Nikephoros the Leper

Venerable Nikephoros the Leper (Nikephoros Janakakis) was a monk who bore the illness of leprosy with patience. He was born in 1890 in the village of Sirikari on the island of Crete, to a devout family, with the lay name Nikolaos Janakakis. At thirteen his parents put him to learn the barber's trade with a master in Chania; then the first signs of leprosy appeared. At that time the Cretans sent lepers to the Spinalonga peninsula, so at sixteen, when the disease became visible, Nikolaos went to Alexandria, where he went on working as a barber. When the leprosy began to spread over his face and hands, a priest advised him to go to the island of Chios, where there was a leprosarium founded by Venerable Anthimos Vayianos.

He arrived on Chios in 1914, at the age of twenty-⁠four. There a field for perfecting the virtues opened for him. Venerable Anthimos tonsured him a monk with the name Nikephoros. He worked in the gardens and orchards and was first cantor in the church. Because of the illness he lost his sight. In 1957, nearly blind and bedridden, he was moved to the anti-⁠leprosy station of Saint Barbara in Athens, where he departed to the Lord on 4 January 1964, at the age of seventy-⁠four.

Already in life, bearing his sufferings with perfect humility and unceasing prayer, he acquired many gifts. For his patience and love of his neighbour, the Lord gave him the gift of prophecy and of consoling the suffering. At his death a fragrance came from his relics; the miracles worked through his prayer were recorded by his disciple, Father Eumenios. He is commemorated on 4 January (new style).