Every day and all year round, overcoming a wide variety of obstacles, pilgrims travel to the island of Aegina. People of different ranks and ranks, poor and rich people, most of them come here to ask for help. A huge number of sick people, hysterics and epileptics. You can often hear here an akathist and a prayer to St. Nektarios the Wonderworker of Aegina. Relatives and friends of the sick come to the island, and for many this is the last hope that after a fervently said prayer , a miracle will happen and healing will occur. Some pilgrims crawl on their knees and come barefoot. Many observe strict fasting and pray with tears for several days. And there is not a single person whose prayer would not be heard.
Troparion, voice 4*
Having lived venerably, like a wise hierarch,/ you glorified the Lord/ with your virtuous life, O Reverend Nektarios./ Moreover, you glorified the Comforter with strength,/ with your divine relics,/ demons from him You heal the sick and the sick, // by faith you come.
Translation: Having lived piously, like a wise hierarch, you glorified the Lord with a virtuous life, Venerable Nektarios. Therefore, glorified by the power of the Comforter, your holy relics cast out demons and heal the sick who come to you with faith.
Saint in Russia
The saint himself died from a severe form of cancer on November 22, which is why the day of the saint’s glorification is on this day, as well as on September 16.
The veneration of Saint Nektarios of Aegina in the East is similar to the veneration of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Rus'. The prayer to Nectarius of Aegina for oncology is especially known for its ambulance and healing.
In the Children's Oncology Center in Russia, there is a chapel in which the miraculous image of St. resides. Nectaria, consecrated on the relics. Here both children and adults, and their loved ones ask the saint for healing. Many prayers to St. Nektarios of Aegina for oncology, said by patients, were heard, as evidenced by the abundance of decorations left on the icon in gratitude.
Prayer 1
Oh, myrrh-streaming head, to Saint Nektarios, the bishop of God! During the time of the great apostasy, when the world was captivated by wickedness, you shone with piety and the head of the proud Dennitsa, who wounded us, you crushed. For this reason, Christ granted to heal the incurable ulcers that have struck us for our iniquity. We believe: God the righteous will love you, and for our sake He will have mercy on you, forgive you sinners, remove you from oaths, deliver you from illness, and throughout the entire universe His name, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy One, will be fearful and glorious. of the Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages . Amen.
Monastery
At the beginning of the 20th century. The elder has a dream - he wants to found a women's monastery. And on the island of Aegina he finds an abandoned monastery. He has been working on its restoration for many years: he removes garbage, improves the territory, and does handicrafts. He was devoid of all pride, thinking only about the good of his neighbors. He constantly cared for the poor and his spiritual children. For this, the Lord rewarded him with generous spiritual gifts.
Even then, many noticed that as soon as Nektarios of Aegina said a prayer, pressing problems were resolved the next day. There were people willing to donate food or money. Many people came to the island just to get advice for their lives from the monk.
Prayer 2
Oh, Saint Nektarios, God-Wise Father! Receive, guardian of the Orthodox faith, the confession of the people named after Christ, gathered today in the temple by the grace of God living in you. The news has reached the borders of Russia, that you, the great saint of Christ among the saints, have appeared to those who call upon your name in all corners of the world and have granted healing from cancer. We have heard about the priest, your namesake and the temple in your name, who built with great sorrows. I was stricken with a cancerous chest ulcer, bleeding every day, and I suffered fiercely, but did not abandon my holy work. Suddenly you, the saint of great mercy, descended from Heaven, and you appeared to him in the temple in a visible form. He is the unseeing fellow of you who is one from mortals, asking for your prayers and saying: “I am sick, I am great, otherwise I want to restore the holy altar, so that once again the holy Liturgy I will perform this together with the parishioners; “Afterwards I am ready to die, for death does not fear me.” But you, father, are bodiless and water your face with tears! and the volume of the sufferer, kissing and the verb: “Do not grieve, my child, as you have experienced illness, you will be healthy. Everyone knows about this miracle.” He, having been healed, abiye understands, with whom you were talking, he was invisible to you. Oh, great saint of Christ Nektarios! This temple is now complete, and your miracles are like an overflowing sea, multiplying! We know that, like the prayer of a righteous person, it must be hastened by our zeal for the service of God and the determination to die for Christ, that we may find health. They pray to you, O righteous father, your sick child: may the will of God be done to us, good, acceptable and perfect, not wanting the sinner to die, but to turn and let him live. But you, the proclaimer of the will of God, healed us with your grace-filled appearance, may God be great in Heaven and on earth forever and ever! Amen.
