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St. Nicholas Planas (Papa Nicholas)
Commemorated on March 2
St. Nicholas was a simple parish priest in Athens, humble, poor and barely literate.
He was born on Naxos in 1851 to moderately prosperous parents; but when his father died, his mother was reduced to near-poverty,
and moved the family to Athens. St. Nicholas married at the age of seventeen, but his wife died after a short time, leaving
him with one son. He served the Divine Liturgy daily, never missing a day of fifty years, despite illness, storms, and wars.His
liturgies unfailingly lasted for several hours, mostly due to hundreds of commemorations that he included. The faithful would
give him sheets of papers containing names to be commemorated, he would carry all the sheets with him in bulging satchels.
A few of his spiritual children made it their task to go through the paper secretly and discard the oldest and most worn,
so that the commemorations would not increase without limit.
In his conversation, the Saint had a simple and childlike (his detractors
would say childish) manner, and he was widely despised by more sopisticated laymen, priests and hierarchs, never being appointed
to any but the smallest and poorest parishes. Many, however, discerned his hliness, and large synadia of spiritual
children slowly gathered around him.
Once, a very young boy ran out from the altar while Fr. Nicholas was serving
with fear, cried to his mother, 'Mama, Father Nicholas is floating in the air!' His mother, trying to comfort him, said "Don't
be afraid, all priests do that when they serve the Liturgy.' St. Nicholas was often in difficulties with the hierarchy because
he continued to keep the feasts according to the Old Calendar. Nonetheless, he never broke commumnion with the national church
(nor they with him): his humility left no room for church politics. "New Calendar' Church of Greece and their "Old Calendar'
opposition. Like St. John Maximovich, his holinesshas transcended the canonical disputes that bedevil the Church. He reposed
on March 2, 1932 (on March 2, 1884, he was ordained a priest in the church of the Holy Prophet Elisha).
Source: Orthodox Saints, www.abbamoses.com
St. Alexios the Man of God
Commemorated on March 17
Alexios (Alexis) was the only son of godly, noble and wealthy parents: Euphemianus & his wife, Agalais.
When he was of age, he was compelled to be married. But on his wedding night, he ran away and sailed to Edessa in Mesopotamia,
where the Holy Napkin, bearing the Face of Jesus, was kept. He venerated this Face, donned simple clothes and lived in poverty
for 17 years there, constantly praying on the porch of the Church of the Mother of God. His peputation grew as a holy man.
He fled from the praise of men by taking a ship bound for Laodicea. Thip ship was blown off course, and he was taken right
to Rome. Receiving this as a call from God, he returned to his parent's home and lived as a hermit in a shack in the courtyard.
He did this for 17 years without his parents or his bride (who lived there as well) knowing who he was. He graciously suffered
abuse by the servants. Just before he died, he wrote down who he was on a sheet of paper and clutched it in his hand. He breathed
his last on March 17, 411. Immmediately there was a voice heard in the Church of the Holy Apostles, where the Patriarch and
the Emperor were, saying, "Look for the Man of God." The Emperor and Pope along with their whole entourage were led by the
Spirit to the courtyard of Euphemianus' house. They found Alexis dead in the shack, his face shining like the sun. His parents
and his bride were comforted by the discovery when they realized how he had been glorified. Sweet myrrh flowed from his body
and many who touched him were healed. He was buried in coffen of marble and emerald.
Source: "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art
St. Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow, Enlightener
of the Aleuts and Apostle to the Americas
Commemorated on March 31
Innocent believed in the words of the psalm that said, "The steps of a man are rightly
ordered by the Lord." And this was the theme of the sermon that he asked to be taught at his funeral. He was a nineteenth-century
priest from the Russian village of Anginsk. Innocent believed that the heart cannot resist words of one who abounds in faith
and love, and to this end he took the word of God to as many as he could, from the most remote areas to vast continents.
He even translated the word of God into the six dialects of the local tribes on the island of Sitka, and the Yakut first heard
the word of God because of Innocent. He also translated the Gospel for the Aleuts and wrote one of the finest studies for
Orthodox missionary work, Indication of the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Innocent also helped Saint Nicholas the Apostle
to Japan with his mission work by sharing his own experiences.
