Early Life and Monastic Calling
Anastasios Kephalas was born in Selymbria in Eastern Thrace in 1846 to a pious but poor family. As a youth he moved to Constantinople for work and education, and in 1866 he took up a teaching post on the island of Chios.
In 1876, at age thirty, he entered monastic life at the Monastery of Nea Moni on Chios, first under the name Lazarus. He was ordained deacon the following year and received the name Nektarios, by which he is universally known. He went on to study theology at the University of Athens, graduating in 1885 after producing numerous books and commentaries even as a student.
Episcopacy and Injustice
After his studies Nektarios went to Egypt, where he was ordained priest and served at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Cairo. In 1889 the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Sophronios of Alexandria consecrated him Metropolitan Bishop of Pentapolis.
His popularity with the Patriarch and the faithful provoked the envy of other clergy. After serving only about a year he was removed from his post and anathematised on the basis of false accusations, receiving no trial, no explanation, and no opportunity to defend himself. He bore this grave injustice with patience and returned to Greece in 1891. The historical wrong was formally redressed only long after his death: in 1998 the Church of Alexandria lifted the anathema, and Patriarch Petros VII issued a declaration of restoration and apology.
Educator and Founder
Back in Greece, Nektarios worked as a preacher and from 1894 served for fifteen years as director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School in Athens, where he formed future priests and authored further theological works. In 1904, at the request of several nuns, he founded the Holy Trinity Monastery on the island of Aegina.
In December 1908, at age sixty-two, he resigned his school position and withdrew to the convent on Aegina. There he lived simply, writing and publishing, preaching, and hearing confessions while tending the gardens and helping with construction work until his death.
Writings and Legacy
Nektarios was a prolific theologian who published more than forty major works on subjects including repentance, confession, Christology, Christian education, philosophy, and relations between the Orthodox and Western Churches.
He died in 1920 and was glorified as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1961. He has since become one of the most beloved and widely venerated saints of the modern Orthodox world. His life was depicted in the 2021 film Man of God, directed by Yelena Popovic.
Relics & Shrines
St. Nektarios was buried at the Holy Trinity Monastery on Aegina, which he founded and where his shrine remains a major place of pilgrimage. His relics were exhumed on September 2, 1953, and were reported to give off a beautiful fragrance.
Miracles & Traditions
Historically Documented: His relics were exhumed in 1953 and reported to be fragrant, and his glorification followed in 1961. His funeral in 1920 was attended by multitudes from both Greece and Egypt.
Traditional Accounts: Thousands of miracles have been attributed to his intercession, particularly the healing of cancer and other serious illnesses. The first posthumous miracle is traditionally recounted as the healing of a paralyzed man whose bed had accidentally been touched with the saint's shirt.
