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Saint
Nicholas of Ohrid and Žiča
New Calendar March 31 Old Calendar April 13
Why they are a saint
Bishop of Ohrid and Žiča , Venerable, the New Chrysostom ; who wrote the Prologue of Ohrid ; surnamed Velimirović. The Orthodox Church commemorates Nicholas of Ohrid and Žiča on March 31.
Life
Saint Nikolai of Zhicha, 'the Serbian Chrysostom', was born on January 4, 1881 (December 23, 1880, O.S.) in Lelich in western Serbia, to Dragomir and Katherine Velimirovich; his devout mother often took him to services at the Chelije Monastery. After the seminary in Belgrade he earned doctorates at Berne (1908) and Oxford (1909). Having vowed to serve God if he recovered from dysentery, he was tonsured at Rakovica Monastery in 1909 and ordained priest.
In 1919 he was consecrated Bishop of Zhicha and later transferred to Ochrid; he established orphanages and helped the poor. A fearless critic of the Nazis, he was arrested in 1941, and in 1944 was sent with Patriarch Gavrilo to Dachau, where he was tortured. After the war he remained abroad, from 1946 in America, teaching at Saint Sava's Seminary in Libertyville and from 1951 at Saint Tikhon's Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, where he reposed in March 1956. He left many writings exhorting people to love God and live in holiness.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Nicholas of Ohrid and Žiča as a patron when they bear the name Nicholas at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on March 31. Serbian Orthodox faithful also honor his as one of their own.
Prayer
O holy Nicholas of Ohrid and Žiča, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.