Saint Report Essays - Lycia, Christian Folklore, Santa Claus

Saint Report: St. Nicholas St. Nicholas, called "of Bari", Bishop of Myra (Fourth Century) 6 Dec. Feast day. The great veneration with which this saint has been honored for many ages and the number of altars and churches which have been everywhere dedicated in his memory are testimonials to his holiness and of the glory which he enjoys with God. He is said to have been born at Patara in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor. Myra, the capital, not far from the sea, was an episcopal see, and this church falling vacant, the holy Nicholas was chosen bishop, and in that station became famous by his extraordinary piety and zeal and many astonishing miracles. The Greek histories of his life agree that he suffered imprisonment of the faith and made a glorious confession in the latter part of the persecution raised by Dioletian, and that he was present at the Council of Nicaea and there condemned Arianism. The silence of other authors makes many justly suspect these circumstances. He died at Myra, and was buried in his cathedral. This summary account by Alban Butler tells us all that is known about the life of the famous St. Nicholas, and even a little more; for his episcopate at Myra during the fourth century is really all that seems indubitable authentic. This is not for lack of material, beginning with the life attributed to the monk who died in 847 as St. Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople. But he warns us that "Up to the present the life of this distinguished Shepard has been unknown to the majority of the faithful", and sets about enlightening their ignorance nearly five hundred years after the saint's death. This is the least unreliable of the "biographical" sources available, and a vast amount of literature, critical and expository, have grown up around them. Nevertheless, the universal popularity of the saint for so many centuries requires that some account of these legends should be given here. We are assured that from his earliest days Nicholas would take nourishment only once on Wednesdays and Fridays, and that in the evening according to the canons. "He was exceedingly well brought up by his parents and trod piously in their footsteps. The child, watched over by the church enlightened his mind and encouraged his thirst for sincere and true religion". His parents died when he was a young man, leaving him well off and he determined to devote his inheritance to works of charity. An opportunity soon arose. A citizen of Patara had lost all his money, and had moreover to support three daughters who could not find husbands because of their poverty; so the wretched man was going to give them over to prostitution. This came to the ears of Nicholas, who thereupon took a bag of gold and, under cover of darkness threw it in at the open window of the man's house. Here was a dowry for the eldest girl and she was soon duly married. At intervals Nicholas did the same for the second and third; at the last time the father was on the watch, recognized his benefactor and overwhelmed him with his gratitude. It would appear that the three purses represented in pictures, came to be mistaken for the heads of three children and so they gave rise to the absurdstory of the children, resuscitated by the saint, who had been killed by an innkeeper and pickled in a brine -tub. Coming to the city of Myra when the clergy and people of the province were in session to elect a new bishop, St. Nicholas was indicated by God as the man they should choose. This was at the time of the persecutions at the beginning of the fourth century and "As he was the chief priest of the Christians of this town and preached the truths of faith with a holy liberty, the divine Nicholas was seized by the magistrates, tortured, then chained and thrown into prison with many other Christians. But when the great and religious Constatine, chosen by God assumed the imperial diadem of the Romans, the prisoners were released from their bonds and with them the illustrious Nicholas, who when he was set at liberty returned to Myra." St. Methodius asserts that "thanks to the

Clauses and Phrases

Clauses and Phrases Clauses and Phrases Clauses and Phrases By Maeve Maddox Commenting on â€Å"Short clauses can take commas† a reader asks please tell me how to [understand] phrases andclauses A clause is a group of words that contains a finite verb (that is, a verb that indicates time such as present, past or future). If a clause can stand alone as a sentence with a capitalized first word and a period or other end punctuation, it’s called a main clause or an independent clause. Examples of main clauses that are also sentences: The dish ran away with the spoon. Baseball is a popular sport. Many businesses have dismissed some employees. A clause that depends upon another clause to complete its meaning is called a subordinate clause or a dependent clause. Examples of dependent clauses: Although the man had been warned when you get here because they went away Lengthy sentences may contain an assortment of main and subordinate clauses: Although the man had been warned, he went into the burning building in an attempt to save the children who he knew were inside. This sentence contains four clauses: 1. Although the man had been warned 2. he went into the burning building in an attempt to save the children 3. who were inside 4. he knew The second clause contains three verb forms, but only one is a finite verb: â€Å"went† (past tense). â€Å"Burning† is a participle form used as an adjective to describe â€Å"building.† â€Å"To save† is an infinitive used as an adjective to qualify the noun â€Å"attempt.† The grammatical term clause is easier to define than phrase. A working definition of phrase is this one from the OED: A small, unified group of words (in a sentence) that does not include both a subject and a predicate or finite verb A more detailed discussion of the many meanings attached to phrase as a grammatical term will have to wait for another post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row20 Ways to Cry

Conceptual Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conceptual Analysis - Assignment Example If one has to love, it might be necessary not to ask something in return and it is a decision to take for this matter. Therefore, it is possible to see unrequited love at some point, as long as there are individuals who will decide to love even if they will not be loved in return. On the other hand, love does not inherently involve sexual attraction. For this matter, we can always go back to our major premise that love is a decision to take and part of it is to go for it even if there is no sexual attraction involved. Since love is a decision, one can therefore love with more than one person at a time or over a lifetime. Finally, although love is linked to survival and reproduction, but knowing it is a decision, then one can still decide to love even if it is beyond the context of continued existence and propagation. Now, let us move our discussion to unveil sufficient condition on what does it mean to really be in love. Sufficiently, we can say that one is really in love when he or she is able to express that feeling from within, by which it is a form of engagement or personal attachment to whoever such expression has to be given. The expression involved in this case can be verbal, non-verbal or both. In the presence of this verbal, non-verbal or both requirements, love can be manifested and it is a sufficient condition to consider that there exists an opportunity to show what love is. Although actions may speak louder than words, these two requirements are relevant expressions that one can employ individually or both in order for us to determine what it means to really be in love. Therefore, the act of showing love is manifested through verbal and non-verbal gestures as substantial evidence for its actual expression. For instance, if a man gives flower to a woman because he loves her may not sufficiently convince us that he really indeed loves her. However, further necessary expressions is needed to prove this, and here where we can probably depict a combinat ion of the needed requirements, verbally and non-verbally. Now that we have finally formulated the necessary and sufficient conditions in order to know what it means to really be in love, we are heading to discuss the intended Socratic definition for this matter. Concerning this, we can therefore say that an individual is in love when he or she is performing a decision to do it, by which we can actually depict through verbal and non-verbal acts or both as the sufficient requirements. Section B. Conceptual Analysis II: Love In Section A, we have introduced the necessary condition for the realization of love, which is a form of decision to take. To sufficiently prove this, expressions such as verbal and non-verbal or both as the requirements must be depicted. Therefore, we can define that an individual is in love when he or she is performing a decision to do it, by which we can actually depict through verbal and non-verbal acts or both as the sufficient requirements. Socrates might re fute this claim by providing substantial counter examples, so as to nullify the entire concept by providing an instance that may potentially defy it. For this reason, here are the potential counter examples that Socrates might probably use against the established definition above. Socrates might use the concept of commitment as necessary element linked to love. Therefore, without this commitment, which is something one could sufficiently observe, then there is no existence of love at all. At some point,