- Life of the Saint
- The Apolytikion of St. Nektarios
- Decision of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa
- Writings of Saint Nectarios of Aegina
Life of the Saint
Our holy Father Nektarios was born on 1 October 1846 at Selymbria in Thrace. His parents, Dimos and Maria Kephalas, were pious Christians but not rich in this world’s goods. Their son was baptized Anastasios and, from infancy, showed great piety and love for study. When his mother taught him Psalm 50, he liked to repeat the verse: I shall teach thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee. After finishing elementary school, he was sent by his parents to Constantinople to continue his education, at the same time as working in a shop. The boy did not become entangled in worldly cares, but fixed his mind entirely upon building up the inner man in the image of Christ by prayer and meditation on the writings of the holy Fathers. When he was twenty, he left Constantinople for a teaching post on the island of Chios. The young people and villagers where he taught were encouraged to live in piety and virtue by his words and above all by the example of his ascetic, prayerful life. On November 7, 1876, he became a monk in the famous Monastery of Nea Moni, for he had long desired to embrace the Aesthetic life. Seeking only those things which are above, he was beloved by all the brethren as the very pattern of gentleness and obedience, and was ordained deacon after one year. Thanks to the generosity of a pious islander and to the protection of Patriarch Sophronius of Alexandria, he was able to complete his studies in Athens and to obtain the diploma of the Faculty of Theology. In 1885, he arrived in Alexandria where he was soon ordained priest, then consecrated Metropolitan of Pentapolis (an ancient diocese in Cyrenaica, in what is now Libya). He was appointed preacher and secretary to the Patriarch, whose representative he became in Cairo, where he had charge of the Church of Saint Nicholas.
Nektarios lost nothing of his humility
through these honors, and was able to inspire his flock with zeal for the
evangelic virtues. But the love and admiration of the people for him turned
to his disadvantage. Certain members of the Patriarchate became jealous
of his success and, led on by the Devil, put it about that he was currying
favor with the people with the aim of seating himself on the patriarchal
throne of Alexandria. The Saint made no attempt to justify himself but
placed all his hope in the promise of Christ who has said: Blessed are
you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against
you falsely on my account (Matt. 5:11). He was dismissed from his Episcopal
Throne; and he embarked for Athens where he found himself alone, ignored,
despised and even lacking his daily bread, for he would keep nothing for
himself and gave away what little he had to the poor. The meek and humble
follower of Jesus Christ planned at first to withdraw to Mount Athos but
gave up the idea, for he put the salvation of his neighbor before his own
love of monastic retreat. He spent several years as a preacher (1891-1894)
and was then appointed director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School for
the education of priests. The School’s spiritual and intellectual standing
rose rapidly under his direction. The students found in him a teacher with
a deep knowledge of Scripture, of the holy Fathers, and even of secular
learning, and a director who exercised his authority with great kindness
and consideration. His administrative and teaching responsibilities – he
taught pastoral theology – did not prevent him as a monk from living a
life of ascesis, meditation and prayer, nor from fulfilling the high calling
of preaching and serving regularly the holy Mysteries, at the School as
well as in the Athens region.
However, there glowed in
the depths of his heart a burning love for the peace and quiet of life
in the monasteries; and this led him to respond warmly to the desire expressed
by some of his spiritual daughters that he should found a women’s monastery
on the island of Egina. This he did between 1904 and 1907 and he retired
there in 1908, on his resignation as director of the Rizarios School. Despite
countless cares and difficulties, Saint Nektarios saw to the restoration
of a type of life that was wholly in the spirit of the ancient Fathers.