Source: "2006 Daily Lives, Miracles and Wisdom of the Saints and Fasting Calendar" by The Orthodox Calendar
Company
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Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow
Commemorated on March 4
St. Daniel's Monastery was the first monastery built in Moscow. It was founded by St. Danill (St. Daniel), the Orthodox
Prince of Moscow, the youngest son of St. Aleksandr Nevsky, a figure famous in the history of the Church and State, and his
wife, the righteous Princess Vassa. St. Danill was born in 1261 in Vladimir-on-Klyazma, the capital of the grand duchy of
Vladimir. At Baptism he was named in honour of St. Daniel Stylite.
The piety, fairness and mercy of Prince Daniil won him universal respect. In 1296, he was vested with power and conferred
the title of "grand prince of all Russia."
Prince Daniil tirelessly showed concern for the people of his principility and for capital city of Moscow. On the right
bank of the Moscow River, Prince St. Danill founded in 1282 the first monastery in Moscow. It had a wooden church named in
honour of St. Daniel Stylite, his heavenly patron.
Now St. Daniil's Monastery is the center of Moscow Church events and festivties. The Monastery brought out religious
literature and lithographs devoted to the cloister's memorable and jubilee dates. Restoration work on the icons was carried
out of the restoration workshop of St. Danill's Monastery. The painters save the ancient Russian iconographical traditions.
St. John of the Ladder (Climacus)
March 30
Our venerable and God-bearing Father John Climacus (ca. 579 - 649), also known as John of the Ladder, John
Scholasticus, and John Sinaites, was a seventh century monk at St. Catherine's monastery at the base of Mount Sinai. In Greek,
his epithet is Κλιμακος (Klimakos). The Orthodox Church celebrates his feast
day on March 30.
He came to the monastery and became a novice when he was about 16 years old, and when he died in 649 he was the monastery's
abbot. He wrote a number of instructive books, the most famous of which is The Ladder of Divine Ascent. (It is because of this book that John is known as "Climacus," which means "of the ladder".) It describes how to raise one's
soul to God, as if on a ladder. This book is one of the most widely read among Eastern Orthodox Christians, especially during
the season of Great Lent which immediately precedes Pascha (Easter), and on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent he is especially
commemorated.
source: OrthodoxWiki
A 20th-Century Saint
Saint Savvas the New of Kalymnos
March 25 OC
He was born in Thrace to a poor family. Early
in life he desired to become a monk and, failing to get his parents' consent, left secretly for Mt Athos. After several years
there, he traveled to Palestine, where he entered the Monastery of St George the Chozebite. In 1903 he was ordained to the
priesthood. From 1907–1916 he lived in severe asceticism as a hermit on the banks of the Jordan. After living in several
monasteries in Greece, he served with St Nektarios of Aegina for the last year of the Saint's life (he reposed in 1920). After
six more years on Aegina, Fr Savvas moved to the island of Kalymnos, where he spent the remainder of his life. He lived in
quietness and asceticism, acquiring a reputation throughout the island as a confessor and spiritual father. He slept only
a few hours each night, and gave away any money that came to him the same day, since he believed that it was wrong for a monk
to have money in his cell after nightfall.
Saint Savvas reposed on the Old Calendar feast of the Annunciation in
1948. Innumerable miracles and healings have been wrought through his intercession. A striking example occurred in 1957: A
group of young islanders were talking about the Saint, and one of them, who doubted his sanctity, said 'If this lamp breaks
I'll believe.' At that moment the lamp shattered spontaneously.
The following account is from Mother Nectaria McLees'
Evlogeite! A pilgrim's guide to Greece: 'His last words of counsel to his nuns were, "...love... is
the bond of perfection," and to the abbess he said, "Love, love, love (Agapa, agapa, agapa)." Then he
clapped his hands six times, saying "The Lord, the Lord, the Lord..."
'In 1957 his relics were uncovered in the
presence of Metropolitan Isidoros of Kalymnos, who described them as "the bones being perfectly joined, and the vestments
intact." When the sepulchre was opened a divine and otherworldly fragrance covered the area, even to the outskirts of town
far below. In 1961, an iconographer of the Skete of Kapsokalyvia on Mount Athos painted an icon of St. Savvas at Abbess Philothei's
request. The icon arrived by ferry, and as it was being transferred from the post office to the customs house where the nuns
would pick it up, the convent bell began ringing by itself and continued until the icon was brought to the monastery.'
source: www.abbamoses.com
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