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Our Father among the Saints Nectarius, bishop of Pentapolis, Wonderworker, and founder of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity on Aegina
1920
“Saint Nectarius was born in Selyvria of Thrace on October 11, 1846. After putting himself through school in Constantinople with much hard labour, he became a monk on Chios in 1876, receiving the monastic name of Lazarus; because of his virtue, a year later he was ordained deacon, receiving the new name of Nectarius. Under the patronage of Patriarch Sophronius of Alexandria, Nectarius went to Athens to study in 1882; completing his theological studies in 1885, he went to Alexandria, where Patriarch Sophronius ordained him priest on March 23, 1886 in the Cathedral of Saint Sabbas, and in August of the same year, in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Cairo, made him Archimandrite. Archimandrite Nectarius showed much zeal both for preaching the word of God, and for the beauty of God’s house. He greatly beautified the Church of Saint Nicholas in Cairo, and years later, when Nectarius was in Athens, Saint Nicholas appeared to him in a dream, embracing him and telling him he was going to exalt him very high.
“On January 15, 1889, in the same Church of Saint Nicholas, Nectarius was consecrated Metropolitan of Pentapolis in eastern Libya, which was under the jurisdiction of Alexandria. Although Nectarius’ swift ascent through the degrees of ecclesiastical office did not affect his modesty and childlike innocence, it aroused the envy of lesser men, who convinced the elderly Sophronius that Nectarius had it in his heart to become Patriarch. Since the people loved Nectarius, the Patriarch was troubled by the slanders. On May 3, 1890, Sophronius relieved Metropolitan Nectarius of his duties; in July of the same year, he commanded Nectarius to leave Egypt.
“Without seeking to avenge or even to defend himself, the innocent Metropolitan left for Athens, where he found that accusations of immorality had arrived before him. Because his good name had been soiled, he was unable to find a position worthy of a bishop, and in February of 1891 accepted the position of provincial preacher in Euboia; then, in 1894, he was appointed dean of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens. Through his eloquent sermons, his unwearying labours to educate fitting men for the priesthood, his generous almsdeeds despite his own poverty, and the holiness, meekness, and fatherly love that were manifest in him, he became a shining light and a spiritual guide to many. At the request of certain pious women, in 1904 he began the building of his convent of the Holy Trinity on the island of Aegina while yet dean of the Rizarios School; finding later that his presence there was needed, he took up his residence on Aegina in 1908, where he spent the last years of his life, devoting himself to the direction of his convent and to very intense prayer; he was sometimes seen lifted above the ground while rapt in prayer. He became the protector of all Aegina, through his prayers delivering the island from drought, healing the sick, and casting out demons. Here also he endured wicked slanders with singular patience, forgiving his false accusers and not seeking to avenge himself. Although he had already worked wonders in life, an innumerable multitude of miracles have been wrought after his repose in 1920 through his holy relics, which for many years remained incorrupt. There is hardly a malady that has not been cured through his prayers; but Saint Nectarius is especially renowned for his healings of cancer for sufferers in all parts of the world.” (Great Horologion)
Holy martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius of Ephesus
The Holy Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius of Ephesus suffered for Christ during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian in the early fourth century. Onesiphorus is mentioned by Saint Paul in the Second Epistle to Timothy, where the Apostle prays, "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain" (2 Timothy 1:16). Tradition numbers him among the Seventy and identifies him as a bishop, ordained either at Colophon or Cyrene. Porphyrius was his servant and faithful companion in the work of the Gospel.
When persecution broke out, both were arrested at Ephesus and brought before the magistrates. They confessed Christ openly and refused to offer sacrifice to idols. The judges subjected them to severe scourgings and burned their bodies with iron and fire, but the martyrs endured everything without renouncing their faith. Finally they were tied behind wild horses, which dragged them over rocks and stones until both yielded their souls to God.
The faithful gathered up their broken remains and reverently buried them, and a portion of their relics was later translated to other Christian centres. Their memory is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on 9 November.