He gave his utmost bodily and spiritual strength to the construction of
the buildings, to divine service and to the spiritual direction of each
one of his disciples. They would often see him in his worn-out cassock
working in the garden or, when he disappeared for many hours, they would
guess he had shut himself in his cell to raise his intellect to God by
bringing it down into his heart, to taste there the sweetness of the holy
Name of Jesus. Although he desired to flee all contact with the world and
strictly limited visits to the Monastery, the fame of his virtues and of
his
God-given graces spread in the region, and the faithful were drawn to him like iron to a magnet. He healed many lay-people and nuns of their sicknesses, and brought rain to the island in a time of draught. He comforted, consoled and encouraged; he was all things to all men. He could do all things through Christ who dwelt in him by the Grace of the Holy Spirit. He kept company with the Saints and with the Mother of God, and they often appeared to him during the holy Liturgy or in his cell. During the difficult years that followed the First World War, he taught his nuns to rely from day to day on the mercy of God. He utterly forbade them to keep any food in reserve for their use, instructing them to give away to the poor everything that remained over. Saint Nektarios also found time to write a large number of works on theology, ethics and Church history, in order to strengthen the Church of Greece in the holy tradition of the Fathers, which was often unknown in those days because of Western influences.
Saint Nektarios lived like an angel in the flesh with the rays of the uncreated light shining around him, yet once again he was calumniated by certain members of the hierarchy who made malicious accusations about his monastery. He bore these latter trials with the patience of Christ, meekly and without complaint, as he did the painful illness which afflicted him for more that eighteen months before he spoke of it. He thanked God for putting him to the test in this way, and did his best to keep the pain he suffered secret until the last days of his life. After a final pilgrimage to an icon of the Mother of God venerated not far from the monastery, he told his disciples of his coming departure for Heaven and was taken to a hospital in Athens where, after fifty days of suffering borne with a patience that edified all who visited him, he gave up his soul in peace to God on November 8. 1920.
The faithful of Egina, the nuns
of his monastery and all the Christians who had come close to him, mourned
the loss of the meek and compassionate disciple of Christ who, in the likeness
of the divine Paso of his Master, endured all his life calumnies, persecutions
and false accusations. But God has glorified him, and miracles have abounded
since his departure for those who approach his relics with faith or who
rely on his powerful intercession. His body remained incorrupt for more
that twenty years, distilling a delicate, heavenly scent, and then returned
to the earth in the usual way. His relics were strongly redolent with the
same perfume at the time of their translation in June 1953. This perfume
has continued ever since to rejoice the faithful who come to venerate his
precious relics with the assurance that Saint Nektarios has been received
by God into the abode of the righteous. His veneration was formally recognized
in 1961. The list of his miracles grows longer every day, and his shrine
at Egina has become the most popular place of pilgrimage in Greece.
The
Apolytikion of St. Nektarios.
Selybria’s
offspring and Aegina’s guardian,
the
true friend of virtue, revealed in these last times, Nekatrios let us,
the faithful, praise as inspired servants of Christ; for he pours out healings
of every kind for those who devoutly cry:
Glory
to Christ who gave you glory!
Glory
to Him who made you wondrous!
Glory
to Him who through you works healings for all!
Alexandria 15th September 1998
The Holy Spirit has enlightened the
gathered members of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and
all Africa, under the leadership of H.B. Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch
of Alexandria and all Africa, more than a century since Saint Nectarios,
the great Teacher and Father of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church was expelled
from the Church of Alexandria, to reach the following decision:
Taking
into account the resolution of the Church to rank Saint Nectarios amongst
the saints because of his innumerable miracles and his acceptance within
the religious conscience of Orthodox Christians throughout the world, we
appeal to the mercy of the ever-charitable God.
We hereby
restore the ecclesiastical order of the Saint of our Century, Saint Nectarios,
and grant to him all due credits and honors. We beseech Saint Nectarios
to forgive both us, unworthy as we are, and our predecessors, our brothers
of the Throne of Alexandria, for opposition to the Saint and for all which,
due to human weakness or error, our Holy Father, Bishop of Pentapolis,
Saint Nectarios, suffered.
By the Grace of God
Pope and Patriarch
of Alexandria and All Africa.
In these modern times, when our way
of life is constantly changing, when the products of technology and the
numerous experiences of our daily life, confuse man’s spirit incurably,
crushing the hope of our hearts and destroying man’s character, the Saints
of our Church bear witness to man’s salvation, the majesty of man’s spirit
and the ontological concept of hope and the recognition of human life.
One of the Great Saints of our Orthodox
Church, who lived and experienced the joyful meeting and continuous coexistence
with Christ our God, who aimed to build a new world, to separate man from
his stained inheritance and to reform the human personality, is Saint Nectarios,
Bishop of the ancient Kyrenian Pentapolis, the Wonder-worker.
All that our Church believes and experiences
is to be found in the inner personality of Saint Nectarios. This is substantiated
through our life-experience.
The whole Grace of the Church exists
in his life, and the burning flame which is St. Nectarios, passes on to
us the essence of the mystery of the Church.
He is truly formed by great experiences.
He is able to transfuse us with holiness and grace because he himself was
tested and saved.
Saint Nectarios lived in our Patriarchate
and became the humble servant of the world, despite the difficulties caused
by malicious intent, the atmosphere of contempt and defeat, enmity and
injustice. He achieved absolute humility. In virtuous silence he endured
the turmoil of his flaming soul. Like Noah in his ark, he relived the experience
of humanity mixing the waters of deluge, the water of Baptism and the tears
of his eyes. He overcame every trial and temptation through continuous
prayer.
He became the vessel of God’s Grace.
He is the poor, the unseen, the meek, the kind, the wonder-worker, the
protector of God’s divine love for mankind.
In the life of Saint Nectarios, the
world, mankind, every one of us finds his measure, the scale by which to
compare, the truth. We realise the ugliness of our spiritual self-centredness;
we see perfection in the fear that we might wound God’s love; we search
for the only, the essential evangelical reality - that we must renounce
ourselves and take up our cross in our daily lives. And the life of Saint
Nectarios also reveals something completely different: the power of man,
mobilized by the presence of God, freedom of choice and the deep desire
to be a child of God.
110 years have passed since the ordination
of St. Nectarios as Bishop of our Patriarchate, and over a 100 years have
passed since St. Nectarios, the Great Father and Teacher of our Church,
was cast out from the Patriarchate of Alexandria, because of human weakness,
error and the influence of the evil one. We, Myself and the Holy and Sacred
Synod of the Ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, calling
upon the mercy of God Who so loves mankind, and witnessing by the grace
of the Holy Spirit the conscience of the body of the One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic Church regarding the holiness of St. Nectarios, admit the
injustice which was done against the Saint, restore the canonical order,
ask the Saint to forgive us and the fathers and brothers who have passed
away, for all that he endured and suffered, and dedicate the year 1999
to the sacred memory of our holy father Nectarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis,
the Wonder-worker.
The dedication of the year 1999 to
the memory of Saint Nectarios is essentially an invitation to repent, to
separate ourselves from the fallen world of destruction and death, and
to join with the new risen world in Christ. This is an opportunity for
us all to find God and the man of Paradise, to increase our awareness and
goodness. This is the heritage and the precious gift of a holy man, who
is one of us, St. Nectarios. This is how he overcame destruction, death
and time. This is why he exists today.
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
through the intercessions of our Father Saint Nectarios be with you all.
With warm prayers to God for all of
you.
Alexandria
10th September, 1998
Selected
Passages From the Writings of Orthodox Saints
Compiled
by Father Demetrios Serfes
There are truths in Christianity that
are above out intellectual comprehension, incapable of being grasped by
the finite mind of man. Our intellect takes cognizance of them, becomes
convinced of their reality, and testifies about their supernatural existence.
Christianity is a religion of revelation.
The Divine reveals its glory only to those who have been perfected through
virtue. Christianity teaches perfection through virtue and demands that
its followers become holy and perfect. It disapproves of and opposes those
who are under the influence of the imagination. He who is truly perfect
in virtue becomes through Divine help outside the flesh and the world,
and truly enters another, spiritual world; not, however, through the imagination,
but through the effulgence of Divine grace. Without grace, without revelation,
no man, even the most virtuous, can transcend the flesh and the world.
God reveals Himself to the humble,
who live in accordance with virtue. Those who take up the wings of the
imagination attempt the flight of Ikaros and have same end. Those who harbor
fantasies do not pray; for he that prays lifts his mind and heart towards
God, whereas he that turns to fantasies diverts himself. Those who are
addicted to the imagination have withdrawn from God's grace and from the
realm of Divine revelation. They have abandoned the heart in which grace
is revealed and have surrendered themselves to the imagination, which is
devoid of all grace. It is only the heart that receives knowledge about
things that are not apprehended by the senses, because God, Who dwells
and moves within it, speaks within it and reveals to it the substance of
things hoped for.
SEEK GOD daily. But seek Him in your
heart, not outside it. And when you find Him, stand with fear and trembling,
like the Cherubim and the Seraphim, for your heart has become a throne
of God. But in order to find God, become humble as dust before the Lord,
for the Lord abhors the proud, whereas He visits those that are humble
in heart, wherefore He says: "To whom will I look, but to him that is meek
and humble in heart?"
THE DIVINE LIGHT illumines the pure
heart and the pure intellect, because these are susceptible to receiving
light; whereas impure hearts and intellects, not being susceptible to receiving
illumination, have an aversion to the light of knowledge, the light of
truth; they like darkness... God loves those who have a pure heart, listens
to their prayers, grants them their requests that lead to salvation, reveals
Himself to them and teaches the mysteries of the Divine nature.
The
right view of the CHURCH is that the CHURCH is distinguished into the Militant
and the Triumphant; and that it is Militant so long as it struggles against
wickedness for the prevalence of the good, the Triumphant in the heavens,
where there dwells the choir of the Righteous, who struggled and were made
perfect in the faith in God and in virtue.
Sacred
TRADITION is the very CHURCH; without the Sacred TRADITION the CHURCH does
not exist. Those who deny the Sacred TRADITION deny the Church and the
preaching of the Apostles.
Before
the writing of the Holy Scriptures, that is, of the sacred texts of the
Gospels, the Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles, and before they were
spread to the churches of the world, the CHURCH was based on Sacred Tradition....The
holy texts are in relation to Sacred Tradition what the part is to the
whole.
The
CHURCH Fathers regard Sacred Tradition as the safe guide in the interpretation
of Holy Scripture and absolutely necessary for understanding the truths
contained in the Holy Scripture. The CHURCH received many traditions from
the Apostles... The constitution of the church services, especially of
the Divine Liturgy, the holy Mysteria themselves and the manner of performing
them, certain prayers and other institutions of the Church go back to the
Sacred Tradition of the Apostles.
In
their conferences, the Holy Synods draw not only from Holy Scriptures,
but also from Sacred Tradition as from a pure fount. Thus, the Seventh
Ecumenical Synod says in the 8th Decree: "If one violates any part of the
CHURCH Tradition, either written or unwritten, let him be anathema."
It is evident that unbelief is an evil
offspring of an evil heart; for the guileless and pure heart everywhere
discovers God, everywhere discerns Him, and always unhesitatingly believes
in His existence. When the man of pure heart looks at the World of Nature,
that is, at the sky, the earth, and the sea and at all things in them,
and observes the systems constituting them, the infinite multitude of stars
of heaven, the innumerable multitudes of birds and quadrupeds and every
kind of animal of the earth, the variety of plants on it, the abundance
of fish in the sea, he is immediately amazed and exclaims with the Prophet
David: "How great are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom Thou made them all."
Such a man, impelled by his pure heart, discovers God also in the World
of Grace of the Church, from which the evil man is far removed. The man
of pure heart believes in the Church, admires her spiritual system, discovers
God in the Mysteria, in the heights of the theology, in the light of the
Divine revelations, in the truths of the teachings, in the commandments
of the Law, in the achievements of the Saints, in the very good deed, in
every perfect gift, and in general in the whole of the creation. Justly
then did the Lord say in His Beatitudes of those possessing purity of the
heart: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
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.
Man
ought to will to know himself, to know God, and to understand the nature
of things as they are in themselves, and this becomes an image and likeness
of God.
Man is a composite being, made up of
an earthly body and celestial soul... The soul is closely united with the
body, yet wholly independent of it.
Man is not only reason but also heart.
The powers of these two centers, mutually assisting one another, render
man perfect and teach him what he could never learn through reason alone.
If reason teaches about the natural world, the heart teaches us about the
supernatural world... Man is perfect when he has developed both his heart
and his intellect. Now the heart is developed through revealed religion
The
rational soul of man has supernatural, infinite aspirations. If the rational
soul were dependent upon the body and died together with the body, it should
necessarily submit to the body and follow it in all its appetites. Independence
would have been contrary both to the laws of nature and to reason, because
it disturbs the harmony between the body and the soul. As dependent upon
the body it should submit to the body and follow in all its appetites and
desires, whereas, on the contrary, the soul masters the body, imposes its
will upon the body. The soul subjugates and curbs the appetites and passions
of the body, and directs them as it (the soul) wills. This phenomenon comes
to the attention of every rational man; and whoever is conscious of his
own rational soul is conscious of the soul's mastery over the body.
The
mastery of the soul over the body is proved by the obedience of the body
when it is being led with self-denial to sacrifice for the sake of the
abstract ideas of the soul. The domination by the soul for prevalence of
its principles, ideas, and views would have been entirely incomprehensible
if the soul died together with the body. But a mortal soul would never
have risen to such a height, would never have condemned itself to death
along with the body for the prevalence of abstract ideas that lacked meaning,
since no noble idea, no noble and courageous thought has any meaning for
a mortal soul.
A
soul, therefore, which is capable of such things, must be immortal.
The
Teachers of the Eastern Orthodox Church, having Holy Scripture as their
foundation, teach that those who die in the Lord go to a place of rest,
according to the statement in the Apocalypse: "Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labors; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:13).
This place of rest is viewed as spiritual Paradise, where the souls of
those who have died in the Lord, the souls of the righteous, enjoy the
blessings of rest, while awaiting the day of rewarding and the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus...
About
the sinners, they teach that their souls go down to Hades, where there
is suffering, sorrow, and groaning, awaiting the dreadful day of the Judgment.
The
Fathers of the Orthodox Church do not admit the existence of another place,
intermediate between Paradise and Hades, as such a place is not mentioned
in Holy Scripture.
After
the end of the General Judgment, the Righteous Judge (God) will declare
the decision both to the righteous and to the sinners. To the righteous
He will say: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world;" while to the sinners He will
say: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels." And these will go away to eternal hades, while the
righteous will go to eternal life. This retribution after the General Judgment
will be complete, final, and definitive. It will complete, because it is
not the soul alone, as the Partial Judgment of man after death, but the
soul together with the body, that will receive what is deserved. It will
be final, because it will be enduring and not temporary like that at Partial
Judgment. And it will be definitive, because both for the righteous and
for the sinners it will be unalterable and eternal.
Our
Church honors saints not as gods, but as faithful servants, as holy men
and friends of God. It extols the struggles they engaged in and the deeds
they performed for the glory of God with the action of His grace, in such
a way that all the honor that the Church gives them refers to the Supreme
Being, Who has viewed their life on earth with gratification. The Church
honors them by commemorating them annually through public celebrations
and through the erection of Churches in honor of their name.
The
holy men of God, who were magnified on earth by the Lord, have been honored
by God's holy Church from the very time it was founded by the Savior Christ.
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.
Repentance
is a Mysterious through which he who repents for his sins confesses before
a Spiritual Father who has been appointed by the Church and has received
the authority to forgive sins, and receives from this Spiritual Father
the remission of his sins and is reconciled with the Deity, against Whom
he sinned.
Repentance
signifies regret, change of mind. The distinguishing marks of repentance
are contrition, tears, aversion towards sin, and love of the good.
We ought
to do everything we can for the acquisition of virtue and moral wisdom
(phronesis), for the prize is beautiful and the hope great.
The
path of virtue is a path of effort and toil: "Straight is the gate, and
narrow is the way, leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;" whereas
the gate of vice is wide and the way spacious, but lead to perdition.
Spiritual
training (pneumatic gymnasia) is askesis for piety. It is most valuable,
"having promise for the life that now is, and for that which is to come."
The efforts made for the sake of piety bring spiritual gladness.
Theophylaktos
says: "Train yourself for piety, that is, for pure faith and the right
life. Training, then, and continual efforts are necessary; for he who trains
exercises until he perspires, even when there is no contest."
Training
accustoms one to be lenient, temperate, capable of controlling his anger,
subduing his desires, doing works of charity, showing love for his fellow
men, practicing virtue. Training is virtuous askesis, rendering one's way
of life admirable.
Askesis
is practice, meditation, training, self-control, love of labor.
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.
ATTENTION
is the first teacher of truth and consequently absolutely necessary. Attention
rouses the soul to study itself and its longings, to learn their true character
and repulse those that are unholy. Attention is the guardian angel of the
intellect, always counseling it this : be attentive. Attention awakens
the soul, rouses it from sleep... Attention examines every thought, every
desire, every memory. Thoughts, desires, and memories are engendered by
various causes, and often appear masked and with splendid garb, in order
to deceive the inattentive intellect and enter into the soul and dominate
it. Only attention can reveal their hidden form. Often their dissimulation
is so perfect that the discernment of their true nature is very difficult
and requires the greatest attention. One must remember the saving words
of the Lord: "Be wakeful and pray that ye enter not into temptation." He
who is wakeful does not enter into temptation, because he is vigilant and
attentive.
TRUE
PRAYER is undistracted, prolonged, performed with a contrite heart an alert
intellect. The vehicle of prayer is everywhere humility, and prayer is
a manifestation of humility. For being conscious of our own weakness, we
invoke the power of GOD.
PRAYER
unites one with GOD, being a divine conversation and spiritual communion
with the Being that is most beautiful and highest.
PRAYER
IS FORGETTING EARTHLY THINGS,
AN ASCENT
TO HEAVEN.
THROUGH
PRAYER
WE FLEE
TO GOD.
PRAYER
is truly a heavenly armor, and is alone can keep safe those who have dedicated
themselves to God. Prayer is the common medicine for purifying ourselves
from the passions, for hindering sin and curing our faults. Prayer is an
inexhaustible treasure, an unruffled harbor, the foundation of serenity,
the root and mother of myriad's of blessings.
The
MYSTERION of the Divine Eucharist that has been handed down by the Lord
is the highest of all the MYSTERIA; it is the most wondrous of all the
miracles which the power of God has performed; it is the highest which
the wisdom of God has conceived; it is the most precious of all the gifts
which the love of God has bestowed upon men. For all the other miracles
result through a transcendence of certain laws of Nature, but the MYSTERION
of the DIVINE EUCHARIST transcends all these laws. Hence it may justly
be called, and be viewed as, the miracle of miracles and the MYSTERION
of MYSTERIA.
DO YOU
WANT TO BECOME A PARTAKER
OF THE
BLESSINGS CONFERRED
BY DIVINE
COMMUNION?
DO YOU
WANT YOUR SALVATION?
BECOME
A TRUE CHRISTIAN,
HAVE
FEAR OF GOD,
FAITH
IN THE MYSTERION OF DIVINE COMMUNION,
AND
LOVE FOR GOD
AND
FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR.
MIRACLES
are not impossible from a logical standpoint, and right reason does not
deny them. Natural laws do not have the claim to be the only ones, nor
are they threatened with being overturned by the appearance of other laws,
supernatural ones, which also are conducive to the development and furtherance
of creation... Miracles are consequence of the Creator's love for his creatures.
Source:
"Modern Orthodox Saints, St. Nectarios of Aegina," by (Dr.) Constantine
Cavarnos, Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Belmont, Massachusetts.,
1981., pp. 154-187.
Copyright © 2004 Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
466 Foothill Blvd, Box 397, La Canada, Ca 91011
Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
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