The Church commemorates Saint Nektarios, Bishop of Pentapolis and Wonderworker, Martyrs Onesiphorus and Porphyrius, Venerable Matrona and Venerable Theoctiste and Venerable Symeon Metaphrastes.
Saint Nektarios was born on October 1, 1846 in Silivria, Eastern Thrace, to pious parents. His name was Anastasios. He was very reverent and distinguished for his morals and church mind. At the age of fourteen, he went to Constantinople, where he worked hard for six years, studying the Scriptures all the day.
Later he went to Chios and worked as a teacher. He became a monk in 1876 and then was ordained a deacon and received the name “Nektarios”. He attended the Theological School of the University of Athens and received a degree in Theology. He then went to Alexandria to join the clergy of the Patriarchate. There he was ordained a priest and then a bishop in 1889. As Bishop of Pentapolis (Libya), he served as an auxiliary bishop to Patriarch Sophronius of Alexandria.
During his episcopal ministry, he gained a great reputation for his morals and sermons thanks to his zeal and love for the Orthodox Church, especially on the African continent. However, he was slandered first by the devil and then by the people and even his fellow clergymen and bishops.
Thus, they degraded Saint Nektarios in various ways, even threatening to defrock him. Eventually, he was forced to return to Athens, where he worked as a preacher, teacher and finally as director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School.
The last years of his life Saint Nektarios lived in Aegina, where he founded the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and dedicated himself to the preaching of the Gospel. He reposed in the Lord on November 8, 2020.
Saint Nektarios performed many miracles and still performs them for the consolation of the people. It is very popular to the faithful, who have a vivid experience of his presence and outspokenness in the glory of the Holy Trinity.
Official recognition of Nectarios as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople took place on April 20, 1961.
Source: Church of Cyprus