BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT NEKTARIOS OF PENTAPOLIS
This year’s calendar is dedicated to one of the most beloved Saints of our times: the Wonderworker Nektarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis and the protector of the Greek island of Aegina. Nektarios was born to pious parents in Selyvria, Thrace on October 1, 1846. He worked hard putting himself through school in Constantinople and eventually became a monk on the island of Chios. Ordained to the diaconate because of his virtue, he was sent to Athens to complete his theological studies under the patronage of Patriarch Sophronios of Alexandria; who eventually ordained him to the priesthood and installed him as Metropolitan of Pentapolis, Lybia. He remained humble and was zealous in his preaching of the good news of the Gospel and the caring of his flock, who loved him very much. However, the Devil aroused jealousy in the hearts of his peers who slandered him to Sophronios. Dismissed and exiled, he returned to Athens with a heavy heart where he was despised and ignored. He never made any attempt to defend himself, putting his trust in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. He preached for several years and was appointed director of the Rizarios Theological School. There, he educated future priests, while quietly living a life of ascesis and prayer. His love of solitude and monasticism led him to the island of Aegina where he opened a convent dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Living like an angel in the flesh, the fame of his virtues and the power of his prayer drew many of the faithful to him. He died in an Athens hospital on November 8, 1920 and immediately his relics performed miracles. At the translation of his relics on September 3, 1953, his body was found to be incorrupt and fragrant. Formally recognized as a Saint in 1961, the list of his miracles continues to grow until this day. His profound and edifying, theological writings are now being translated by the Saint Nektarios Monastery, located in Roscoe. NY. The quotes in this calendar have been taken from the Saint’s work on Repentance and Confession.
–Reader Vasileios Tomaras

St Nektarios icon by Photios Kontoglou and the Sacred Tomb of the Saint on the island of Aegina, Greece.

The Tree which St Nektarios planted and the new church built in his honor on the island of Aegina, Greece.

The 2008 Orthodox Calendars were dedicated to the memory of Saint Nektarios...