On the 9th of May, we are celebrating the reigning of Saint Nicholas’ Relics in Bari, Italy, of which a part is in honor and in our church. According to an understanding between the Primates of the Russian Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Churches, the relics of this venerated holy Christian, Nicholas, Archbishop of Mira Lichia, will be worshiped in Italy in Russia. Patriarch Cyril and Pope Francis reached this agreement on the occasion of their meeting in Havana, Cuba on February 12, 2016, according to the president of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Russian Churches, Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk.
Between May 21 and July 8, 2017, part of Saint Nicholas’ miraculous relics, preserved in the Pontifical Basilica of the Italian city of Bari, will be brought to the Russian Orthodox Church. This is a unique event for the entire 930 years since the relics were preserved in Bari, during which they never left the city. In 1081 after Christ, the body of St. Nicholas, the miracle worker, was taken from the Church of His Seat in Mira and taken to the city of Bari, on the west coast of Italy. Some have watched this event and interpreted it as a theft and a great loss for Greeks in Asia Minor, for the benefit of the Italians.
Others have even seen in this case the love and providence of God. St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain Athos also adopted this last point of view, considering that the Movement of Holy Relics took place by the will of God. On the one hand, for His Holy Revels will not remain without honor and glory, and on the other hand, for the West to share its miracles, because Christians in Bari were not yet in false heresies and beliefs, but Were Orthodox and united with the Eastern Church.