Papa-Nicholas (Planas) of Athens

St. Nicholas (Planas) (1851-1932), was officially recognized as a saint by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1992. He was born in 1851 on the island of Naxos in Greece and is often referred to as Papa Nicholas (Planas) His feast day is celebrated on March 2. .

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Life

Papa-Nicholas was married and the father of one child. He was married at 17, but his wife died only a few years later and spent the rest of his life in celibacy with his only aspiration to serve the church. He was ordained a deacon in July 28 1879, at the Church of the Transfiguration in Plaka of Greece and a priest on March 2 1884 the Church of the Holy Prophet Elisha.

He served a Liturgy, vigils and other services every day for over 52 years. He spent most of that time in a very small church, St. John the Hunter, located in a working class neighborhood in Athens. When he arrived there, the parish contained only eight families, and he was paid virtually nothing. Nonetheless, he never refused to commemorate and pray for anyone when he served, and carried in his pockets slips of paper containing thousands of names that he would pray for during the proskomedia and the Liturgy. Numerous stories are told of his being so lifted in prayer during the liturgy that his altar servers would see him raised off the ground in front of the altar. While he would begin Liturgy at eight in the morning, he typically would not finish until two or three in the afternoon. When, for whatever reason, he was not able to serve at St. John’s, he would serve elsewhere, even in country chapels which lay half in ruins.

When not serving, Papa Nicholas was always found attending to his flock: taking confessions, giving counsel, visiting the poor and sick. He was famously absent minded, engrossed in heavenly things, and was also well known for giving to the poor anything that anyone might give him. He was not an educated man by any stretch of the imagination, but was immensely holy, a humble righteous man who shows us by his example the way to theosis. He reposed February of 1932, and thousands came to honor him.

A new St. John the Hunter Church has been built, and his relics are contained there.

See also

• Philotheos (Zervakos)
• St. Nektarios of Aegina
• Greek Orthodox Church of St. John the Hunter (Athens, Greece)

Troparia

Kontakion in the 3rd Tone.

Humble of spirit and pure of heart, illustrious in life and dispassionate of a truth, wast thou, O wise one. Thou didst illumine all by the virtues and dost grant grace unto them that draw nigh unto thee; and by thine intercessions, thou dost heal them that call upon thee, O Father Nicholas.

Megalinaro

As a simple shepherd of Christ God's lambs, thou didst tend thy flock well on the pasture of piety,

nourishing their spirits with ceaseless supplications and leading them to Christ, O wise Father Nicholas.

External Links

Material for most articles in these links, comes from the book Papa-Nicholas Planas, by the Nun Martha; translated from the Greek and published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1981.

• Biography of Nicholas (Planas) by Father Nektarios Serfes
• Canonisation Announcement by Fr. Jacob Meyes
• The Simple Shepherd - Papa Nicholas Planas by Fr. Alexey Young (Orthodox America)
• Another Modern Saint Published March 2, 2005