Nicholas of Sion

Saint Nicholas of Sion, called Nicholas of Pinara or of Patara, was archbishop of Pinara, in Lycia, in the sixth century, and abbot of the monastery of Sion in Asia Minor. He died on 10 December 564. He is venerated as a wonderworker. The Orthodox Church commemorates him by the old calendar on 6 December, together with his nephew, Saint Nicholas of Myra in Lycia.

In ancient times his life was confused with that of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia, because of the similarity of the biographies: both were from Lycia, archbishops, venerated hierarchs and wonderworkers. These coincidences led to an error that lasted many years, namely that in the history of the Church there was only one Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Because of this historical inconsistencies arose in the Life of the great Wonderworker. For example, it came out that Nicholas of Myra visited the church of the Resurrection of the Lord in the Holy Land long before its building by the empress Helena. In reality Nicholas the Wonderworker was never in the Holy Land; the pilgrimage described in many of his lives was made by Nicholas of Pinara. In the same way the names of the parents and the uncle of Nicholas of Myra became confused. Theophanes (Epiphanius) and Nonna, mentioned in his lives, are the names of the parents of Nicholas of Pinara.

The Serbian source says that Nicholas of Pinara was the brother of the father of Saint Nicholas of Myra and that, as archbishop, he ordained his nephew priest.