Draft:Nikephoros the Wonderworker

Nikephoros the Wonderworker

Saint Nikephoros the Wonderworker, also known as Nikephoros the Leper (Greek: Ἄγιος Νικηφόρος ὁ Θαυματουργός ή ὁ Λεπρός; secular name Nikolaos Tzanakakis; born 1890 in Sirikari, Crete; died January 4, 1964, in Athens), was an Orthodox monk and is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church. He is renowned for miracles, especially healings, and is invoked particularly for assistance in illness and for strength in patience and endurance of suffering. On December 3, 2012, he was canonized by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Life

Childhood and Youth

Nikolaos Tzanakakis was born in 1890 in the mountain village of Sirikari, in the Chania prefecture of Crete. This region is known for its favorable climate, lush vegetation, and numerous freshwater springs. After losing his parents at a young age, Nikolaos was raised by his grandfather. At the age of 13, he was sent to Chania to apprentice as a barber.

Shortly after beginning his training, he contracted leprosy, a feared and stigmatized disease at that time. There was no known cure, and sufferers were isolated in leper colonies. To avoid forced internment at the leper colony of Spinalonga, Nikolaos fled to Alexandria, Egypt, at the age of 16, where he continued to work as a barber. However, his condition deteriorated visibly, prompting him to seek help from an Orthodox bishop, who directed him to Father Anthimos Vagianos on the island of Chios, the spiritual caretaker of the local leper colony.

Life in Chios (1914–1947)

In 1914, at the age of 24, Nikolaos arrived at the leper colony on Chios, centered around the small Church of Saint Lazarus, home to the miraculous icon of Panagia Ypakois ("the Obedient Mother of God"). Here, Nikolaos was inspired to embrace monastic life. Two years later, he received monastic tonsure from Father Anthimos and was given the monastic name Nikephoros.

Despite the progression of his disease - effective treatment for leprosy was only discovered in 1947 - Father Nikephoros lived in strict asceticism, obedience, fasting, and constant prayer. He tended the colony’s gardens and documented miracles attributed to his spiritual mentor, Father Anthimos, especially healings from demonic afflictions.

Saint Nikephoros maintained a profound spiritual bond with Father Anthimos, rarely leaving his side, often praying through the night. He became the cantor for the church, though advancing leprosy severely impaired his eyesight, eventually forcing him to chant and recite solely from memory.

"Saint Barbara" in Athens (1957–1964)

Following the closure of the Chios leprosarium in 1957, Nikephoros and the remaining patients were transferred to the leper colony "Saint Barbara" in Athens. By then, he was approximately 67 years old and severely affected by leprosy - virtually blind, with limbs deformed by the disease.

In Athens, Nikephoros encountered Priestmonk Evmenios Saridakis, himself a former leprosy sufferer cured by modern treatments, who chose to remain among the afflicted and became Nikephoros’s close disciple.

Despite his physical impairments, Nikephoros provided spiritual comfort to many visitors, blessing them and offering encouragement, peace, and reported healings.

Contemporary Testimonies

Eyewitnesses described him thus:

“Although bedridden, covered in wounds, and suffering greatly, he never complained and exhibited remarkable endurance.”

“He had a gift for comforting the sorrowful. His eyes were constantly irritated, his vision minimal, his hands deformed, and his lower limbs paralyzed. Yet he remained kind-hearted, gentle, frequently smiling, charmingly recounting anecdotes, and always pleasant and loveable.”

“His face, marked by illness and wounds, radiated joy, uplifting everyone who saw him, especially when he proclaimed: ‘Blessed be His holy name.’”

Death and Veneration

Father Nikephoros died in Athens on January 4, 1964, aged 74. At the exhumation of his relics, numerous witnesses reported a sweet, intense fragrance, a phenomenon often interpreted in Orthodox tradition as evidence of holiness.

He was canonized on December 3, 2012, by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

His disciple, Saint Evmenios, and other contemporaries reported many miracles attributed to Nikephoros’s intercession. Orthodox tradition attributes special spiritual gifts to him, including prophecy and healing powers. Many miracles have been documented, while others continue through oral tradition.

Among other locations relics of Saint Nikephoros are preserved in churches and monasteries on Mount Athos, Greece, Romania, Syria, Lebanon, Albania, Russia, Ukraine, all the 18 monasteries related to Father Ephraim of Arizona throughout the US and the Greek Orthodox Churches of the Ascension of Jesus Christ in Berlin and of Prophet Elias in Frankfurt am Main.

Troparion in the First Tone

O venerable father Nicephoros

the Leper, Thy struggles and courageous asceticism

dumbfounded heaven's angels. Like another Job in

pain, thou didst endure and gave glory to God. And

so, He arranged for thee a resplendent crown of

miracles. Rejoice, O guide of monastics! Rejoice, O

prism of light! Rejoice, O delightful fragrance

radiating from thy relics![1]

Spiritual Legacy

“My children, do you pray? How do you pray? ... – With the Jesus Prayer, pray thus to the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’”

External links

Official website in Greek

Saint Nikephoros the Leper

References

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