Saint Nektarios
of Aegina, Metropolitan of Pentapolis.

The future saint was born Anastasios Kephalas on October 1, 1846, in Selybria, Thrace, to Demos and Vassiliki Kephalas, pious but poor Christians who raised a large family. From infancy he displayed a serious love of prayer and learning; his mother is said to have taught him Psalm 50, which he loved to recite aloud.

At about the age of fourteen Anastasios left Thrace for Constantinople to find work and continue his studies. Employed first in a tobacco shop, he copied out fragments of Scripture and the Fathers on the paper used to wrap goods, hoping the words would profit his customers. Later, he moved to the island of Chios, where he taught school for several years before entering the ancient monastery of Nea Moni, being tonsured a monk and given the name Lazarus, and then, on his ordination to the diaconate in 1876, the name Nektarios.

A benefactor recognized the young deacon's gifts and sent him to complete his education, first at a gymnasium in Athens and then at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens, where he graduated in 1885. Patriarch Sophronius of Alexandria took him under his patronage, ordained him to the priesthood, and appointed him to important offices in the Patriarchate. On January 15, 1889, Nektarios was consecrated Metropolitan of Pentapolis, an ancient titular see in Libya under the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

His learning, gentleness, and popularity among the Orthodox faithful of Egypt soon excited the jealousy of certain members of the patriarchal court, who accused him of ambitions against the patriarchal throne. Without trial or canonical hearing, he was relieved of his duties and expelled from Egypt. The saint never spoke a word in his own defense; he departed in silence, bearing his humiliation as a cross for the rest of his life.

Returning to Greece in 1891, he served first as a humble preacher in Euboea and then, from 1894 until his retirement in 1908, as director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens, where he trained a generation of Greek priests and produced many works of theology, ethics, and liturgical scholarship.

In 1904 Saint Nektarios founded the Holy Trinity Convent on the island of Aegina, restoring an abandoned monastery with his own hands alongside the first nuns. In December 1908, at the age of sixty-two, he resigned from the Rizarios School and withdrew to Aegina permanently, devoting himself to prayer, manual labor, the writing of spiritual works, and the spiritual direction of the sisters and of countless pilgrims who came seeking his counsel.

Even in retirement he was not spared affliction. Slanders pursued him, and in his final years he endured a painful illness of the bladder. In September 1920 he was taken to the Aretaeion Hospital in Athens, a charity ward for the poor and incurable, where he reposed peacefully at half past ten on the evening of November 8, 1920, at the age of seventy-four. When, after his death, his sweater was placed by chance upon the paralyzed man in the next bed, the paralytic immediately arose healed — the first of an unbroken stream of miracles that has never ceased.

For decades after his burial on Aegina, the saint's tomb exuded a fragrant myrrh and became a place of continuous healing. His body was found incorrupt for many years after his repose. On April 20, 1961, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople officially numbered him among the saints, fixing his feast on November 9.

Saint Nektarios is today among the most beloved saints of the Greek-speaking world and is venerated throughout the Orthodox Church. Thousands of churches, chapels, and side-altars bear his name from Greece to Australia, Africa, and the Americas, and his monastery on Aegina is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Greece. He is especially sought as an intercessor for those suffering from cancer, and innumerable healings — many extensively documented — continue to be attributed to his prayers.

Saint Nektarios of Aegina, Metropolitan of Pentapolis, is one of the most widely venerated saints of the modern Orthodox Church. Born Anastasios Kephalas in Selybria, Thrace, in 1846, he rose from the poverty of a large family to become a distinguished bishop, pedagogue, and spiritual father, whose humility in the face of slander and whose miraculous intercessions after death have made him a household name throughout the Orthodox world.

A Life of Learning and Prayer

As a boy Anastasios left his home for Constantinople to support himself and pursue an education, working as a shop assistant while studying whenever he could. He later moved to Chios, where he taught school before entering monastic life at the Nea Moni Monastery. Tonsured a monk with the name Lazarus and soon renamed Nektarios, he was ordained deacon and sent to study theology at the University of Athens with the patronage of the Patriarch of Alexandria.

Metropolitan of Pentapolis

Having impressed all who met him by his piety and learning, Nektarios was ordained a priest in Cairo and, in 1889, consecrated Metropolitan of Pentapolis, a venerable titular see of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. His popularity among the clergy and faithful, however, provoked envy in the patriarchal court. He was unjustly dismissed from his duties and expelled from Egypt — a slander he bore in silence for the rest of his life, never defending himself.

Teacher, Abbot, and Wonderworker

Returning to Greece in poverty, the saint served as a simple preacher in Euboea and then as director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens from 1894 until 1908, forming an entire generation of Greek clergy. In 1904 he founded the Holy Trinity Convent on Aegina, where he withdrew in 1908 to live a life of prayer, manual labor, and spiritual direction until his repose on November 8, 1920.

Even before his burial, miracles began to be reported at his tomb. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople formally glorified him as a saint in 1961, and he has since become known throughout the Church as a tireless intercessor — especially for the sick, for those suffering from cancer, and for all who turn to him in affliction. His monastery on Aegina remains one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Greece, where the faithful continue to receive healing and consolation through the prayers of this gentle and long-suffering hierarch.