Menea. November 9th.
- Voice in the Dictionary.
- Akathist to Saint Nektarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis, Wonderworker of Aegina.
- Another akathist to Saint Nektarios, the Wonderworker of Aegina.
Saint Nektarios of Aegina - healer and ambulance
In August 2021, the Lord visited me with a serious illness. At the beginning of September I had surgery. The operation was successful and I placed all my hope for healing on the Lord, the True Physician of our souls and bodies. Among the holy saints of God, to whom I prayed and pray for healing from illness every day, was St. Nektarios the Wonderworker of Aegina. During his lifetime, Saint Nektarios became famous for his miraculous healings, and after his blessed death it was impossible to count the benefits that the Lord bestowed through his prayers. The saint especially became famous for his miraculous healings of cancer. In a word, prayers to Saint Nektarios have firmly entered my life and the life of our entire family.
The future saint was born in 1846 near Constantinople. At baptism the boy was named Anastasy. From a very early age he was forced to work. However, there was not enough money for living and studying. One day Anastasius wrote a letter to God. In a letter that breathed with childish love for Christ, he asked the Lord to give him the most necessary things, if it was God’s will. And God's help miraculously came through one wealthy man. While still a young man, Anastasy moved to one of the Greek islands and got a job as a school teacher. However, his soul was drawn to monasticism, and Anastasius went to a monastery, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Nektarios.
In 1886, Patriarch Sophrony ordained Nektarios as hieromonk at the Alexandria Savvinsky Monastery. And in 1889, his Episcopal consecration as Bishop of Pentapolis took place with his elevation to the rank of Metropolitan. His high position did not in any way affect the saint’s lifestyle. The enemy of the human race brought persecution and the most disgusting slander against the ruler, as a result of which the saint was sent to rest. He had to leave Egypt. At the same time, Bishop Nektariy did not try to defend himself. After many trials, he takes the place of preacher in the province of Euboea.
Over time, the exiled Metropolitan gains love and respect from his new flock and, with the support of Queen Olga (granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I), receives the position of director of the theological school in Athens. God's grace begins to clearly manifest itself on the saint: people note his insight and gift of healing. With the blessing of the bishop, the Trinity Monastery for women is founded on the island of Aegina, whose nuns become his spiritual children. The entire life of the new monastery took place under the leadership of Saint Nektarios. He spent the last twelve years of his life with his nuns, raising them for the Heavenly Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the years of the saint’s earthly life were coming to an end: he fell ill with cancer and spent two months in severe suffering, while, however, never ceasing to thank the Lord. Exhausted and exhausted, on Sunday November 8, 1920, the bishop departed to the Lord.
The compiler of the life of the saint, Archimandrite Ambrose (Fontrier), writes: “the body of the saint remained in the hospital room for eleven hours and from the very first minutes exuded the fragrant smell of holiness. There was also a bed on which a paralyzed local resident lay. The nuns began to prepare the body for transport to Aegina. They took off the saint's old T-shirt to put on a clean one, and laid it on the bed of the paralyzed man. And immediately the paralyzed man stood up and walked, giving praise to God, who had granted him healing. Thus the Lord revealed the holiness of His servant and glorified him with the first miracles.”
The hands and face of the saint of God flowed myrrh abundantly, and the nuns collected myrrh wool. On April 20, 1961, Metropolitan Nektary was canonized and his holy relics were raised.
It is customary to pray to Saint Nektarios for healing from cancer. So, in Russia, in the Children's Oncology Center on Kashirskoye Highway there is a chapel in which there is a miraculous icon of St. Nektarios, consecrated on his relics. In Moscow there is also a particle of the relics of St. Nektarios in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring” in Tsaritsyno. In the Church of All Saints in Krasnoe Selo, a part of the tomb of St. Nektarios of Aegina is kept in a reliquary.
