What virtues did Saint Nicholas practice?

St. Nicholas of Myra is best known for his charity, often secretly helping people in dire financial straits. The best known example is when Nicholas learned that a man in his village could not afford dowries so that he could marry off his three daughters. The man intended to sell them into prostitution. Nicholas went out late at night and tossed three small bags of gold into the home of the man so that his daughters would not be subjected to a life of sin and degradation.

He is also known for his strict defense of Catholic teachings. There is a story that during the Council of Nicaea he punched a heretical bishop, Arius, in the nose. Arius was teaching that Christ was not truly divine.

Nicholas also worked with the young street boys in Myra who were infamous for their thievery. He did all he could to reform these delinquents and find them an honest way to make a living. Over the years people started calling thieves by the the name of "Clerks (or Knights) of St. Nicholas."