Saint Nektarios, metropolitan of Pentapolis and wonderworker of Aegina
Saint Nektarios, baptised Anastasios Kephalas, was born on 1 October 1846 in Selymbria in eastern Thrace to poor and pious parents, Dimos and Maria. From his earliest years he loved prayer and the divine services. At fourteen he travelled to Constantinople to seek work and education, and at twenty he moved to the island of Chios as a teacher. On 7 November 1876, at the age of thirty, he was tonsured a monk at the Nea Moni Monastery on Chios and given the name Nektarios. He continued his studies and was eventually ordained priest, and in 1889 was consecrated by the Patriarchate of Alexandria as Metropolitan of Pentapolis, with responsibility for preaching, teaching, and pastoral oversight in the Egyptian metropolis.
His holiness of life and great popularity with the laity stirred up jealousy among certain clergy of the patriarchal court, who slandered him as ambitious of the patriarchal throne. Without any formal trial Nektarios was suspended from his office and sent away from Egypt. He bore this injustice in silence, returning to Greece, where for many years he taught and served as director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens, training future priests in true piety and learning.
In 1904, at the request of several spiritual daughters, he founded the Holy Trinity Monastery for women on the island of Aegina, and in December 1908 retired there to live out the rest of his life as a simple monk among the sisters. He cared for them as a true father, working with his hands, hearing confessions, and writing many pastoral and theological works.
Suffering from prostate cancer in his old age, he was taken to a hospital in Athens, where he reposed on the night of 8 to 9 November 1920 at the age of seventy-four. Innumerable miracles followed his repose. His body, when his grave was opened some years later, was found whole and incorrupt and gave forth a sweet fragrance. He was glorified as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 20 April 1961, and is one of the most beloved wonderworkers of the modern Orthodox world, especially invoked by those suffering from cancer and other grave illnesses.
Venerable Matrona, abbess of Constantinople
Saint Matrona was born in the fifth century in the city of Perge in Pamphylia in Asia Minor. While still young she was given in marriage to a wealthy man named Dometian, and bore him a daughter, Theodota. Together with her family she settled in Constantinople. Although outwardly engaged in family life, her heart yearned for prayer and asceticism, and from the age of twenty-five she would spend whole days in the churches of the imperial city, weeping for her sins and meditating on the divine services.
After much inner struggle she resolved to forsake the world. She entrusted her daughter to a pious eldress named Susanna, cut off her hair, dressed herself in men's clothing, and presented herself at the monastery of Saint Bassion as the eunuch Babylos. She was received as a brother and laboured among the monks unrecognised, surpassing them in obedience and humility. When her secret was at last revealed to Saint Bassion, he sent her to a women's monastery in Emesa.
Hearing that her former husband Dometian was searching for her, she fled first to Jerusalem, then to Mount Sinai, and finally to Beirut, where she settled in a deserted pagan temple and led many of the local people from idolatry to Christ, gathering a small community of women around her. After learning of Dometian's death she returned to Constantinople, where with the blessing of Saint Bassion she founded a women's monastery known for its strict rule. She governed her sisters for many years with great wisdom and worked many miracles. At the age of one hundred she blessed her community and reposed peacefully in the Lord, around the middle of the sixth century.
Venerable Theoctista of Lesbos
Saint Theoctista was born in Methymna on the island of Lesbos in the early ninth century. Orphaned in childhood, she was placed by her relatives in a women's monastery, where she was raised in prayer and the reading of holy scripture. At the age of about eighteen, while visiting her sister in a nearby village to celebrate the feast of Pascha, she was seized along with her sister and others by Saracen pirates who had landed on the island.
The captives were taken first to the small island of Paros, where the slavers planned to divide their plunder. Theoctista escaped from her captors and hid herself in the centre of the island in an abandoned church near the ruined city, today known as the Panagia Ekatontapyliani. There, in complete solitude, she lived for thirty-five years on the wild herbs of the island, sustained by prayer and the grace of God.
In old age she was discovered by a hunter who had landed on Paros to chase wild game and had taken refuge for the night in the church. Theoctista revealed herself to him, asked him to bring her at his next visit a portion of the consecrated Holy Gifts, and after receiving Communion from him on his return she gave thanks and reposed in the Lord. The hunter buried her body, and finding that he could not leave the island while he kept her relics, returned them to the grave.
Her memory is celebrated on 9 November and also on 22 November, especially on the island of Paros, where she is held in great veneration.
