St. Nectarius Eginsky - the new Greek ascetic

Sometimes we are fascinated by something very distant in time, distance and cultural context. For example, the myths of ancient Greece are a distant and unrealizable world of gods and monsters. What cannot be seen, what cannot be touched, what is at least very difficult to believe and take for granted, all this beckons and disturbs human consciousness. And modern Greece skillfully manages the rich heritage left to it from wise ancestors.
And for good reason, excursion tours to Greece, taking their guests to places related to mythology and ancient history, never lose their popularity. Here everything is intertwined in a strange mixture: real events and their fictional participants, real monuments and skillfully recreated ruins. It seems that mythology They whispered over the cradle of European civilization their fairy tales, prophesying and frightening, cheering and encouraging their confidant.
But then, emerging from the depths of our own and others' fantasies, some of us notice that the real world is no less interesting. Moreover, there are still miracles and wonderworkers here. And we feel a very special excitement because some saints and ascetics are our contemporaries. That is, any of us can be honored with the joy of communicating with them, talk, ask for intercession, ask for advice. Some of these people have passed away recently, but miracles continue to happen through their prayers. Many saints and confessors gave to the modern world. GreeceAnd one of her great sons is St. Nectarius Aginsky.
As follows from the name of the ascetic, an important part of his fate was associated with the island of Aegina, located near Athens. But before establishing a monastery here, the saint went a long way, on which there were exaltations and bitter humiliations. In his life there was teaching in a rural school, and ordination to the episcopal rank, and eruption from it with offensive accusations, decades of poverty and lack of rights, new recognition and new persecution. But today, all year long. pilgrimage They bring travelers who dream of seeing the places where the last days of St. Nektarius passed.
His life is full of miracles, prophetic dreams and healings. St. Nicholas the Pleasant appeared to him, and through his prayer, her Guardian Angel appeared to the nun, a paralyzed man who found himself in the ward with the dying saint, regained health. But perhaps most touching is his constant and immeasurable concern for his neighbor. As the headmaster of the theological school, St. Nectarius secretly performed the duties of a janitor, who became very ill and could not work. How many of us, who go on pilgrimage tours to Greece to fall to the relics of the saint, are capable of such secret and selfless help not only to our subordinates, but even to our friends?