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St. Nektarios of Aegina
A 20th-Century Saint
Commemorated on November 9
St. Nektarios of Aegina, is one of the most widely known of Greek Orthodox Saints. He was born on October
1st, 1846 in Silyvria, in Asia Minor (now Turkey). At Holy Baptism he was given the name Anastasios. His
parents were simple pious Christians. They brought him up in a manner pleasing to God, and did what their very limited means
allowed for his formal education. Having completed elementary school in his hometown, he left for the great city of Constantinople
at the age of 14. There, he found employment as a shop assistant and was able to earn a meager living. As well as regularly
attending Divine Liturgy, he also read the Holy Scriptures and Writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church on a daily basis.
From his wide reading, the young Anastasios made a collection of wise sayings, which he fervently spread to the customers
of his store by writing them on the paper used to wrap their goods. He was selected to teach the lower grades of the orphanage
of the All-Holy Sepulchre in Constantinople. This allowed hime to continue his studies, he longed to become
a Theologian. In 1866, at the age of 20, Anastasios went to the island of Chios, where he was appointed a teacher. After 7
years, he entered into the local monastery, under the care of the venerable elder Pachomios. After 3 years as a novice Anastasios
was tonsured a Monk and given the name Lazarus. A year later, he was ordained a Deacon and received the name Nektarios. Elder Pachomios, and a wealthy local benefactor convinced the young monk to complete his school studies
in Athens. From there Deacon Nektarios went Alexandria, where he was cared for the Patriarch of Alexandria, Sophronios. The
Patriarch insisted that Nektarios complete his Theological studies, and so in 1885 he graduated from the School of Theology
in Athens. The Patriarch of Alexandria ordained Deacon Nekatrios to the Priesthood in 1886. His great service to the Church,
prolific writing and teachings, energy and zeal led Fr. Nektarios to be ordained as the Metropolitan of Pentapolis in Egypt.
As a Metropolitan he was greatly admired and loved by his flock for his virtue and purity of life. But this
great admiration by the people aroused the envy of certain high officials, who plotted and succeeded in having the Blessed
Metropolitan removed from office in 1890. - without a trial or any explanation whatsoever. He returned tio Greece to become
a monk and Preacher, to the great edification of the people. There the Blessed Metropolitan continued to write his now famous
books. In 1894, St. Nektarios became Director of the Riarios Ecclesiastical School, where he was to remain for 15 years. As
an educator, the chief concern of the venerable Hierarch was to incite and guide youth to become good Christians. His fifteen
years at Rizarios were also productive for the writing of many more books and teachings.
In 1904, our Saint founded a monastery for women in Aegina, the Holy Trinity Convent. Under his guidance
the Convent florished. In 1908, the Blessed Nektarios, at the age of 62, retired from the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School and
withdrew to Holy Trinity Convent in Aegina. There, for the rest of his life as a true monk and ascetic. He served as a confessor
and spiritualguide tothe nuns andeven priests from as far as Athens and Piraeus. His Holy and pious life shone forth like
a guiding light to all near him. Many would come to him for healing. Saint Nektarios was a great Wonderworker even while alive.
On September 20, 1920 one of the nuns took him to the local hospital, in spite of his protest. He was convulsing
in pain from a long-standing ailment. He was admitted, and placed into a ward reserved for the poor and unwanted. There he
stayed for two months among the sick and dying. At 10:30 in the evening of November 8th, although in the midst of terrible
pains, in peace and at prayer he gave up his spirit unto God at the age of 74.
As soon as the Saint gave up his Spirit, a nurse came to prepare him for transfer to Aegina for burial.
As the nurse removed the Saints sweater, she inadvertently placed it on the next bed, on which a paralytic lay. And O,
strange wonder!, the paralytic immediately began to regain his strength and arose from his bed healthy, and glorifying God.
Some time after his repose, strangely a beautiful fragrance was emitted by his Holy body, filling the room.
Many came to venerate his Holy relics prior to his burial. With amazement, people noted a fragrant fluid that drenched his
hair and beard. Even after 5 months, when the nuns of the convent opened the Saints grave to buld a marble tomb, they found
the Saint intact in every respect and emitted a wonderful and heavenly fragrance. Similarly three years later, the Holy Relics
were still whole and radiating the same heavenly fragrance.
