Saints Nektarios and Amphilochios and the Establishment of the Monastery of Saint Menas in Aegina

Saint Nektarios and the Monastery of Saint Menas in Aegina

When Saint Nektarios went to Aegina, while he was researching to find the place where he would build a monastery, he was received in a vision by Saint Dionysios of Zakynthos, who had formerly been Metropolitan of Aegina, and said to him:

"Come, Nektarios, I have been waiting for you for years, to hand over the island to you."

As Saint Nektarios was talking with Saint Dionysios, he saw a soldier further on and asked Saint Dionysios:

"Who is he?"

"This," he said, "is Saint Menas; he lives here and has a monastery in Aegina!"

When Saint Nektarios Healed Saint Amphilochios Makris

 

By Fr. Demetrios Kabbadias

With his humility, Saint Amphilochios Makris won the trust of Saint Nektarios. He had been visiting him frequently since then. When Elder Amphilochios became a Deacon, they concelebrated many times.

Their souls were united even more during the last liturgy they performed a year before the death of Saint Nektarios. Their spiritual union became more intense when the Saint instructed him to take a sick nun to her cell.

Another time, due to the crowds in the small hostel of the Monastery, Saint Nektarios arranged for him to sleep in his own cell in the courtyard of the Monastery.

This spiritual friendship and love continued even after the repose of Saint Nektarios.

On Noetic Prayer (St. Amphilochios Makris)

St. Amphilochios Makris taught the following about noetic prayer:

When you cultivate the prayer, you are not disturbed by the winds of temptation. Its power is weakened, it can do nothing to you. Let prayer be for you a wall, a shield and armor. We must have patience and prayer. The end of my life draws near. I plead with you all to live a holy life, to walk along holy paths in order to help the Church and our Greece. May your hearts become censers, from where your prayer will ascend to the throne of God.

When I sit on the high rock of prayer, no matter how many waves may come they will do nothing to me, but when they find me somewhere low they cover me. Noetic prayer assimilates, connects, sanctifies. When the soul is ignited with the fire of prayer everything that is dry is burned up and disappears. Noetic prayer is the basis of perfection. The first stage of spiritual ascent is noetic prayer. At the beginning of prayer you feel joy, then sweetness and then finally tears are produced like a fruit. This is because you now feel the presence of Jesus. When you cultivate the prayer you will not tire, you will not be disturbed, you will not be sleepy during services, because your body will be as if it were a garment. What you wear does not become sad, does not become cold, nor does it tire. No matter how many hours I stand I will not get tired.

Elder Savvas Lappas, a Spiritual Child of St. Savvas of Kalymnos and St. Amphilochios Makris

Elder Savvas Lappas, born in 1903 and baptized with the name Nikephoros, was a spiritual child of Saint Savvas of Kalymnos (1862-1948) on the island of Kalymnos and then a spiritual child of Saint Amphilochios Makris (1888-1970) on the island of Patmos. After living in asceticism on the island of Patmos for about twenty years, in 1960, at the age of 57 he returned to Kalymnos, took the name of his first spiritual father, Savvas, and lived in asceticism in the Hut of the Elevation of the Honorable Cross in Kantouni of Kalymnos until his death in 1992, on the 7th of April, which is the feast of his Elder, Saint Savvas of Kalymnos.

What Does Snow Have in Common With the Love of God?

 

What does snow have in common 

with the love of God?  

Like snow falling quietly

it covers everything and freezes them,  

but beautifies the landscape  

and changes it;

so is the love  

and the Grace of God, 

it comes quietly and covers everything. 

It freezes our passions,  

beautifies life 

and changes everything, 

inside us and around us.

  

- Saint Amphilochios Makris

 

 

Saint Amphilochios Makris and the Call of the Despairing Widow

By Archimandrite Paul Nikitaras

It is worth adding an event that shows how Elder Amphilochios received mystical calls for the salvation of others that remind us of the great Apostle to the Nations, who heard the voice of a Macedonian call out to him: "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9).

The ever-memorable Elder, while he was in his cell at his monastery in Patmos, heard a certain woman named Helen calling him from Icarus to hurry over and save her.

Saint Amphilochios Makris and the Kathisma of Saint Joseph the Betrothed on the Island of Patmos

In the south of Patmos, at the Bay of Stavros, is the area known as Kouvari. Kalliopi Nikitaki, later known as the Nun Martha and was the sister of Saint Amphilochios Makris (1889-1970), bought this land and had Saint Amphilochios establish a Kathisma (a hermitage with a small chapel that belongs to a monastery), which he dedicated to Saint Joseph the Betrothed.

