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November 22, 2021

A Doctor Has a Vision of Saint Iakovos of Evia


A doctor testifies to the following vision he had of Saint Iakovos Tsalikes:

On the second day of Easter in 1997, the feast of Saint George, I had an accident where I broke my leg. During the days of my hospitalization I read the book which concerned the life of Elder Iakovos [Saint Iakovos Tsalikes], so carefully that I felt that I had visited the Monastery.

At one point I prayed that when I recovered, I could visit the Monastery. Indeed, in the late summer, I visited Venerable David with my family and visited all the places I had read from the book - the church, the hermitage where Elder Iakovos prayed, and his grave, which I venerated.

We were getting ready to leave and I felt that I neglected something, that I forgot something. I remembered that I venerated the grave of Elder Iakovos, but I did not light a candle for him there. I returned to the church, got a candle and lit it on the grave.

After I finished lighting the candle, I turned to move away from the grave and see in front of me a prayer rope. At the time I went to light a candle, the prayer rope was not there. Because it did not belong to me, I took it, lifted it up and started turning it left and right, so that whoever lost it could see it and come to get it.

I had my back to the grave and I heard a voice:

"Do not look for anyone, it is for you."

I turned and saw in front of me Elder Iakovos, whom I had never seen in my life - I only knew him from photos - I saw him alive, at a distance of one meter.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, I had drunk a lot of coffee, I was not drowsy, and he was smiling at me. I noticed the veins on his face, the moisture in his eyes, smiling at me and I felt that at that moment something unprecedented was happening to me.

After a while I stopped seeing him.

My wife came and told me, "Let's go and leave," because we were going to our next destination, which was Kalamata for the holidays. I told her, "Woman, you will not believe what happened to me," and I told her the incident, holding the prayer rope in my hand.

We left the Monastery without saying anything to anyone. Returning from vacation, I discussed it with a fellow doctor, who was very much of the Church, who contacted the Monastery himself and reported the incident.

Source: From the book Όσιος Ιάκωβος (Τσαλίκης), Ένας σύγχρονος άγιος, Ηγούμενος της Ιεράς Μονής Οσίου Δαυίδ του Γέροντος. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.