Nicholas Planas

The Righteous Nicholas Planas was a priest in Athens, born in 1851 on the island of Naxos and reposed on 2 March 1932. He was known for his pastoral care, for his help to the needy, and for serving the Divine Liturgy every day for almost fifty years, from 1884 to 1932. The Ecumenical Patriarchate canonized him in 1992 among the righteous. He is commemorated on 2 March (new calendar), and his relics lie in the church of Saint John the Baptist "the Hunter" in Athens, where he served.

Early life

He was born on Naxos, to John and Augustina. At fourteen, after his father's death, he moved with his mother and sister to Athens, where they lived in poverty. At seventeen, at his mother's wish, he married, but his wife died soon after the birth of a son.

On 28 July 1879 he was ordained deacon for the church of the Transfiguration in the Plaka district (Kotaki). Once a deacon, he divided his inheritance with his sister, and then gave away his own share to pay part of the debt of a poor neighbour. After this he gave himself wholly to an ascetic life.

Priestly ministry

On 2 March 1884 he was ordained priest for the chapel of the Prophet Elijah near the Acropolis (the church has not survived). He was then moved to the church of the Great Martyr Panteleimon in the Neos Kosmos district of Athens, with a parish of thirteen families. Another priest, however, wanted that church and, by an understanding with the churchwarden, managed to remove Father Nicholas. He was moved to the church of Saint John the Baptist "the Hunter", on the edge of the Athens of that time (today in the city centre), and became its first rector. The parish had only eight families.

Father Nicholas was content with a piece of bread, vegetables he gathered himself, and the milk that shepherds of that deserted place brought him. The little he received at first he gave secretly to orphans, students and poor families. When he became a well-⁠known priest, large sums passed through his hands, but even then he distributed them at once as alms.

The daily Liturgy

He was a simple, humble man of little education. For almost fifty years he served the Divine Liturgy every day, from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon. On weekdays he served at the chapel of the Prophet Elijah and in other small churches beneath the Acropolis, and on Saturdays and Sundays in his own parish. He performed the services strictly according to the typikon, and at each proskomedia he commemorated about two thousand five hundred names.

After the Liturgy he read a canon to the Mother of God or to one of the saints, and then visited the sick. In the evening he served vespers or the all-⁠night vigil. His selfless service drew crowds of faithful from every walk of life. Two noted Greek writers, among them Alexandros Papadiamantis, were parishioners of the church where he served.

Repose and veneration

Saint Nicholas reposed in peace on 2 March 1932, at the age of eighty-⁠two. He was canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1992. Since then his relics have lain in a silver reliquary in the church of Saint John the Baptist "the Hunter" in Athens.