Saint Nektarios of AeginaMetropolitan of Pentapolis · the Wonderworker
3 September (New Calendar) · 16 September (Old Calendar) · translation of relics
A humble bishop, slandered and cast out, who bore every injustice in silence, and was revealed after death as one of the great healers of the modern Church, especially of those who suffer from cancer.
- Born
- 1 October 1846 · Selymbria, Thrace
- Reposed
- 8 November 1920 · Athens (buried at Aegina)
- Glorified
- 1961 · Ecumenical Patriarchate
- Patron of
- The sick · invoked against cancer
- Relics
- Holy Trinity Convent, Aegina
The Life in Brief
Born to a poor family in Selymbria in Thrace in 1846, Nektarios worked his way from penniless clerk to monk of Chios, and was consecrated Metropolitan of Pentapolis under the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Slandered by envious clergy, he was dismissed without trial and returned to Greece, where he served for years as a humble preacher and then as dean of the Rizarios seminary in Athens, forming a generation of priests while living as an ascetic. He founded the Holy Trinity convent on Aegina and ended his days there in prayer, poverty and manual labour, reposing in a charity ward in 1920. Healings began at his deathbed and have never ceased; he was glorified in 1961, and the faithful turn to him above all in sickness, especially cancer.
Troparion & Kontakion
O faithful, let us honour Nektarios, offspring of Silivria and guardian of Aegina, who appeared in these last years as a true friend of virtue. Every kind of healing wells forth for those who in faith cry out: Glory to Christ who glorified you; glory to Him who made you wondrous; glory to Him who works through you healings for all.
Let us who love the Lord praise the newly-revealed star of Orthodoxy and the new-built rampart of the Church; for glorified by the working of the Spirit, he pours out the abundant grace of healings upon those who cry: Rejoice, Father Nektarios.
His Life
Born Anastasios Kephalas to a poor family in Ottoman Thrace, he went as a boy to Constantinople to work and study, copying out sayings of the saints to sell, and hungering more for learning and prayer than for bread. In time he came to Egypt, where his gifts as a preacher and his evident holiness led to his ordination and, at last, to his consecration as Metropolitan of Pentapolis under the Patriarch of Alexandria.
His very virtues made him enemies. Envious of the people's love for him, others whispered that he coveted the patriarchal throne, and on that slander he was stripped of his see and sent away. He bore the calumny without a word of complaint or self-defence, and returned to Greece in poverty, and for years served quietly as the director of a school in Athens, loved by his students, still under the shadow of the false accusation that would not be lifted in his lifetime.
In his later years he founded the Holy Trinity Convent on the island of Aegina, guiding its nuns as a gentle father. There he endured illness with the same patience he had shown injustice, and reposed in an Athens hospital in 1920. From his burial an unfading fragrance and a stream of healings began, and the man cast out in dishonour was glorified by the Church in 1961. Today he is among the most beloved and most invoked of all modern saints. Countless testimonies name him the healer of the sick, and above all of those afflicted with cancer.
Readings for the Feast
Hebrews 13.17–21
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
19 I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner.
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luke 6.17–23
17 He came down with them, and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
18 as well as those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and they were being healed.
19 All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out of him and healed them all.
20 He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets.
A Prayer to the Saint
O holy Hierarch Nektarios, who in this life bore slander and sickness with the patience of Christ, and now pourest out healing upon all who call on thee: look upon us in our afflictions, comfort the sick and the sorrowing, and intercede that our souls may be saved. Amen.
His Works
No free English edition of his works exists. The English translations are all in print. Buy them below, or read the free Greek originals.
His main English editions:
- Saint Nektarios: Writings, Vol. 1 (Homilies) Buy · Bookshop Buy · Amazon
- Words of Eternal Life, Collected Works Buy · Amazon
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- On Worship in Spirit and Truth Περὶ τῆς ἐν Πνεύματι καὶ Ἀληθείᾳ Λατρείας 1885 · PD
- Christology Χριστολογία PD · via Anemi
- A Sketch Concerning Man Ὑποτύπωσις περὶ ἀνθρώπου 1893 · PD
- Historical Study of the Precious Cross Ἱστορικὴ Μελέτη περὶ τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ 1914 · PD
- On the Sacred Memorial Services Τὰ Ἱερὰ Μνημόσυνα 1892 · PD
- Agni Parthene ("O Virgin Pure"), his hymn to the Theotokos from the Theotokarion (1905). Text (public domain)
Further Reading
- Saint Nektarios: The Saint of Our Century · Sotos Chondropoulos biography
Buy · Holy Trinity (Jordanville)In print
Sources
Everything on this page, and where it came from.
- Life
- Our own prose; facts from the standard published Lives of St Nektarios.
- Summary
- Written for Orthopray from the life above.
- Feast and rank
- Commemoration dates from the Jordanville calendar (holytrinityorthodox.com), Orthopray's Greek saints overlay, the OCA calendar (orthocal.info) + this saint's own record, sourced field by field above; church-to-civil date conversion by Orthopray.
- Prayer
- Original prayer written for Orthopray (all four languages).
- Readings
- The appointed hierarch readings (Hebrews 13:17-21; Luke 6:17-23), as on the other hierarch pages.
- Kindred saints
- Editorial selection: fellow wonderworkers and healers.
- Further reading
- Each title links to the publisher or library named with it. azbyka.ru · politeianet.gr · churchsupplies.jordanville.org · bibliopolio.gr
- Icon
- Wikimedia Commons; per-image licence and author in the footer.