TABOR - Tradition and Contemporaneity in the Romanian Orthodox Church
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St. Nectarios - his person and work


 

This article is a general description of the personality and work of Saint Nectarios of Pentapolis, the wonderworker, that the author supported during a symposium dedicated to Saint Nectarios and organised on the Eghina island in October 1996. The first part is about the blessed "ardour" of the saint for divine works, for good and virtue, as well as about the heaven`s glory that he got to enjoy. The second part shows St. Nectarios as a lover - and especially worker - of virtue, as the troparion calls him "true friend of virtue". Virtue, claims the author, is the only one that gives you precedence before God, and not the ranks nor other high offices. Finally, the third part of the article talks about the multilateral work and contribution of the saint, both during his life and after his death. Making a brief overview of the great hierarch`s biography, the author summarizes St. Nectarios` contribution in seven points: vector of the movement for spiritual revival of Greece in the XIX-XX century; keeper, defender and promoter of the traditional orthodox values; teacher and trainer of his people; innovator of monasticism; prolific writer and true new father of the Church. The last two points constitute the contribution of the saint after his death, through the work of a spiritual awakening that his relics brings to the souls of the pilgrims and believers who worship him, as well as through the fact that his holiness is a confirmation and manifestation of the holiness of the Orthodox Church.

Keywords: St. Nectarios, virtue, biography, Orthodoxy, monachism, holiness

 


 

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