Today we commemorate St. Nektarios in the Orthodox Church. The children and I started our day by attending Divine Liturgy. In the simplest of terms, I was able to share with Sophia the story of this beloved modern-day Saint. She prayed with me and helped to light our "candili" this morning. There are so many AWESOME books and resources about St. Nektarios...I am currently reading Saint Nektarios - The Saint of our Century, by Sotos Chondropoulos. A wonderful book!
I will share with you the story of the end his life here on earth. The entire article can be found here.
"No. A bishop."
The intern laughed sarcastically. "Leave off the joking, Mother. Tell me his name so I can put it in the register."
"He is a bishop, my child. He is the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Pentapolis."
"For the first time in my life I see a bishop," muttered the intern to himself, "without Panagia, gold cross, and -- most significant of all -- without money!" "Indeed he is a bishop," repeated the nun. "The Metropolitan of Pentapolis. This metropoly belongs to the Patriarchate of Alexandria. He is the Most Reverend Nectarios Kephalas. Some time ago he left Egypt and came here, close to you, as a matter of fact, because he directed Rizarios School. For some years now, however, he has lived as a monk in the convent of the Holy Trinity on Aegina. There he became gravely ill and in spite of his protests, we brought him here." She then showed the intern his credentials which proved him to be the Metropolitan.
The intern of the hospital, amazed by everything he had heard and seen, shrugged his shoulders and told the nurses to place the sick man in a third-class room where there were several beds for the destitute. The doctors diagnosed that the sick little old man was suffering from severe systitis, a disease of the bladder. For two months the Hierarch Nectarios Kephalas lived in the midst of terrible pains, and at ten thirty in the evening of the eighth of November, 1920, in peace and at prayer he gave up his spirit unto God at the age of seventy-four.
In the final days of his life, the Saint was kept in the ward of the incurable in the midst of many poor, sick people who were about to die. Next to his bed there was a man who had been paralyzed for many years. As soon as the Saint gave up his spirit, a nurse of the hospital and the nun who had accompanied him prepared his sacred tabernacle for the transfer to Aegina for burial. For this purpose they dressed the Saint in clean clothing. When they took off the Saint's sweater, they placed it on the bed of the paralytic to get it out of their way and continued preparing the Saint's body. And O, strange wonder!, the paralytic immediately began to gain strength and arose from his bed healthy, glorifying God.
The day he reposed, the whole hospital was filled with such a fragrance that all the patients, nurses, and doctors would come out in the halls to ask where such a fragrance was coming from. For some days after, they could not use the room where they placed his relics because of the fragrance, even though they kept the windows opened, so strong was the fragrance. This room is now a chapel dedicated to the Saint.
They took his relics to Piraeus and put them in the Church of the Holy Trinity while they prepared a small, wooden coffin. From there they took him to Aegina where they gave him a simple burial at the Convent of the Holy Trinity.
Some years later, as is the custom in Greece, his grave was opened to take the relics out. When they opened the grave, what should they see but that the Saint was whole and fragrant. Not even his vestments had changed in any way. It was just as if he had fallen asleep and been buried that very day. They had not told the people of Aegina, because he had already worked many miracles and become very beloved, and a very large crowd would have gathered -- even from Athens and other places where he was known -- for the opening of his grave. So, early in the morning, as soon as they were finished with the Divine Liturgy, as it was dawning they went and began to open the grave. At the same time there was a taxi coming by on the road below the convent. Inside was a woman who had been to some resort place. She was not a woman of good repute, but of ill repute and many sins. As soon as they approached the Holy Trinity Convent, there was such a fragrance in the air that she told the driver, "Stop. What is that fragrance?" So he stopped and looked around. "Oh," he replied, "here is the convent of the Holy Nectarios. What else could such a fragrance be but that they are opening his grave today, and the fragrance is coming from the grave. For many times a fragrance came from his body before they buried him. And even from the grave it comes sometimes." Immediately she opened the door of the taxi and ran to go and see. She went up to the convent at the moment that they had opened the coffin and found the relics whole. She was very moved by this and by the fragrance, especially. She began to weep and publicly confess her sins. Thus she was corrected and became a prudent and Christian woman in her way of life. His body remained marvellously incorrupt for more than twenty years, continually distilling a delicate, heavenly scent.
But whether for our sins or some other reasons, some years later the relics of the Saint dissolved, and what we have now are his holy bones. They encased his holy head in a bishop's mitre and opened the top so one can kiss the crown of his head. The other parts of his relics, which have much fragrance, they put in a silver box. This fragrance has continued ever since to rejoice the faithful who come to venerate his precious relics with the assurance that Saint Nectarios has been received by God into the abode of the righteous. His veneration was formally recognized in 1961. The list of his miracles grows longer every day, and his shrine in Aegina has become the most popular place of pilgrimage in Greece.
Most Holy St. Nektarios, pray to God for us!
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