St Nicholas the Patron Saint of ... Boxers?

Around this time of year every blogger in the Orthodox Christian "blogosphere" will be writing about St. Nicholas. It's inevitable! Who besides Christ Himself is so famous as St. Nicholas? Of course here in the West and Far West we think of him as a roly-poly fat guy who over-indulges on warm milk and cookies left by thoughtful children before they drift off to slumber, but hey, either way St. Nicholas is a part of our traditions however milk-toast they have become.
My personal favorite tale, be it true or not, is the story of Ol' Nick at the Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325AD. He was so frustrated at the heresies coming from the mouth of Arius that he slapped, hit, punched or otherwise knocked him out! To that extent, he was shut into a cell that night, stripped of his priestly vestments and on his way to certain excommunication when the Virgin Mary visited him in his cell. So kind was she that she gave him some new vestments. In the morning the guards saw and told the others, who after listening more to Arius thought better of Nicholas' defense and set him free. St. Nicholas was finally vindicated in the end (another story) and survives as one of the most warmly venerated saints of the church next to the Theotokos.

Holy Saint Nicholas of Myra, pray for our souls.