In the chapel is an icon stand with an icon (116 x 82 cm) of Saint Joseph the Betrothed in his workshop. Under Saint Joseph's figure, which dominates the icon, four scenes are depicted: the birth of Christ (top left), the flight of Joseph and Mary to Egypt (bottom left), Joseph's dream (top right), and Joseph and Mary at the coronation with God the Father blessing them (bottom right). It should also be noted that in the scene of the flight to Egypt, the donkey that carries Mary and the infant Christ, behind which Joseph is walking, is guided by a boy inscribed “James”; obviously, he is no other than James the Lord's brother. The inscription of the icon states that it was made in 1860.

Synaxarion for the Translation of the Relics of Saint Amphilochios of Patmos

By Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes

On the 19th of this month [September], we commemorate the translation of the Honorable Relics of our Venerable and God-bearing Father Amphilochios of Patmos.

Verses

Sending forth a fragrance of divine life,
Was perceived from your relics in your grave.
On the nineteenth the bones of Amphilochios appeared from the earth.

The new among our Venerable Fathers Amphilochios reposed as was becoming in the sleep of the Righteous on the 16th of April in the year of our salvation nineteen hundred and seventy [1970], in the revered Monastery of the Annunciation of the Mother of the Beloved which he established in Patmos. Today we commemorate the revered translation from the grave of his grace-flowing relics, which took place on the 19th of September in the year nineteen hundred and eighty [1980], in the presence of the Hierarchs Spyridon of Rhodes, Timothy of Crete, and Isidore of Leros, Kalymnos and Astypalaia, the Abbot and Archimandrite Isidore of the Monastery of the Theologian in Patmos, the Monks of the Great Monastery, and the Nuns of the above-mention Monastery, together with the sacred Clergy, and his spiritual children who assembled together on the island from many places.

The Correspondence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Saint Amphilochios Makris

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople is not only responsible for the canonization of numerous saints of the Church, but he had a personal relationship with some of them as well. One way he had a personal relationship with these saints was through correspondence.

Metropolitan Ignatios of Berat published a book about the recently canonized Saint Amphilochios Makris in 1993 titled Ο Γέροντας της Πάτμου: Αμφιλόχιος Μακρής (1889-1970), Βίος – Υποθήκαι – Μαρτυρίαι (The Elder of Patmos: Amphlochios Makris (1889-1970), Life - Maxims - Testimonies). Inside this biography is a series of six Letters from 1957 to 1962 by Saint Amphilochios addressed to the then young student Demetrios Archontonis (future Patriarch Bartholomew), who was between 17 and 22 years old.

Saint Amphilochios Makris Resource Page

St. Amphlochios Makris of Patmos (Feast Day - April 16)

  

Elder Amphilochios Makris of Patmos 

 

Elder Amphilochios Makris as the Founder of the Convent of the Annunciation in Patmos 

 

The Apolytikion, Kontakion and Megalynarion of St. Amphilochios Makris Chanted in Patmos 

 

Synaxarion for the Translation of the Relics of Saint Amphilochios of Patmos 

 

On Noetic Prayer (St. Amphilochios Makris)

80 Sayings of Saint Amphilochios Makris

Translation of the Relics of Saint Nektarios the Wonderworker in 1953 

 

Icons of the Spiritual Children of Saint Nektarios 

 

The Special Bond Between Saint Nektarios and Saint Amphilochios

 

When Saint Nektarios Healed Saint Amphilochios Makris

 

Metropolitan Kallistos on Elder Amphilochios of Patmos (video) 

 

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware On Traditional Orthodox Clerical Attire In the West 

 

The Correspondence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Saint Amphilochios Makris 

 

The Response of Saint Amphilochios Makris to a Request for Spiritual Advice from a Sixteen Year Old Girl

Saint Amphilochios Makris and the Kathisma of Saint Joseph the Betrothed on the Island of Patmos 

 

Saints Nektarios and Amphilochios and the Establishment of the Monastery of Saint Menas in Aegina

 

When Saint Dionysios of Zakynthos Welcomed Saint Nektarios to Aegina

 

Saint Amphilochios Makris and the Call of the Despairing Widow

 

Elder Savvas Lappas, a Spiritual Child of St. Savvas of Kalymnos and St. Amphilochios Makris 

 

The Great Visitor (Elder Amphilochios Makris)

 

What Does Snow Have in Common With the Love of God? 

 

"They Do Not Believe in My Sainthood" (St. Amphilochios Makris) 

 

Elder Amphilochios Makris Soon To Be Canonized 

 

The Canonization of Elder Amphilochios Makris by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

80 Sayings of Saint Amphilochios Makris

The following sayings of Saint Amphilochios Makris were addressed to his spiritual children, primarily the nuns under his care.

= When you cultivate prayer, the Tempter's blusterings will not trouble you. Prayer diminishes his strength; he cannot do anything to us.

= The end of my life draws near. I ask you to live a holy life, to walk along holy paths, so that you may help both our Church and Greece.

= Remaining faithful to Monasticism is considered to be a martyrdom.

"They Do Not Believe in My Sainthood" (St. Amphilochios Makris)

By Archimandrite Paul Nikitaras

In Piraeus there was a woman from Patmos, Niki Trachanidou, who had heard of the holiness of Elder Amphilochios Makris, and she purchased oil from the lamp that was lit at the grave of the Elder, which she reverently kept in her icon corner.

She used to gather certain pious women at her house and they would read religious books and chant the Supplications to the Most Holy Theotokos.

The Apolytikion, Kontakion and Megalynarion of St. Amphilochios Makris Chanted in Patmos

By Hieromonk Antipas

Elder of the Athonite Sacred Cell of Saint Anna under Iveron Monastery

Composed in 1986

(These are the hymns that have been chanted in Patmos.)

Apolytikion.
Tone Pl. of the 1st. The Co-beginningless Word.

Let us all praise Amphilochios, the new star of the Church of Christ, truly the ornament of the island of Patmos, the beauty of monastics and lover of piety, the lamp of prudence; he intercedes to the Lord that He may have mercy on our souls.

Kontakion.
Tone 3. The Virgin Today.

In the last days father, you have shown to be a boast of the Church, shining with the virtues; wherefore we cry out to you with reverence, deliver us all from dangers, Amphilochios, the divine glory and pride of Patmos.

Megalynarion.

Rejoice the beauty of Priests, rejoice the revered ornament of Venerables, rejoice the glory and boast of Greece and of all Orthodox, O Amphilochios.

 

Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

The Canonization of Elder Amphilochios Makris by the Ecumenical Patriarchate

Today, Wednesday 29 August 2018, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate began the process for the canonization of Elder Amphilochios Makris of Patmos (1889-1970). The case for the canonization was already before the Synodal Special Committee of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch to Evia in June.

Metropolitan Kallistos on Elder Amphilochios of Patmos (video)

This lecture delivered by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia on his renowned spiritual father Elder Amphilochios (Makris) of Patmos was delivered on 30 August 2016 during the IOCS Conference on 'Contemporary Fathers and Mothers of the Church - Guides for Today’s World' (29-31 August 2016, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, England).

Elder Amphilochios Makris Soon To Be Canonized

April 28, 2014

Romfea.gr

According to information, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will be visiting the island of the Apocalypse [Patmos] this coming September.

The Great Visitor (Elder Amphilochios Makris)

Many times Christ comes and knocks on your door and you have Him sit in the living room of your soul, and you, preoccupied with your chores, forget about the Great Visitor.

Icons of the Spiritual Children of Saint Nektarios

The following depiction is in the Church of Saint Nektarios in Aegina:

Saint Nektarios in the center extending his blessing over the island of Aegina.

Saint Savvas the New of Kalymnos (1862-1948)

Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos of Patras (1877-1964)

Elder Amphilochios Makris of Patmos (1889-1970)

Elder Philotheos Zervakos of Paros (1884-1980)

 

Elder Amphilochios Makris of Patmos

Elder Amphilochios of Patmos ( Reposed April 16, 1970)

The future elder was born on December 13, 1889 to Emmanuel and Irene Makris and named Athanasios. He was born into a large family of simple, country folk. Even as an infant, Athanasios was devout, even observing the fasting rules regarding milk products while still an infant. When Athanasios was five, he convinced his newly-engaged godmother to spend the rest of her days in virginity. Athanasios, having preserved himself from worldly temptations, decided to enter a monastery at the age of seventeen. He asked his parents' blessing, which they were happy to give.

In March, 1906, he entered the Monastery of St. John the Theologian, Patmos; in August, having earned the love of the aging brotherhood, he was made a rassophore and given the name Amphilochios. To fight the passions and temptations, Amphilochios would employ strict fasting - ten mouthfuls of food at each meal on standard days, with seven or eight olives on fast days.

In 1911, the abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Theologian sent Amphilochios to Mount Athos in order to learn wood-carving; in March 1913, he was tonsured to the Great Schema by Elder Antoniadis. Two months later, the abbot had the agreement of the brethren of the monastery to ordain Amphilochios; but, because of a self-perception of inadequacy, he asked his traveling companion to continue while Amphilochios went to Egypt and the Holy Lands. Amphilochios asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to receive him as one of the caretakers of the Holy Sepulchre. While the Patriarch was willing to do this, the Monastery insisted that he return, where they "punished" him by sending him to the hermitage of Apollo, alongside Elder Makarios, which made Amphilochios very happy as he was better able to pray.

However, in 1919, Fr Amphilochios was ordained to the diaconate and, soon after, to the priesthood. He was assigned to the monastery's dependency on the island of Kos, also serving as confessor throughout the Dodecanese. In 1926, he was sent to the Cave of the Apocalypse, Patmos. He spent much time with students of the Ecclesiastical Academy, which produced numerous elders and abbots.

In 1935, the occupying powers of the Dodecanese were the Italians, who influenced the Church by forcing a system of governance that made it easy to manipulate the Church. However, the Patriarch of Constantinople demanded that this situation be rectified for the new abbot. In response, the brotherhood elected Elder Amphilochios as abbot. Soon after, the seeds of the future female Monastery of the Annunciation began to be planted: the first building housed a training workshop for knitting and weaving, a guise under which to teach children Greek. In response, in 1937, the Italians exiled Elder Amphilochios to mainland Greece, where the Elder received hospitality from the Zoe brotherhood in Athens, from whence he traveled throughout Greece; after which he traveled to Crete, where he became spiritual father of the island.

His exile ended in 1939, and Elder Amphilochios returned to Patmos, being received with great joy. He did not, however, reassume his abbacy, but rather, focused on dependencies and the female Monastery of the Annunciation. The changeover of power in 1942, from the Italians to the Germans, did not greatly impact on the Elder's life. In 1947, Elder Amphilochios organised a small group of nuns to assist the orphans of Rhodes (at that time, extremely poor) by establishing an orphanage, along with a unit for pregnant women.

At Easter, 1968, Elder Amphilochios received a forewarning of his coming repose, and was given two years to prepare himself and his children for his repose. Anxious for his spiritual children, he asked God with tears for more time to develop his children, after which the Mother of God and St. John the Theologian appeared to him and informed him that his request was denied. Soon after this, he received a bout of flu. Having made his final preparations, he reposed on April 16, 1970.

Source

Advice For Those Living in the West

"Do not be afraid because of your Orthodoxy; do not be afraid because, as an Orthodox in the West, you will be often isolated and always in a small minority. Do not make compromises but do not attack other Christians; do not be either defensive or aggressive; simply be yourself."

A Miracle of Elder Amphilochios

By Helen Angelides Torkos

I have the blessed privilege of being a witness to Geronda's all encompassing work through prayer:

Having been born in Patmos in 1965, I spent every Sunday sitting at Geronda's feet while he rested under the olive tree that grew beside the Monastery of Evagelismos (The Annunciation). While I waited for my grandfather to emerge from his daily duties inside the Monastery (he was the chanter), Geronda taught me the psalms of the Orthodox church. I recall repetitions of The Lord's Prayer, The Creed and many of our church hymns. These are my earliest memories of my childhood. I left my beloved Geronda, with his blessing, in October of 1969.

My life today is the way he envisioned it. He chose me to become the adopted daughter of the barren sister of his most beloved spiritual child, Geronda Amphilochios Tsoukos. His vision that this barren woman will have her own child, a son, only upon accepting me as her child was remarkable. My brother was born the end of March 1970, 2 weeks before Geronda closed his eyes for the last time. The news of my brother's birth didn't reach his ears until the day before he left this life and when he was told, he simply looked up to the heavens and smiled. That final day, I know he was praying for all his beloved children, including me, and blessing us all.

Geronda Amphilochios and the Island of Patmos are at the core of who I am and who I am destined to become. My life has taken many turns and at every crossroad his hand is always there to show me the way.

There are many more documented miracles that he is known for....

The Last Sayings of the Elder on the Day of His Repose

- To young children, give great care.

- In the other life, if I have the courage, I will ask Christ to put you in the best garden to see Christ day and night.

- It is disrespectful to eat. I am preparing to appear before the Lord. (Given when he was offered food.)

- Have love between yourselves and the brothers should take care of the nuns. If wrongs occur then you should forgive. Always see things with patience and love.

- Solve issues peacefully rather than carelessly.

- My one sadness really is that I will separate from you. Do not cry, it is a temporary separation. Local, not personal.

- From where I will be I will pray and protect you.

- I loved you with all the power of my soul.