap, as well as divine intervention on behalf of St. Nick.



