Nikodimos of Kavsokalyvia

Nikodimos of Kavsokalyvia was born in 1880 in renowned Smyrna, where he finished school, and in 1897 came to the Holy Mountain and to the skete of Kavsokalyvia. At first he submitted to the icon-⁠painter Elder Nikodimos of Serres (d. 1907), of the All Saints hut, from whom he received his name, and then to Elder Arsenios (d. 1956), an excellent wood carver, from whom he also skilfully learned the art of wood carving. He followed Arsenios to the hut of the Life-⁠Giving Spring.

According to Father Maximos of Kavsokalyvia: "He advanced manfully on the road of the dedicated life. Every fleshly inclination and desire was sacrificed on the altar of the spirit. His steps were led to the wilderness of Kavsokalyvia, to the saint-⁠bearing skete with its brilliant examples. Besides virtues, wonderful were also the works of their great patience, the exceptional and complex wood carvings, which they made together with his elder and his fellow monk Arsenios, signing: 'Work of the Nikodemaioi synodia.'" Daily he celebrated the Liturgy with the greatest reverence. He was a renowned confessor, to whom many fathers of Athos went to confess or to take counsel. He had close relations with Metropolitan Hierotheos of Miletoupolis, often hosted in their hut. He was called to various metropolises through the monastery for confession, and this ministry bore rich fruit. He reposed in the Lord Jesus on 24 August 1936. A spiritual son, the teacher K. Valatis, writes at the end of a poem: "Who will forget, father, the golden words, that came out measured and humble? Who will forget, father, the last days, in which you suffered so much, but so bravely?" He is venerated by the faithful, without synodal canonization.