Many people had regarded Nektarios as a Saint whilst he was still alive, because of his purity of life,
his virtues, the nature of his publications, his gift of foreknowledge and the miracles he performed. The recognition of him
as a Saint spread rapidly after his repose. God confirmed the Sanctity of Nektarios at his repose and by the miracles attributed
to the Saint after his respose. The Orthodox Church proclaimed him as a Saint on April 20, 1961. His Blessed memory is celebrated
by the Church on November 9th.
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia website
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| The Monastery of Saint Nectarios on the island Aegina, Greece |
St. Katherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria
November 25
Saint Catherine, who
was from Alexandria, was the daughter of Constas (or Cestus). She was an exceedingly beautiful maiden, most chaste, and illustrious
in wealth, lineage, and learning. By her steadfast understanding, she utterly vanquished the passionate and unbridled soul
of Maximinus, the tyrant of Alexandria; and by her eloquence, she stopped the mouths of the so-called philosophers who had
been gathered to dispute with her. She was crowned with the crown of martyrdom in the year 305. Her holy relics were taken
by Angels to the holy mountain of Sinai, where they were discovered many years later; the famous monastery of Saint Catherine
was originally dedicated to the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord and the Burning Bush, but later was dedicated to Saint Catherine.
According to the ancient usage, Saints Catherine and Mercurius were celebrated on the 24th of this month, whereas the holy
Hieromartyrs Clement of Rome and Peter of Alexandria were celebrated on the 25th. The dates of the feasts of these Saints
were interchanged at the request of the Church and Monastery of Mount Sinai, so that the festival of Saint Catherine, their
patron, might be celebrated more festively together with the Apodosis of the Feast of the Entry of the Theotokos. The Slavic
Churches, however, commemorate these Saints on their original dates.
source: GOArch
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| St. Catherine (icon: www.comeandseeicons.com) |
A Profile of a Martyr of the 20th-Century:
Saint Philoumenos the New Hieromartyr of Jacob's Well
New martyr Archimandrite Philoumenos (Hasapis)(Greek: Π. Φιλουμενος
ο Κυπριος , also Π. Φιλουμενος
Ορουντιωτης ), October 15, 1913 - November 16, 1979, was the
Igumen of the Greek Orthodox monastery of Jacob's Well near the city of Samaria, now called Nablus (Neapolis), in the
West Bank.
In a Synodal decision the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem classified him in its Hagiologion at its
50th Session on September 11, 2009. He was officially glorified by the the Patriarchate of Jerusalem on November 29, 2009 (Old Style), and is commemorated by the Church on November 16/29. His
Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus III presided at the Divine Liturgy, along with the bishops of the Patriarchal see of Jerusalem and a number of bishops from the
Church of Cyprus, in addition to a delegation from the Russian Church.
The life of Father Philoumenos is an example that martyrdom for Christ is not of the past from the Roman Empire or Communist
times, but is a reality even in our own day.
Martyrdom
The crowning moment of Father Philoumenos’ earthly pilgrimage came on November 16/29, 1979 at the shrine built on
the site of Jacob's Well. The Saint experienced a martyric death at the hands of extremist Jewish Zionists who massacred him
with an ax in the evening, while he was performing Vespers at the Well of Jacob where he lived as a loyal guardian of the
Holy Places and centuries old way of life.
The week before his martyrdom, a group of fanatical Zionists had come to the monastery at Jacob's Well, claiming it as
a Jewish holy place and demanding that all crosses and icons be removed. Of course, the Saint pointed out that the floor upon
which they were standing had been built by Emperor Constantine before 331 A.D. and had served as an Orthodox Christian holy
place for sixteen centuries before the Israeli State was created, and had been in Samaritan hands eight centuries before that.[ The group left with threats, insults and obscenities of the kind which local Christians
suffer regularly.
After a few days, on November 16/29, 1979, during a torrential downpour, a group broke into the monastery. The saint had
already put on his epitrachelion for Vespers.
- "They burst into the monastery and with a hatchet butchered Archimandrite Philoumenos in the form of a cross. With one
vertical stroke they clove his face, with another horizontal stroke they cut his cheeks as far as his ears. His eyes were
plucked out. The fingers of his right hand were cut into pieces and its thumb was hacked off. These were the fingers with
which he made the sign of the Cross. The murderers were not content with the butchering of the innocent monk, but proceeded
to desecrate the church as well. A crucifix was destroyed, the sacred vessels were scattered and defiled, and the church was
in general subjected to sacrilege of the most appalling type."
