Daily Martyrology for December 6

In the fourth century, St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra. Around this very popular saint wonderful legends have accumulated: how he saved three girls from prostitution by throwing dowry money through a window of their house, and how he saved three young clerks from being murdered and ground into sausage. His relics were stolen from Muslim-controlled Myra and taken to Bari. The custom of exchanging gifts on his feast day may have originated among Dutch Protestants, who brought it to New York.

In 558, St. Abraham, bishop of Kratia in Bithynia. He went from Emesa to Constantinople with his mentor, and there both became monks. Abraham tried to flee from being elected abbot and then bishop, but was prevailed upon to accept these offices. After thirteen years as a conscientious bishop, he fled to a monastery and spent the last twenty years of his life as a hermit.

In 1300, in Granada, Blessed Peter Pascual. He received his doctorate in Paris, and then returned to his native Valencia. He taught theology at Barcelona and was appointed bishop of Jaén, which was under Moorish control. His efforts on behalf of Catholic captives and his missionary work led to his arrest while he was making a visitation. He was ransomed, but he applied the money to free other captives. He died from the deprivations of his captivity, or perhaps was murdered.

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Our daily martyrology was written by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB. Copyright © 2008 by the Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, ID 83338.