Saint Nektarios is the Patron Saint for people who have cancer, heart trouble, arthritis, epilepsy and other sicknesses. He is a saint who has always given to others and left nothing for himself. He has been accused of steeling at a young age, lied about, laughed at and gossiped about by people who were jealous of him and insecure about themselves.
On October 1, 1846 Anastasio Kephalas was born in Eastern Selyvria of Thrace (present day Turkey). His Christian parents Dimosthenis and Vassiliki had 6 children. His mother taught him Psalm 50 which he liked to repeat: I shall teach thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee. He wanted to become a theologian and wanted to be closer to God.
Anastasios boarded a boat to Contsantinouple. He did not have money to pay, so he asked the captain to take him along, the captain refused. As the captain turned on the engine he boat would not move, everything the captain did the boat would not move. He looked up and saw the boy looking at him, so the captain said come on board. Shortly after boarding the boat started to move.
When he reached the port of Constantinouple the very next day he began to look for work. He eventually found a job, it barely paid enough for his daily meals, he walked around barefoot and with ragged clothes. He prayed to God daily for comfort. He stayed away from worldly cares and instead he built his faith and inner self in the image of Christ through prayer and meditation. While at work he noticed his employer wrote and received many letters, so he too wanted to write but had no one to write to. One day he decided to write to Jesus. “My Little Christ, I do not have an apron or shoes. Please send them to me. You know how much I love You. Anastasios “
He sealed the letter and wrote on the envelope: “To the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven.” On the way he met the owner of a merchant shop that was opposite where he worked. The man asked where the boy was going, he said to the post office. The man said give me the letter I will take it for you so you wont have to walk all the way there. He gave the man the letter and went back to work.
As he was about to mail the letter the merchant noticed the address noted on Anastasios’s letter. He opened and read it and began to cry. He put money into an envelope, addressed it anonymously and sent it off. When Anastasios received the letter he thanked God. He decided to go shop for new cloths, by doing so his employer thought he stole money from him to buy the new cloths. The shop owner across the street heard the commotion and later explained the situation.
In his 20’s and 30’s he studied, became a deacon with the new name of Nectarios and graduated from the Theology school of Athens (with the financial help from John Horemis – the uncle of a man who was on the same boat as young Anastasios).
Once be graduated, he was given higher rankings and duties. His work was perfect in every way which created trouble for him. First came the jealous (evils doings) colleagues who spread rumors that he wanted to take the Patriarchal Throne. Because Patriarch was insecure (evils doings) he believed the rumors and suspended him of his duties. Little did they know the true worth of this man. He was not a proud man, he was not ambitious for positions or for power or for glory. The Saint made no attempt to justify himself but placed all his hope in the promise of Christ who has said: Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Matt. 5:11).
Alone, ignored and dispised, he embarked for Athens. Many days he would lack even his daily bread, as he kept nothing for himself and gave all the little that he had to the poor.
Still evil did not stop, the rumors had spread in Athens, because of that Church authorities refused to give him a position in the Church of Greece. Father Nectarios was left without means of support, a stranger amongst his own, without lodging, without food, without even the most simple means of subsistence. Every day he would go to the office of the Minister of Religion so that something might be done for him and every day he was turned away. He thought about going to Mount Athos for monastic retreat but gave up the idea as he wanted to help others more than he wanted to help himself.
Many times when he was preaching, people would begin to smirk and laugh and whisper to the degree of causing commotion. At the beginning the Saint did not understand because he did not pay attention to worldly concerns. Later he understood that they were talking about him, and that they were laughing about him because of the slanders of being immoral and unethical. Thus he saw that, instead of fortifying souls, instead of edifying souls, instead of being able to really teach the Word of God, he was doing harm. The people believed the rumors, and when they heard him preach good things, they were more scandalized than if he did not preach at all. Therefore, even though he had no other means of support except this position which had been given to him, he resigned from his own will in order to not further scandalize the people, and returned to Athens. (link)
His first miracle:
Beside the bed of Agios Nektarios was a patient that had been paralyzed for years. As soon as Nektarios gave up his spirit (on November 8,1920 at 10:30 pm at the age of 74), a nurse of the hospital, together with a nun who had accompanied him, began to prepare the holy body for transportation to Aegina for burial. They removed an old sweater from him and placed it for convenience on the bed of the paralytic and continued to prepare the body. Suddenly, the paralytic patient became well and rose from his bed, praising the Lord.
There have been more than two thousand miracles attributed to the intervention of Agios Nektarios.
http://www.stnectarioschurch.
Check out the above website for more details on his life. Or read his book “Nektarios The Saint of our Century”.