St. Nektarios the Wonderworker (source)
St. Nektarios saves the Metropolitan of Kydonies (amateur translation/summary)
From
the Chancellor of the Holy Metropolis of Kydonies, Archimandrite
Damaskenos Lionake
Early
on December 28th,
we reached the Navy Hospital of Athens together with fellow workers
from the Metropolis, where his Eminence Metropolitan Damaskenos was
sick in critical condition.
It
suffices to say that he was suffering from dysfunction of his vital
organs, sepsis, icterus, pancreatitis, and many other organ
complications! The vital placement of a stent, which was decided
ultimately by Dr. Gerasimos Stephanides, was not at all an easy one.
The prolonged suffering of our Shepherd impressed on us that his
health was even more fragile.
At
the “Evangelismos” Hospital, Drs. Evangelos Kokkinakes and
Soterios Prigoures spoke of the last moments of his Eminence. Human
medicine had reached its end, and around us there was utter
speechlessness...Instants of great agony and “unity of heart”...
With
faith we took refuge in the help of our great God, and the
intercessions of the wonderworker St. Nektarios, whose relic we had
taken with us from the Monastery of the Holy Trinity.
We
approached the sick Bishop and placed the grace-flowing relic on him,
and read prayers and prayed “within our strength”. He did not
show any sign of communication with the outside world. He only
clutched the reliquary, and took deep breaths due to aspiration.
In
a short time they took him to the operating room. Those near him,
about twenty people, waited outside the operating room in agony.
Two
hours later, having waited with agony, the door to the operating room
opened. The doctor called us, and told us: “Listen. I struggled
greatly. A divine hand led me, because I was lost. I had never before
met such a complex situation”... Immediately we were “born with
rejoicing”!
Agony
had given way to relief. Our hearts were sure that St. Nektarios had
helped the doctor during the surgery, and contributed to its wondrous
success! It was St. Nektarios!
It
was he who, for so many years, supported his Eminence, who helped him
in his life and his work, who blessed him “from on high” and
guided him in his difficulties, in temptations and trials, he who is
“speedy to help” and the “free physician”, who “pours forth
healing of all kinds”, the new boast of the inhabitans of Chanion,
who had confirmed his holiness even before his canonization!
“Things
that are impossible for men are possible for God” (Luke 18:27), as
the unlying mouth of the Lord bears witness, and “nothing is
impossible for St. Nektarios”, as was preached by the blessed
Demetrios Panagopoulos, the grace-bearing lay preacher and man of
God. Another page had been added to the many pages of wonders of St.
Nektarios.
May
the name of God be glorified, through the intercessions of St.
Nektarios, Whose “mercy surrounded us like a fortified city”
(Psalms 30:22).
His
Eminence our Metropolitan grants to us “the grace of God” in the
place of his pastoral service, in the blessed city of Chanion. We
judge it necessary to thank those who worked towards his healing and
therapy, those medical doctors who served him with consistency and
humanity, those who with hope served vigil near his pillow, those who
prayed for the improvement of his health, those who supported and
strengthened him in his trial, those who served the wonder of his
healing in many ways!
“May
the mercy of the Lord be with them all. Amen”
(source)
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
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