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| In the photograph, Fr. John Kalaides (right) with Fr. Nektarios, now Bishop of Argolis (left), during one of his visits to Neochori, Sintiki. |
By Miltiadis Tsesmetzis, Educator
In 2002, we went with a group from Serres on a pilgrimage to the Sacred Monastery of Sagmata, where Father Nektarios Antonopoulos was then the abbot (and is now the current Bishop of Argolis, who also is the author of the book on Saint Luke of Crimea, who was a physician).
He warmly welcomed us and said:
“You have a great Saint in Serres: Father John Kalaides! Doctors had confirmed that I had a polyp in my throat. He made the sign of the Cross over me at two points, on the right and on the left, and the polyp disappeared.”
As he told us, he wondered why the Holy Father had made the sign of the Cross over him on the right and left, since he himself believed that the polyp was in the middle of his throat. When he went in for the operation, the doctors told him that the polyp had disappeared. When he asked them at precisely what location in his throat it had been found, they told him that it had been located exactly at the points where Father John had made the sign of the Cross over him!
Indeed, as the Holy Father’s daughter, Theodora, told me at the time, she telephoned him on the eve of the operation to remind him that Father Nektarios was going to undergo surgery the following day, and the priest said to her:
“Father Nektarios is well.”
The next day, when she contacted the Sacred Monastery to learn the outcome of the surgery, a monk told her in astonishment that the doctors could not find the polyp!
This was the holy and wonderworking Father John, who, in his great humility, attributed all the miracles that took place to his beloved Saints Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene.
May their holy prayers protect us all!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
