Thursday, January 4, 2024, marks the 60th anniversary of the blessed repose of Saint Nikephoros the Leper, a holy healer and miracle worker of our times.
The Venerable Nikephoros was included in the calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church by the resolution of the Holy Synod of July 21, 2021, when the texts of the Synaxarion, full Service, Akathist and Supplicatory canon dedicated to the Saint were also approved.
In a meeting of the Synod of the Metropolis of Muntenia and Dobruja, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel emphasized that St. Nikephoros the Leper was especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic: “He suffered from leprosy and was patient and merciful and humble, and God gave him the gift of healing the sick,” His Beatitude said.
The year 2024 was proclaimed as the Solemn Year of the pastoral care of the sick and the Commemorative Year of all the holy unmercenary healers in the Romanian Patriarchate. In this solemn and commemorative year, we particularly honour the Saints who received the gift of healing physical and spiritual illnesses.
Life of St. Nikephoros the Leper
The Saint was tormented by leprosy in his adolescence and endured his suffering with humility at a time when there was still no treatment and later when the disease was too advanced for the newly discovered treatment to be effective.
Suffering led him to assume the monastic path, becoming a disciple of another saint, Anthimos of Chios.
When he was 67, he was moved from the former asylum of St. Antimos in Chios. He ended up in a leprosy near Athens, where he had, in turn, a disciple, Father Eumenius, who discovered the many spiritual gifts of Saint Nikephoros the Leper.
Saint Nikephoros the Leper reposed in the Lord on January 4, 1964, at 75.
After his repose, his remains were discovered to have a pleasant fragrance. On December 1, 2012, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople proclaimed his canonization.
Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene