He who does not know himself does not know God.. ( Saint Nektarios )

He who does not know himself does not know God, either. And he who does not know God does not know the truth and the nature of things in general... He who does not know himself continually sins against God and continually moves farther away from Him. 

 

He who does not know the nature of things and what they truly are in themselves is powerless to evaluate them according to their worth and to discriminate between the mean and the precious, the worthless and the valuable. Wherefore, such a person wears himself out in the pursuit of vain and trivial things, and is unconcerned about and indifferent to the things that are eternal and most precious.

Saint Nektarios

Fasting is an ordinance of the Church, obliging the Christian to observe it on specific days. ( Saint Nektarios of Aegina )

Fasting is an ordinance of the Church, obliging the Christian to observe it on specific days. Concerning fasting, our Savior teaches: "When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father Who is in secret: and thy Father, Who seethe in secret, shall reward thee openly." From what the Savior teaches we learn (a) that fasting is pleasing to God, and (b) that he who fasts for the uplifting of his mind and heart towards God shall be rewarded by God, Who is a most liberal bestower of Divine gifts, for his devotion.

In the New Testament fasting is recommended as a means of preparing the mind and the heart for divine worship, for long prayer, for rising from the earthly, and for spiritualization.

Saint Nektarios of Aegina

Lesson in Humility given by Saint Nektarios to his spiritual child, Elder Philotheos Zervakos

The following is taken from the autobiography of Elder Philotheos Zervakos regarding the final meeting he had with his spiritual father, Saint Nektarios:

I considered it my divine obligation and duty to see my spiritual father, St. Nektarios, before returning to the holy monastery of my repentance [in Paros]. Therefore, I went to see him at the Rizareios Theological School. However, I learned that he had resigned from his post and was now living in Aegina, so I went to Aegina. It was August now, and the sun was burning fiercely when I arrived outside the convent about 1:00 PM. I was just outside the gates when I saw an elderly man with a white beard, a shabby cassock held by a belt, and a straw hat to protect his head from the sun. He was digging with a pickax, filling a small barrel with dirt, and spreading the dirt around a 15 sq. yard area to level the convent's courtyard. I thought that he was either one of the conven't workers to whom they had given an old cassock so as not to soil his clothes, or an old novice from the monastery. Approaching the elder, I greeted him and asked, "Elder, is the Bishop here?"

"He is here," he told me.

"Inside?" I asked. "Is he in the monastery?"

"Yes," the elder said, "he is inside."

"Good, go and tell him that a spiritual child of his is here, a deacon, who wants to see him."

"May it be blessed," he responded humbly, and putting down the pickax, he showed me to a new room about fifteen yards away from the convent's entrance. He told me, "Wait here and I will go tell him to come."

Five minutes had not gone by, when - what a surprise, what depth of immeasurable humility! Surprised and shocked, I saw that the man whom I had thought to be a worker, a villager, or a peasant and to whom I had spoken harshly and ordered around, was the Bishop himself! Neither had I even considered that this was the afternoon rest hour, when everyone slept! I should have never told him to do anything, but instead, waited patiently for the time of Vespers. No, I the disciple had shown my extreme pride while my teacher and spiritual father had shown his extreme and complete humility! I was struck speechless and knelt down, tearfully begging him to forgive me for my pride and bad manners. He being guileless, meek and humble of heart, of course, forgave me. We sat down and he began to guide me, as he always has, along the way of the Lord.

"Father," I asked, "how can I be delivered from this God-hated pride?" And with love and humility (the two great virtues which God had bestowed upon him), he responded:

"My dear spiritual child in the Lord, our Holy Fathers have told us, that each sin, whether great and deadly, or small and pardonable, is defeated by the opposite corresponding virtue: that is envy is defeated by love; pride by humility; avarice by poverty; greed and hard-heartedness by charity and compassion; negligence by diligence; gluttony and servitude to the stomach by fasting and restraint; idle talk by silence; criticism and slander by self-reproach and prayer; lewdness, fornication, adultery and other sins of the flesh by remembrance of death, the Last Judgment to come, and the recompense of Hell. In general, every evil is defeate by every virtue. As the Prophet David says, 'Turn away from evil and do good.' If you wish to be delivered also from the sin of pride, the mother and cause of all sin and evil, you will be delivered through humility.

"Because we are not able to do anything on our own (as the Lord says, 'Without Me, ye can do nothing') let us ask the All-Good and man-loving God with compunction and humility, with sighs and tears, to deliver us from demonic pride. Let us sigh like the Publican, cry like the adultress, repent like the Prodigal Son, saying, 'O All-Good compassionate and man-loving Father, we have sinned before You; accept our repentance and make us as one of Your paid servants.' Let us pray and beseech the Lord as the divine Chrysostom did in his daily prayers: 'O Lord, grant us humility, a humble way of thought and obedience; O Lord grant us patience, longsuffering and meekness; O Lord, implant in our hearts the root of good, Your fear; O Lord, grant us to love You with all our soul and heart and to keep Your divine commandments.'

"Likewise, so that we may be delivered from satanic and all-destructive pride, let us look to the example of our Heavenly Teacher, and to the lesson He gave to His disciples, to us, and to all Christians of every generation and age: 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest in your souls,' and 'When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say: We are unprifitable servants, we have done that which is our duty to do.'"

Receiving this and other beneficial counsel from my holy spiritual father Nektarios, I left joyous and spiritually gladdened; and at the beginning of September, 1910, I returned through Syros to the island of Paros and the monastery of my repentance.




St. Nektarios with his saintly spiritual children, (from left to right) Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos, Saint Savvas of Kalymnos, Elder Amphilochios Makris and Elder Philotheos Zervakos. This icon is in the Cathedral dedicated to St. Nektarios in Aegina.

http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/06/lesson-in-humility-given-by-saint.html

The Man Who Falsely Accused Saint Nektarios

It has been asked why St. Nektarios, a Saint of recent times, works so many miracles today. The answer is because he suffered much in his life, often times being falsely accused by the ignorant. Slander, mocking and false accusation, when endured with humility, patience and trust in God, are a great blessing for the Christian. The humbled are indeed glorified.

When St. Nektarios established his female Monastery on the island of Aegina, locals went so far as to accuse him of immorality and that he used the Monastery to perform his debauchery. They speculated that the nuns gave birth to illegitimate children, which they would then throw down the well.

One woman from Aegina named Kerou had a grace-filled and God-fearing 16 year old daughter. The mother had a mania to persecute her daughter for this and tried several times to kill her. The young girl took refuge in the Monastery under St. Nektarios.

The tender-hearted Saint took her in and protected her. Kerou in turn began to slander the Saint. A Prosecutor received the complaint and the next day came to Aegina angry with two constables. He breached the door, despite the rules of the Convent, and went straight to the apartment of the Saint. The nuns became upset and began to cry. The Holy Bishop got up and received his visitors with his usual Christian smile.

Furious, the Prosecutor said to the aged Elder: "You dirty old man, where are the children you are giving birth to? Is that what you are doing here?" He then seized him by his cassock and threatened him, saying: "I’ll shave off your beard hair by hair!"

The Saint did not say a word. He only pointed his hand above and said: "God sees! God knows!"

Indeed, the Prosecutor who was quick to accept slander and dared lift his arm against the Saint became seriously ill within a week. He had terrible pain from his illness. The hand with which he grabbed the Saint dried up. Realizing his error, he felt the need to go to St. Nektarios and ask for his forgiveness.

The Saint, out of forbearance and longsuffering, prayed very much for the man. Within two years the Prosecutor’s hand had to be cut off. Meanwhile, the Monastery of St. Nektarios prospered and the Sisterhood grew. It has become a spiritual hospital, which gives rest to the soul and illumination to the people of God. 

http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-man-who-falsely-accused-saint.html

The powerful influence a mother has over her child ( Saint Nektarios of Aegina )

The upbringing of children must begin during infancy. This is necessary in order to direct the child’s powers of the soul—as soon as they begin to emerge—toward good, virtue, and truth, while simultaneously distancing them from evil, indecency, and falsehood.


This age is the secure foundation upon which a child’s moral and intellectual understanding will be erected. Thus, Fokilidis says: “It is necessary to teach someone to do good work while he is still a child,” because man sets out from childhood, as from a starting block, to run the race of life.


St.Basil the Great affirms: “It is necessary for the soul to be guided right from the very beginning toward every virtuous exercise, while it is still soft and moldable as wax; so that, as a child begins to speak and to acquire discernment, there exists a road comprised of the elemental concepts and devout etiquette that were initially imparted, giving him the ability to speak good and useful things and inspiring him to acquire a proper moral conduct.” Truly!
 
Who will not agree that the first impressions during childhood remain permanently ingrained and unforgettable? Who doubts that various influences during early youth become so deeply imprinted upon a child’s tender soul, that they continue to exist vividly throughout the duration of his life?

Nature has appointed parents, but especially mothers, to be instructors during this early stage of life. Hence, it is necessary for us to suitably teach and diligently raise virtuous women, on account of their supreme calling to become teachers; for they will serve as the images and examples that their own children will follow. A child mimics either the virtues or bad habits of his mother—even her
voice and manners, even her ethos and conduct to such an extent, that one can very appropriately liken children to phonographic records that initially register sound, and then play it back as it was originally voiced, in the identical pitch, the same quality, and with the same accent and emphasis.
 
Each glance, every word, every gesture, and every action of a mother becomes the glance, word, expression, gesture, and action of her child. Hence, Asterios notes: “one child speaks exactly like his mother, another bears a striking resemblance to her personality, while yet another takes on his birth giver’s manner and conduct.” By being in the constant presence of her child and through her repeated counsels, a mother profoundly affects the soul and character of her child, and she first provides him with the initial impetus toward virtue.


Saint Nektarios of Aegina

Man's salvation ( Saint Nektarios of Aegina )

Two factors are involved in man's salvation: the grace of God and the will of man. Both must work together, if salvation is to be attained.

Saint Nektarios of Aegina