The piecemeal chopping of the three fingers with which he made the Sign of the Cross showed that he was tortured in an
attempt to make him renounce his Orthodox Christian Faith.
The body of the Saint was handed over to the Orthodox 6 days after his massacre, but retained its flexibility and was buried
in the cemetery of Mount Zion. Saint Philoumenos served in the Holy Land for 46 years
(1933-1979). After four years his body was exhumed, as is customary among Greek monks. It was found to be substantially incorrupt
and had the smell of a beautiful scent. Then the tomb was closed and was reopened during the Christmas season of 1984.
Glorification
On November 17/30, Patriarch Diodorus of Jerusalem, accompanied by various Greek bishops, archimandrites, clergymen and
monastics, opened the grave. The coffin was reverently removed from its grave in the cemetery of the Brotherhood of the Holy
Sepulcher on Mount Sion, and, when the shroud was lifted off, the relics were found to be substantially incorrupt. The remains
were rinsed with wine, and then wrapped in a sheet. A short memorial service was then chanted.
Hieromartyr Philoumenos was ranked among the Saints of the Church of Jerusalem on August 17/30, 2008, and from that time,
his incorrupt body was transferred to the pilgrimage site of Saint Jacob's Well where he had found martyrdom for the love
of Christ.
source: OrthodoxWiki
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St. Gregory Palamas
Commemorated on November 14
The teaching of St. Gregory is so fundamental to Orthodoxy that he is especially commemorated
each year in Great Lent on the Sunday following the Sunday of Orthodoxy (as well as on Nov. 14); Bishop Kallistos observes
in the English edition of the Philokalia, "his successful defence of the divine and uncreated character of the light
of Tabor...(is) seen as a direct continuation of the preceding celebration, as nothing, less than a renewed Triumph of Orthodoxy."
The son of a prominent family, St. Gregory was born (1296) and raised in Constantinople.
At about age twenty, he abandoned a promising secular career to become a monk on Mt. Athos.(His family joined him en masse:
two of his brothers went with him to the Holy Mountain; at the same time his widowed mother, two of his sisters, and many
of the household servants also entered monastic life.) He spent next twenty years living as a hermit, spending five days a
week in complete solitude, then joining the brethren on weekends for the Divine Liturgy and its accompanying services.
Around 1335 he was called to live a much more public life in defense of the
faith and spirituality of the Church. A Greek living in Italy, Barlaam the Calabrian, had launched an attack on the hesychastic
spirituality of the Church. Fundamentally, Barlaan]m denied that man can attain to a true vision of God Himself, or true union
with Him, in this life. Gregory, recognizing in this an attack on the Christian faith itself, responded. He even left the
Holy Mountain and re-settled in Constantinople so as better to wage the struggle, which had become so public that a Church
Council was called to settle the issue. St. Gregory views were affirmed, and Barlaam's condemned, at the Council of Constantinople
of 1341.
Though Barlaam himself returned to Italy, a series of his followers continued the attack,
eventually resulting in two more Council in 1347 and 1351, both of which affirmed the hesychasts' position. Metropolitan Hierotheos
(The Mind of the Orthodox Church) writes that these councils have "all the marks of an Ecumenical Council;" This,
along with the fact that St. Gregory's view are affirmed in the Synodikon of second Sunday of Great Lent, makes clear that
his teaching is a basic and indispensable part of the Orthodox Faith.
In 1347, St. Gregory was consecrated Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, where he served until
his repose. (He spent a year of this period as the prisoner of Turkish pirates). Despite (or due to?) his austere monastic
background, he was revered by his flock: immediately after his respose in 1359, popular veneration of him sprang up in Thessaloniki,
Constantinople and Mt. Athos and, in 1368, only nine yearsafter his death, the Church officially glorified him as a saint.
St. Gregory was always clear that unceasing mental prayer is not a special calling of
monastics, but is possible and desirable for every Christian in every walk of life. See his "On the Necessity of Constant
Prayer for all Christians."
Source: www.abbamoses.com
 St. John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria
Commemorated on November 12
He was born of wealthy parents in Cyprus and became a widower.
