Prayers to Saint Nectarius of Pentapolis
Our Father among the Saints Nectarius, Metropolitan of Pentapolis & Wonderworker of Ægina
First Prayer
O thou who flowest with myrrh, holy hierarch Nectarius, high priest of God! In the days of great apostasy, when the world was in thrall to ungodliness, thou didst shine forth with piety, and didst crush the head of the most prideful Lucifer who woundeth us. Wherefore, Christ gave thee the gift to heal the incurable diseases that have smitten us because of our iniquities. We believe that God loveth thee, the righteous one; that for thy sake He will have mercy on us sinners and deliver us from infirmities; and that throughout the whole world His name—of the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprit—will be glorified now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Second Prayer
O holy hierarch Nectarius, divinely wise father! Accept, O preserver of the Orthodox Faith, the confession of the lips of the Christian people assembled in church today by the grace of God that dwelleth in thee. For word hath reached even unto the parts of Russia, that thou O favorite of Christ, great among the saints, dost appear to all who call upon thy name in all the ends of the world, and grantest healing of divers cancers. We have heard of the priest who bore thy name, and who with great difficulty was raising up a church dedicated to thee: how, though stricken with a cancerous lesion on his breast, whence blood flowed every day and which caused him great suffering, he did not set aside his holy task; and how thou, descending from heaven, O most merciful hierarch, didst suddenly stand before him in visible form; and how he, taking thee to be a brother priest from among mortals, besought thy prayers, saying: "I am in great pain, yet do I desire to raise up a holy altar, whereon I and my parishioners might one day serve the Holy Liturgy together. Then will I be ready to die, for death holdeth no terror for me." And thou, O father, though bodiless, didst bedew thy face with tears; and, embracing the suffering man, didst kiss him, saying: "Be not downcast, my child, for, having been tested by sickness, thou shalt be restored to health; and all will come to know of this miracle." And healed, he straightway understood with whom he had been conversing, for thou didst vanish from his sight. O Nectarius, great favorite of Christ, that temple hath now been completed, and thy miracles have been multiplied like the bounding sea! And we have come to recognize that the prayer of the righteous man must needs be accompanied by our diligence for the service of God and our resolve to die for Christ, if we are to be found healthy. Thine ailing children beseech thee, O righteous father, that the will of God—good, pleasing and perfect—may work within us, for He desireth not the death of the sinner, but that he turn and find life. And do thou, O herald of the will of God, fill us with thy gracious appearance, that God may be great in heaven and on earth, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Troparion (Tone I)
O ye faithful, let us honor Nectarius, the offspring of Silyvria, the guardian of ?gina, the true friend of the virtues, as a godly servant of Christ; for he poureth forth all manner of healings upon those who piously cry aloud: Glory to Christ Who hath glorified thee! Glory to Him Who hath crowned thee! Glory to Him Who through thee worketh healings for all!
Another Troparion (Tone IV)
Having lived a holy life, as a wise hierarch, O venerable Nectarius, thou didst glorify the Lord by thy virtuous life. Wherefore, thou art glorified by the Comforter with power, wherewith thou drivest away demons and healest the sick, who hasten with faith to thy divine relics.
Kontakion (Tone VIII)
In joy of heart let us hymn with songs the newly revealed star of Orthodoxy, the newly erected bulwark of the Church; for, glorified by the activity of the Spirit, he poureth forth the abundant grace of healings upon those who cry: Rejoice, O father Nectarius!
Ikos: In the world thou wast shown to be a man of heavenly mind, O Nectarius, hierarch of Christ; for having passed through life in holiness, thou wast shown to be blameless, venerable and God-pleasing in all things. Wherefore, thou hearest from us such things as these:
Rejoice, thou by whom the faithful are edified; rejoice, thou of whom the enemy is afraid!
Rejoice, emulator of the venerable fathers; rejoice, divine teacher of the Orthodox! Rejoice, most holy temple of the activity
of God; rejoice, divinely inscribed book of new morals!
Rejoice, for thou didst make thyself like unto the saints in perfection; rejoice, for thou didst wisely spurn material things!
Rejoice, splendid victory of the Faith; rejoice, honored clarion of grace!
Rejoice, thou for whom the Church joineth chorus; rejoice, thou in whom Aegina rejoiceth! Rejoice, O father Nectarius!
Translated from Church Slavonic by Monk Joseph (Isaac) Lambertsen.
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