Nektarios Marmarinos

Elder Nektarios Marmarinos, founder of the Monastery of Saint Patapios at Loutraki, was born on Aegina on 3 November 1921 and fell asleep in the Lord on 21 July 2019. He is honoured by the faithful as an archimandrite and spiritual father of many monastic communities, without synodal canonization.

Childhood and calling

He was born on Aegina, the island of Saint Nektarios, and baptized Kyriakos. His parents, Photios and Evangelia Marmarinos, were poor and devout; his siblings were Anastasios, Michael and Marina, the last dying at twenty of tuberculosis during the German Occupation. With his beloved sister he visited the monasteries of Aegina. His spiritual father was the elder Hieronymos Apostolidis, the hesychast of Aegina (died 1966), from whom he learned prayer, piety and love for the services. As a child he used to climb to the Monastery of the Panagia Chrysoleontissa on the mountain and, seeing the monastery of Saint Nektarios from there, he prayed: "My Saint Nektarios, you who built a monastery here, make me worthy to build one too and to see the brides of Christ fight the good fight."

He completed primary and secondary school, then the Ecclesiastical School of Chania and, from 1937, the one at Corinth, under the protection of Metropolitan Michael Constantinidis, where he was ecclesiarch at the church of St Photini. His classmates spoke to him of Saint Patapios, whose relics had been found in the cave at Loutraki in 1904. The cave could be seen from the school courtyard as a small white dot on the Geraneia mountains. When he climbed up to venerate the saint, he felt a "divine attraction" in his soul and prayed: "My Saint, help me to build a monastery here."

In time, in a vision, he saw Saint Patapios surrounded by light, sitting on the coffin holding his relics, saying three times: "The monastery will be built, yes, it will be built." Kyriakos began to work toward this. He found a booklet with the life of Saint Patapios and had it printed. He worked in the parish of the Panagia Synoikismou at Corinth as catechist and preacher, and organized excursions to the cave, made with difficulty on foot. For the sake of this work he did not go to university, though he was diligent and clever.

Priest and founder

Metropolitan Michael ordained him deacon on 21 February 1941 and gave him the name Nektarios, which he had secretly prayed for. On 8 November 1945 he was ordained priest, then archimandrite and spiritual father. Between 1941 and 1945 he worked intensely in the parish of the Panagia: liturgies, preaching, catechism and works of mercy. He ran a catechism for eighty girls, from whom several of his later disciples came. On 15 October 1945 Metropolitan Michael went up to the cave for the first time with the young deacon and composed an apolytikion and a megalynarion for the saint.

With great privation and much personal effort Nektarios built a small guesthouse in 1947, three cells in 1948 and a refectory in 1949, from materials brought by mule from Loutraki. The work was accompanied by slander and accusations from some people of Loutraki. The new metropolitan, Prokopios Tzavaras, was influenced by them but in time was enlightened and promised to recognise the monastery. In the summer of 1952 he approved the settling of the first sister, Irene Stergiou, and then of Styliani Goussopoulou as abbess. On 19 September 1953 the royal decree founding the monastery was issued, signed by King Paul.

His work

In 1977 he founded the men's Monastery of the Apostle Paul in Geraneia and later those of Saint Nicholas the New at Vouneni (Perachora), Panagia Myrtidiotissa and Saint Nektarios at Gera. He also built the home for elderly women, St Helen. The municipality of Corinth gave him the golden key of the city, and the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece awarded him a gold medal in 2006. He served sixty years as chancellor of the Metropolis. The Monastery of Saint Patapios keeps a traditional rule, with a typikon compiled by him, a daily programme starting at 3:30, and a special prayer for each day: Sunday for the spread of the truth of the Gospel, Monday for the sick, Tuesday for those in prison, Wednesday for the enlightening of the listless, Thursday for those in despair, Friday for the workers of the Gospel, Saturday for the departed.