Saint Nektarios
“Saint Nektarios loved to pray quietly and to forgive anyone who hurt him.”
Who was this saint?.
Saint Nektarios was a kind bishop who lived in Greece about a hundred years ago. He was famous for being gentle, patient, and very close to God. Even when people said mean and untrue things about him, he did not fight back. He just kept praying, teaching, and helping people. After he died, God worked many miracles through him, and people still ask for his prayers today when they are sick.
A saint's story.
Here is the story of a poor boy who grew up to become one of the most loved saints in the Orthodox Church.
A little prayer.
A short prayer you can say:
Holy Saint Nektarios,
you were gentle when others were unkind,
and you trusted God with all your heart.
Please pray for me, for everyone I love,
and for all who are sick.
Help me to be kind and quiet like you.
Amen.
Did you know?.
Little things to remember about Saint Nektarios:
A letter to Jesus
As a poor boy, he mailed a letter addressed to the Lord — and God answered through a kind neighbor.
Bible verses in packages
He copied Scripture onto the wrapping paper at the tobacco shop so customers would find God's words at home.
Silent when hurt
When people told lies about him, he never argued back. He just kept praying.
The island of Aegina
He rebuilt an old monastery on the Greek island of Aegina with his own hands.
Friend of the sick
Many people who are sick, especially with cancer, ask for his prayers and are helped.
A modern saint
He was added to the list of saints by the Church in 1961, not that long ago!
For grown‑ups
Saint Nektarios of Aegina (1846–1920) is one of the most beloved saints of the modern Orthodox Church. His life offers children a powerful, age‑appropriate witness to humility: a bishop who was publicly slandered, stripped of his ministry, and exiled without a hearing, and who refused to defend himself even once.
Two themes are worth discussing with older children: the reality of injustice even inside the Church, and the truth that holiness is vindicated in God's own time. The miracle of the paralytic healed by his sweater may need gentle framing — God works wonders through the holy things of His saints because He loves us. Saint Nektarios was glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on April 20, 1961, and is especially invoked by those suffering from cancer.
Meet more saints.
More Orthodox saints you can meet: