The Archangel Michael Visits Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

 

 By Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias

The Holy Elder Iakovos was not only privileged to see Angels and Archangels at the Holy Altar.

He also saw Michael the Commander of the Heavenly Army giving him instructions for the construction of his church outside the Liturgy.

In 1961 Father Iakovos together with the then abbot decided to build a chapel in honor of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The abbot chose the place and demarcated the area. At night, however, an officer with a golden sword, tall, blond and handsome, appeared to Father Iakovos and said to him:

"I am the Archangel Michael. I do not wish my temple to be built where you marked, but here where I will show you."

How Saint Iakovos of Evia Saved a Professor from a Dangerous Situation

Mr. D.M., a Professor of Literature in Greek Education, told us on 2 February 1997 at the Theological School where we were with Holy Skull of Venerable David the Elder the following:

"One night, a few days ago, I saw very vividly in my dream Elder Iakovos [Tsalikis] and he said to me:

'My child D., open the hood of your car, because you are in danger.'

What the Spirit of His Dead Aunt Told Saint Iakovos of Evia

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes said:

"Since I was a child, I go to the cemetery every day and think about death. All my relatives have died. Anyway, I commemorate an aunt of mine. I saw the aunt also and she told me:

'Ah, my nephew Iakovos, thank you for what you are sending me. You send me a lot, but you know there are other people who are unfortunate and hungry and have no one in the world to think of them, to care for them.'

On Judgment and Forgiveness (St. Iakovos Tsalikes)

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes said:

"I also want to be judged with mercy for my sins.

If God judged us severely for our mistakes, He would not be a God of love and peace, but of war and terror.

People have a duty to return to God.

Years of experience dealing with people who have serious problems has taught me that when people are judged harshly for their mistakes, they panic and run away.

When they encounter forgiveness, they understand their errors and are ready to try to change their lives."

Source: From the book by Τάσου Μιχαλά, Ένας σύγχρονος ερημίτης, Αρχιμανδρίτης Ιάκωβος Τσαλίκης, Ηγούμενος Ι. Μ. Οσίου Δαβίδ. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

Venerable David of Evia and the Unbelieving Pilgrim

Hermitage of Venerable David

Someone from our village had a son who was an officer and one summer we had gone to the Monastery of Venerable David, for the feast of Saint Kosmas Aitolos [August 24]. We had stayed, as a group, there in the Monastery and he and his son were in another group who had gone on foot to the hermitage of Venerable David.

This fellow villager of ours was old.

They explained to him, when they went to the hermitage, that Elder Iakovos [Tsalikis] stayed here in the evenings where he read the Supplicatory Canon, and he hung his cassock there on a nail. There was still a nail from the old nails in the stones of the cave.

Saint Iakovos of Evia's Holy Thursday Fast During His Illness

"His ascetic struggles were great. Even in the period when he was ill. He had a pacemaker in his heart, he had done various surgeries, he was taking many drugs, which put a lot of strain on his stomach. When on Great Thursday, Fr. Kyrillos, because Elder Iakovos was in a terrible condition, put a little oil in his food, he became upset and said: "I am not a Turk to eat oil on Great Thursday."

Theophany With Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

 By Fr. George Authinou,
Pastor of the Church of Saint Eleutherios in Chalandri

From 1982 I lived in Athens and began to have regular relations with the Monastery and Elder Iakovos.

Before Theophany of 1984 I went on a pilgrimage to the Monastery. The day prior to the eve of Theophany in the Monastery we were among the Elder, Fr. Cyril, Fr. Seraphim, a monk from Laconia who had been tonsured in his 80s, Mr. Lazounis who wrote stories for the books of the readers in elementary school and the illustrator. On the eve of Theophany, it snowed so much that all the roads were closed. So we stayed in the Monastery which was closed to six people to celebrate the Holy Theophany.

The Sainthood and Love of Saint Iakovos of Evia

Monk Akakios of Kavsokalyva, a spiritual child of Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, gave us the following testimonial:

It is worthwhile for me to tell you an incident that happened in Kavsokalyva together with Elder Porphyrios, which concerns Elder Iakovos and is in my opinion a great testimony.

It was May 1991, a few months before the venerable repose of the two Holy Elders, Porphyrios and Iakovos.

We were in Kavsokalyva, in the cell, that is, the room of the Elder - Elder Porphyrios himself, his submissive hieromonk Photios, the spiritual father, and myself.

Saint Iakovos of Evia and His Ability to Fly

Father Paul Tsouknidas testified as follows to the fact that Saint Iakovos Tsalikes had the ability to fly:

A hieromonk introduced me to Elder Iakovos Tsalikes in 1987, I made him my spiritual father, and I would go see him as a layman at the time, in my car from Karditsa to the Monastery of Venerable David, because I found much rest going to confession to the blessed Elder.

One day when I went with the hieromonk to the Sacred Monastery to stay for a few days and to confess, on the way while we were traveling, before we reached Rovies after Lake Evia, the hieromonk who was in the passenger seat told me:

The Police Officer, the Demon and the Handprint of Saint Iakovos of Evia

 

 By Elder Gabriel,
Abbot of the Monastery of the Venerable David in Evia

(Excerpt from a Homily)

The miracles of Saint Iakovos take place every day! They are innumerable.

A characteristic one took place in Cyprus. Police officer Andreas Voskou, the spiritual child of Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou, had a pimple on his forehead, which was collecting pus. With doctors and drugs, he could not find a cure. Reading the book of Fr. Iakovos, he begged him - he had not met him while he was alive - and he said to him "Elder Iakovos, as when you lived you ran with the Holy Head [of Venerable David] and offered your blessing to the faithful, so come to me with the Holy head and bless me".

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.

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes and the Suicidal Teenager

 

A priest narrated the following related to Saint Iakovos Tsalikes and a suicidal teenager:

One day a young boy came to confession and was in despair for a recurring sin he was committing, and the temptation got him to the point of finding a gun and wanting to commit suicide.

I tried for a long time to persuade him with love and patience to remove the temptation of despair from himself, but in vain.

Then I suggested that he go to the Monastery [of Venerable David the Elder in Evia] to rest for a few days, if he had a blessing from the Elder [the Abbot of the Monastery, Elder Iakovos], since it was a feast day.

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes and the Trees Surrounding the Monastery of the Venerable David in Evia

The following was written by Fr. Dionysios Tatsis, in his 2004 book Διδαχές Γερόντων [Teachings of the Elders]. In light of the fires in Evia, and especially the fire that engulfed the Monastery of the Venerable David this past week, it is particularly interesting to read.

When I went to the monastery [of the Venerable David in Evia], Elder Iakovos Tsalikes [+ 1991] was talking about how, due to old fires, the surrounding mountains were naked and only a few pine trees and fir trees existed. So as I was going about my various duties, I had seeds and pine cones in my pocket and I sowed them all over the area. I also prayed that the forest be protected, especially from fires, which are caused by the envy of the devil, who puts his agents there to destroy the forests.

A Homily of Thanksgiving Delivered by the Abbot of the Monastery of the Venerable David After It Was Delivered from a Devastating Fire on August 4, 2021

The following sermon I translated was delivered by Elder Gabriel, Abbot of the Monastery of the Venerable David in Evia, during the Great Vespers for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Savior, on the 5th of August 2021, the day after the great miracle of the deliverance of the Monastery, in a wondrous way, from the fiery flame which engulfed it, on the 4th of August. Not even its surrounding chapels were harmed by the fire. As one pious woman in Evia commented after her own home was consumed by the flames of the fire, "It doesn't bother me, as long as our Monastery doesn't burn." After the flames passed around the Monastery, the Abbot and Fathers returned with joy with the relics of their beloved Saints.

It should be added that on August 7th, after a litany with the icon of Saint John the Russian in Prokopi of Evia, where the Church of Saint John the Russian is located, to deliver it from the devastating fire, it began to rain so much that it extinguished the flames, which the people also view as a miracle, and were moved to tears by.

Flames continue to burn throughout Greece and its surroundings.

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes and the Catholic Pharmacist

In 1990 or 1991 there was a Catholic Pharmacist from Volos, who was catechized and wanted to be baptized Orthodox, at the Monastery of the Venerable David, by Elder Iakovos Tsalikes, on Pentecost.

Everything was ready and from Saturday the sponsor and the candidate arrived for the baptism. On Sunday during the Divine Liturgy, the sponsor entered the sanctuary while Elder Iakovos was liturgizing and told him that the candidate for baptism, who for a long time was begging to be baptized, decided to not be baptized and left, on his way back to Volos.

"Don't worry, my child," said the Elder, "he will be here within twenty minutes."

The Fragrant Paschal Egg of Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes (+ 1991) narrated the following story from his childhood:

When it was Great Lent we fasted strictly. Despite all the hard work, we waited for the Annunciation and Palm Sunday to come, so we could eat some fried salted cod, which seemed tasty to us like brittle, or a few fresh sardines, the only fish that was available to our village from the sea and then only rarely. My mother, in order to test me if I was fasting with my heart, sometimes said to me during lent:

Which Is Better for the Dead, Prayer or Almsgiving?

In a recorded discussion, Saint Iakovos Tsalikes said the following:

Someone once told me:

"Father, our relatives drowned while out on a boat."

"Won't you do a memorial for your husband, your relatives?"

"Nah, memorials aren't necessary," she said. "I gave 5,000 drachmas to the Orphanage in Halkida. It's the same thing. My Father, what do you have to say about this?"

Two Most Recent Miracles of Venerable David of Evia and Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

In a recent interview with Maria Yiachnaki for the radio program "Epikairotita", Elder Gabriel, the current Abbot of the Monastery of Venerable David in Evia, reported two of the most recent miracles of Venerable David and Saint Iakovos Tsalikes, which took place within the past few weeks of 2021.

The first miracle concerns a 23 year old young man named John. On January 6, 2021 John participated in the Cross retrieval competition which followed the Sanctification of the Waters ceremony at the coastal town of Amarynthos. His goal was to capture the Cross then go to the Monastery of the Venerable David in Evia to venerate the relics of Venerable David and Saint Iakovos. As John rushed to dive into the water to retrieve the Cross first, he somehow injured his head and neck really bad, landing him in the hospital with critical injuries and in a coma. John's young friends and fellow competitors decided to put their faith in God to deliver and heal their friend, so on Saturday the 9th of January they drove two hours to the Monastery of the Venerable David, as John had hoped to have done, to venerate the relics of Saint Iakovos Tsalikes and Venerable David and seek their intercessions and aid. When they arrived, they found the Monastery to be closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, so they knocked on the door. They explained to the Abbot their situation and asked to venerate the relics of the Saints. The Abbot allowed them in, then he brought out the skull of Venerable David, and blessed a shirt that belonged to John which the boys had brought with them, then they all venerated the relic. The Abbot then gave them holy oil, which they brought to the mother of John, who rubbed the head and neck of her son with it, then they placed the blessed shirt of John on him. Immediately John began to recover from that moment. As of January 15th, John is still recovering from his injury, but he is no longer in critical condition, and many people all over Greece are praying for him.

We Ought to Shout Every Moment of our Lives: "We Have Found the Messiah!" However...

 

 

We ought to shout every moment of our lives: "We have found the Messiah!" (Jn. 1:41).

However, there must exist beforehand: "Come and see!" (Jn. 1:39).

We must have a living experience of the Faith.

A Fascinating Interview from an Empirical Perspective Regarding Holy Relics with Saint Iakovos Tsalikes

 

St. Iakovos processing with the skull of Venerable David

The following interview with Saint Iakovos Tsalikes is an excerpt from a recorded interview on the radio station of the Church of Greece conducted by Protopresbyter Fr. Constantine Stratigopoulos.

Fr. Iakovos: One day they will be resurrected, my Fr. Constantine, according to the will and command of God, as our Christ also told us: "and everyone will be resurrected." And those bare bones that gush forth healings, within which sacred relics lived or lives an immortal soul, no matter how much they rot in the soil and in the earth, one day these relics and these bones will come to life, Fr. Constantine, and they will be resurrected and presented again to the Master Christ as, forgive me, we were at first but also with the body, and these relics will come to life.