Saint Nektarios
“I am building a lighthouse for you, and God will put a light in it that shall shine to the ends of the world.”
Who was this saint?.
Saint Nektarios of Aegina lived not long ago at all — he died in 1920, close enough that photographs of him still exist. He was born Anastasios Kephalas in 1846 in a Greek town called Selybria (today Silivri, in Turkey), which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. His family was so poor that at age fourteen he had to leave home to look for work, and he spent his teenage years reading Scripture whenever he could between shifts at a tobacco shop. As an adult he became a monk on the Greek island of Chios, then a priest and finally, in 1889, a bishop of the ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt. But jealous clergy told terrible lies about him, and the Patriarch sent him away without ever letting him defend himself. Nektarios never said an angry word in return. He simply went back to Greece, taught poor seminary students, and eventually founded a small convent on the island of Aegina, where he spent the rest of his life in prayer. Since his death, thousands and thousands of miracles have been reported through his prayers — so many that Orthodox Christians all over the world call him 'the Saint of Our Century.' He is especially loved by people who are sick, and he is famous for healing those with cancer."
A saint's story.
This is the true story of a poor boy who became a bishop, was betrayed by fellow clergy, forgave every one of them — and is now one of the most beloved miracle-working saints in the whole Orthodox Church.
A little prayer.
A short prayer you can say when someone you love is sick, or when someone has hurt you and you need help forgiving them.
Holy Father Nektarios,
you were slandered, yet you forgave.
You were exiled, yet you kept praying.
You suffered pain, yet you thanked God.
Please pray for me when things are unfair,
and help me forgive people who hurt me.
Pray for everyone I know who is sick,
especially those with cancer,
that Christ our God would heal them.
Amen.
Did you know?.
Here are some surprising true things about Saint Nektarios that you might not know.
Scripture on Wrapping Paper
As a poor teenage worker in a Constantinople tobacco shop, Anastasios wrote out Bible verses and sayings of the Fathers on the paper the shop used to wrap goods, so his customers would take a bit of Scripture home with them.
The Bishop Who Cleaned Toilets
When a janitor at the Rizarios School in Athens was too sick to work and about to lose his job, Bishop Nektarios secretly did his cleaning for him — including scrubbing the toilets at night — so the man's family wouldn't go hungry.
He Wrote 'Agni Parthene'
Saint Nektarios composed the beloved Orthodox hymn to the Virgin Mary called 'Agni Parthene' ('O Pure Virgin'), which is still sung in Greek and many other languages around the world today.
The Tapping in the Tomb
Pilgrims at his monastery on Aegina often say that when they press their ear against Saint Nektarios's tomb, they can hear a knocking or tapping sound — as though he is still active on behalf of those who ask his prayers.
An Official Apology, 108 Years Later
In 1998, the Patriarchate of Alexandria — the very church that had unjustly exiled Nektarios in 1890 — formally asked the saint's forgiveness for the way his predecessors had treated him.
A Note for Grown-Ups
Saint Nektarios of Aegina (1846–1920) is one of the most beloved modern Orthodox saints, glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on April 20, 1961. His life offers powerful teaching moments for children: he responded to injustice with silence, forgiveness, and prayer, and was vindicated only after long suffering.
Two areas may need gentle context. First, the nature of the slanders against him in Egypt — false accusations of ambition and moral impropriety — is handled here at an age-appropriate level. Second, his final illness (prostate/bladder cancer and cystitis) and his death in a charity ward for the destitute are important to the story, because his very first posthumous miracle happened at that hospital bedside. He is especially invoked today by those suffering from cancer, and countless documented healings continue to be attributed to his prayers.
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