All the people of the city wanted to join in the festivities of Nicholas’ consecration as Bishop of Myra. There was one young mother who was about to bathe her baby when she heard the ringing of the cathedral bells. Quickly she put her best dress on and ran to the church, but in her excitement she forgot about her little baby, who was still in the bathtub. In those days, water for a bath was heated by placing the filled bathtub over a low fire.
There was a great assembly of priests and bishops at the altar of the cathedral, and the bishops all laid their hands upon Nicholas and that made him a bishop. The young mother, filled with reverence, joined all the people in singing the hymns of praise. She still did not think about her baby whom she had left at home.
As she entered the house, smoke and steam overwhelmed her, and suddenly she remembered her baby. In terror, imagining him burned to death, she pulled open the door, only to find him sitting in the bath, very happy and quite unharmed. She picked him up and embraced him, and then she knelt down to thank God that Nicholas had saved her baby’s life.