Our Venerable Father John the Dwarf
4th c.
He lived in the desert of Skete (Scetis) in Egypt during the fourth century, the golden age of the Desert Fathers. Nothing is known of his life in the world. He spent many years as the disciple of Abba Ammoes, who was very severe with him. Once the Elder took a dry stick, stuck it in the sand, and commanded John to water it every day until it bore fruit. Though this was plainly impossible, John performed the task uncomplainingly, walking a great distance to fetch the water, for three years. At the end of that time, the stick bore fruit. Abba Ammoes brought it to church the following Sunday and called out to the brethren, “Come and eat the fruit of obedience!” Though he had never praised or thanked his disciple, before he died Abba Ammoes said of John, “He is an angel, not a man.” After his elder’s repose, Abba John withdrew further into the desert, devoting all his time to vigil and prayer. As he prayed he would weave baskets, which he sold to meet his few needs. Sometimes he was so rapt in prayer that he would keep weaving until the basket reached an absurd size, filling his cell.
When, after many years, Abba John was delivered from all evil thoughts, Abba Poemen (commemorated August 27) told him to pray to God for another temptation to struggle against, for only in this way does the soul make progress. He rejoiced when he was insulted, was never known to be angry with anyone, and would run away as fast as he could if he ever saw men quarreling. He reposed in peace.
“Pray earnestly with compunction and vigilance. Pay no attention to the faults of others. Do not measure yourself against other people, for you are lower than every creature.” — Abba John the Dwarf
Our Holy Mother Matrona
492
She was from Perga in Pamphylia, and married very young, to a youth named Domitian, to whom she bore a daughter. The couple settled in Constantinople. Matrona became so constant in attending all-night vigils in the city’s many churches that her husband suspected her of infidelity and forbade her to go out. This was unbearable to Matrona, who fled the house with her daughter. Determined to embrace monastic life, she gave her daughter into the care of a nun named Susanna, disguised herself as a eunuch, and entered the monastery of St Bassian (October 10) under the name of Babylas. Though she amazed all with her zeal and ascetic labors, Bassian one day discerned that she was a woman. Though he reprimanded her severely, he was unwilling to drive her away from monastic life because of her zeal; so he directed her to go to Emesa in Syria to enter a women’s monastery there.
Matrona continued to advance in the virtues, and once healed a blind man by anointing his eyes with myrrh from the head of St John the Baptist (which had been miraculously discovered around that time). The miracle became widely-known, and because of it Matrona’s husband learned of her whereabouts. When he came to her monastery she escaped to Jerusalem, but he pursued her there too. She fled from place to place, even living for several years in an abandoned pagan temple in Beirut, where she was constantly assaulted by the demons that inhabited the place. In time several pagan women, seeing her struggles, asked to be her disciples, and a small monastic community sprang up in the pagan temple. After a few years she and her disciples made their way back to to Constantinople, where St Bassian received her joyfully and helped her to establish a monastery. There she was visited by the Empress Verina, wife of Leo the Great, and many other noblewomen of the City, some of whom left all to join Matrona in monastic life. Saint Matrona lived to be almost one hundred years old and reposed in peace, having foretold the day of her death.
Saint Symeon Metaphrastes
960
He was born in Constantinople, and through his exceptional intellect and learning rose to the rank of Logothete (Imperial Counselor), serving under three successive Emperors. He was so successful in negotiating with the Arabs who had occupied Crete that the Emperor Basil II asked him to name his own reward. Symeon asked only that he be allowed to retire from public service and become a monk. The Emperor, though sad to lose such a valuable counselor, let him go, asking that he pray for his sins.
In monastic life, Symeon continued to apply his gifts of learning: from scattered manuscripts and earlier anthologies, he assembled a collection of Lives of almost 150 Saints, a work which forms the basis of the Synaxaria in use today. He also compiled a Universal Chronicle and edited the treatises of several Fathers of the Church. Because of his skilled and diligent labors, he is called Metaphrastes, meaning ‘Translator’ or ‘editor’. He is the author of many beautiful prayers still in regular use today (one is found in the Prayers of Preparation for Communion). At his repose, a sweet-smelling and healing myrrh flowed from his body.