One day, my wife and I decided to create a spiritual program that would contribute to my complete healing. We prayed. We sat down at the table, took a sheet of paper and began to write: which saint should we order a prayer service for, where should we go to worship, which monastery should we visit... This is what our family usually does during difficult life circumstances. The list included a trip to the relics of the blessed Matronushka of Moscow, and prayers at the icon of the Mother of God “All-Tsarina”, and... a call to Greece on the island of Aegina, to the Holy Trinity Monastery, where the relics of St. Nektarios rest.
Some time passed. With God’s help, we accomplished some things, but not others. And the list itself, unfortunately, got lost somewhere... And then one day, this list, out of nowhere, was found by itself. And the first thing that caught my eye was a call to Greece. We just didn't do it.
My wife has a wonderful ability to immediately correct the situation and resolve the situation. I remember even scolding her for the fact that she sat down at the computer in search of the necessary contacts at the wrong time, as it seemed to me. On the contrary, the time turned out to be just right. Contacts have been found. And what kind! An obvious miracle took place, as we now understand, through the prayers of Saint Nektarios. That's how it was. My wife saw a colorful image of the Trinity Monastery on Aegina on one of the sites, and wrote to the contact information indicated there. She wrote about our desire to order a prayer service at the holy relics, to venerate on our behalf the saint of God, Saint Nektarios. In response to our message, about half an hour later a message arrived from a Russian-speaking Greek named Alexis. He was the owner of this travel site. It turned out that our letter arrived at the very moment when he returned from Aegina. He went to the monastery to get oil from the saint’s lamp for a sick person from St. Petersburg, and grabbed another bottle...apparently for me.
“Tomorrow I will send you butter from Athens by parcel,” was Alexis’s answer. It was hard to believe. Tears of joy, excitement, trepidation... My wife and I dropped to our knees. Gratitude to the Lord and his saint filled our souls. The saint heard our prayers... What happiness!
A complete stranger, a stranger who lives thousands of kilometers away from us, will go to the post office tomorrow to send a small, but priceless package for us. Isn't this a miracle?!
Soon Alexis sent another message. He wrote to us that he called the monastery and ordered a magpie for my health and a prayer service at the relics of St. Nektarios. “God bless you, dear Alexis, thank you for such an active participation, for your kind heart!” - that’s all we could do to thank this man. And, of course, pray for him from the bottom of my heart.
A week has passed. Every day on the Internet we tracked the progress of the treasured parcel. And the soul was prepared to welcome the distinguished guest. Yes, yes, that's what we thought. We greeted the bottle of lamp oil like the saint himself. After all, this gift is the blessing of Saint Nektarios.
And so the shrine arrived in Moscow. In the evening we read the akathist to the saint and thank him for this good gift. And from early morning we rush to the post office. A small, only 37 grams parcel in our hands. This is the consolation that came to us from distant Greece.
But that's not all. About six months later I visited Aegina and venerated the relics of St. Nektarios. On my knees, with all my heart, I prayed to the saint of God and thanked him for allowing me to visit this holy place. The head and right hand of the saint resides in the monastery. The cell of St. Nektarios has also been preserved, in which the spirit of the saint of God is especially felt. There is also a Russian nun in the monastery. She surrounded me with care and attention. Coming to the monastery, I received from Mother Philothea either a cone from the pine tree where the saint rested, or lamp oil from the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos from the cell of St. Nektarios. Every day I visited the monastery and within a few days I became attached to this holy place.
Saint Nektarios showed another miracle. I decided to give myself a birthday present. In an Orthodox bookstore on Sretenka Street in Moscow, a book from the “People of God” series about Saint Nektarios immediately caught my eye. There was no hesitation. This is exactly the book I need. I bought it and went home in a cheerful mood. The first thing I did at home was show the book to my wife. On her face I caught either embarrassment or surprise. And this is what happened. At the same time, my wife and daughter were in the bookstore of the parish church in our neighborhood and chose exactly the same book for me as a gift. I held both of these books in my hands and thanked Saint Nektarios.
Holy Hierarch Father Nektarios, pray to God for us!
Dmitry Avdeev