As all his children died, he used his wealth to help the poor. When he was elected patriarch of Alexandria he immediately
asked to see a list of his masters. When asked, "What masters?" he said he wanted to see a list of the poor who needed his
help. He built hospitals and visited the sick himself. He was a man of peace and humility. One day he had to excommunicate
two clergy who had a fist fight with each other. One bore it humbly but the other resented John. The next Sunday, as the patriarch
was serving liturgy, the deacon began the offertory prayer for the gifts and John remembered the lord's words, "If you bring
your gift to the altar and there remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go
your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift." He told his deacon to keep on saying the
offertory prayer until he returned and then he left the altar. He sent to have the resentful cleric brought to meet him in
the vestry. There, in full vestments, the aged patriarch fell on his knees before the cleric, bowed down, and said, "Forgive
me, my brother!" The man, ashamed of himself, flung himself at the patriarch's feet and, weeping, asked hims pardon. They
embraced in peace and the patriarch returned to the altar to continue with the liturgy.
When the Persians invaded Egypt, John fled home to his native Cyprus. He fell ill
on the way and died in his native town in 620 at the age of sixty-four. He ruled his patriarchal see for ten years.
Source: "A Daily Calendar of Saints" by Rev. Lawrence R. Farley
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| St. Matthew (www.comeandseeicons.com) |
St. Matthew the Apostle & Evangelist
Commemorated on November 16
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originallynamed Levi. He was a tax-collector
(an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was
one of the disciples.
After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring
the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time,
in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later,this book was translated into Greek by St. James,
the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived.
Later, St. Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river)
to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. When he is depicted in icons, there is portrayed next him the likeness of a man,
one of the symbolic living creatures mentioned by Ezekiel (1.10), which, as Saint Irenaeus writes, is a symbol of our Saviour's
Incarnation.
Saint Stylianus of Paphlagonia
Commemorated on November 26
Saint Stylianus was born in Paphlagonia
of Asia Minor sometime between the fourth and sixth centuries. He inherited a great fortune from his parents when they died,
but he did not keep it. He gave it away to the poor according to their need, desiring to help those who were less fortunate.
Stylianus left the city and went to a monastery, where he devoted his life to God. Since he was more zealous and devout
than the other monks, he provoked their jealousy and had to leave. He left the monastery to live alone in a cave in the wilderness,
where he spent his time in prayer and fasting.
The goodness and piety of the saint soon became evident to the inhabitants
of Paphlagonia, and they sought him out to hear his teaching, or to be cured by him. Many were healed of physical and mental
illnesses by his prayers.
St Stylianus was known for his love of children, and he would heal them of their infirmities.
Even after his death, the citizens of Paphlagonia believed that he could cure their children. Whenever a child became sick,
an icon of St Stylianus was painted and was hung over the child's bed.
At the hour of his death, the face of St Stylianus
suddenly became radiant, and an angel appeared to receive his soul.
Known as a protector of children, St Stylianus
is depicted in iconography holding an infant in his arms. Pious Christians ask him to help and protect their children, and
childless women entreat his intercession so that they might have children. (source: OCA)
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| Icon by comeandseeicons.com |
St. Andrew the Apostle, the First-Called
November 30
St. Andrew, the first who was called to be an apostle of Christ. A native
of Bethsaida, he was the elder brother of St. Peter and a fisherman with him on the sea of Galilee. He was a disciple of St.
John the Baptizer (John 1:36ff.) and through John's witness of Jesus, Andrew became Jesus' first follower, believing Him to
be the Messiah.
When Christ called Andrew and Peter from their life as fishermen to
be His disciples, they immediately left all and followed Him (Matt. 4:18ff.). He was one of the Twelve and seems to have had
a special knack for engaging individuals and introducing them to Christ. Thus he brought his brother Simon to Christ (John
1:41), introduced a little lad with five loaves and two fishes to Christ (John 6:8ff.), and even, with Philip, introduced
some Greeks to Him (John 12:20-22). In his later apostolic travels, he went as far as Scythia near the Black Sea (and is therefore
hailed by Russians as their national patron) and established a church in Byzantium on his return. He then went to preach in
Greece.
He was finally martyred by being tied to an X-shaped cross, lingering for some
time and preaching to all who saw him. The martyrdom took place in Patras in Achaia. His relics were kept in Constantinople
until 1210. In the church of St. Andrew on Cephalonia a relic can be found.
St. Andrew is the patron of Scotland, Russia, Greece and fishermen. He is usually
depicted with a cross or fish.
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