By Fr. George Dorbarakis
“When Saint Nektarios was serving as a preacher in Euboea, he met there, at Saint John’s, the father of Elder Porphyrios as well: Leonidas Bairaktaris. Bairaktaris means ‘standard-bearer’... And the Saint gave him some advice. How beautifully he spoke to him! For a couple to conceive a child, preparation is also necessary. Besides, the Saint had proposed and established Schools for Parents. Many priests and many Metropolises have them even now for prospective spouses. Men and women preparing for marriage. You are getting married. Why are you getting married? All these things. You need to know many things. And so, through the guidance of Saint Nektarios, Elder Porphyrios was born. He followed closely in the footsteps of Saint Nektarios. And Elder Porphyrios loved Saint Nektarios absolutely, absolutely. He loved Saint Nektarios absolutely!”
— Elder Ananias Koustenis, Discourses on Saint Nektarios, Volume IV.
So many important and remarkable things are contained in this brief excerpt from a discourse by the great and ever-memorable Elder Ananias Koustenis. He loved both of the two greatest saints of modern times exceedingly: Saint Nektarios, Bishop of Pentapolis the Wonderworker, in whose little church in Athens he served and preached for decades, until the end of his life (May 2021), and Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, whose spiritual child he had been for many years — as the priest himself acknowledged, Elder Porphyrios had been his savior. And what was the “image” he had of both of them? That they were equal in spiritual stature! “Elder Porphyrios followed closely in the footsteps of Saint Nektarios.” In other words, as Father Ananias explained elsewhere, both of them, being endowed with spiritual gifts and working miracles, had made their hearts into pure mirrors reflecting the rays of the Holy Spirit. This means that in their persons one could see the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Is this not what our Church continually tells us when speaking about her saints? That the saints constitute a continuation of Jesus Christ; He is “in another form.” Christ is “He who rests among the saints,” and for this reason whatever wondrous things they accomplish belong to Him Himself!
Saint Porphyrios, then, certainly loved all the saints, and especially the Most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of his Lord. But he also felt a special closeness and affection toward Saint Nektarios, to the point of absolute devotion, according to Elder Ananias! “Elder Porphyrios loved Saint Nektarios absolutely, absolutely!” And this was no coincidence! For their relationship began even before Saint Porphyrios was born. Saint Nektarios was the one who, having met the father of Saint Porphyrios, Leonidas, advised him and encouraged him to have another child. Who knows what the clairvoyant and foreseeing Saint of Pentapolis discerned when he spoke to Father Leonidas? It is impossible that he did not have some “information” from God about what was to come! Our minds turn to something similar: Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian, who, when baptizing the infant child of Prodromos Eznepidis, gave him his own name, “Arsenios,” because he too foresaw, through his gift of spiritual insight, the later course of Arsenios's life: he would become a monk and glorify God and His Church as Saint Paisios! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become His counselor?”
We observe events, record historical moments and their sequence, but their deeper meaning always escapes us, at least while we are experiencing them. Later, through faith, we stand amazed at how the Providence of God works, and how events that appear “accidental” ultimately serve God's plan for our salvation!
Saint Nektarios, therefore, advised the father of Saint Porphyrios on matters of marriage and family life. This was part of his pastoral responsibility, all the more so because Leonidas Bairaktaris served as a chanter for Saint Nektarios during various journeys the Saint made throughout Euboea. And this was not something he did only for the ever-memorable Leonidas. As we have said, he considered this work of providing guidance to families to be an essential responsibility of a shepherd of the Church. That is why, we might say, he was pioneering for his time when he “proposed and established Schools for Parents!” This was because the “subject” of the work of a Church shepherd is the human person and everything connected with him. The principal purpose is to help him remain continually united with Jesus Christ; that is, to preserve what he received as an inestimable gift at his Baptism: the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to remain a member of Jesus Christ! This means that wherever the shepherd finds a person, there he is called to minister to him, whether the person is pursuing the monastic life or the married life. The married life simply has its own particular circumstances arising from this specific choice: one is to be a spouse, to have children if this is possible, and to undertake the upbringing of those children. The clergyman, accordingly, also acts in response to these circumstances.
This ministry to married people is not merely important; it is of the utmost importance. We see this in the care that the Lord Himself shows for families, and also in the attention given to these matters by His holy Disciples and Apostles, who very often addressed questions concerning married life, as well as by the Holy Fathers of our Church, from the very beginning until today. Who can read the writings of the Fathers without marveling at their insight, as well as their tenderness, love, and condescension toward human relationships, especially within the family? Saint Nektarios, of course, as a great Father and Teacher of the Church, a wise and distinguished writer, could hardly have failed to address this subject as well. That is why he also put his ideas into practice by establishing Schools for Parents, as we have mentioned. His spiritual child, Saint Porphyrios, who was of the same spiritual stature as he, did the same. He may not have established a School for Parents, but what he said in his talks and teachings, and in his various conversations with people of every kind, constitutes a substantial body of work on family guidance. This material has been put to extensive use in our own time, whether through conferences, seminars, talks, or books.
It is very encouraging that, as the ever-memorable Father Ananias also points out, many Metropolises and many parishes have already taken action in this direction. For Christians, and every well-intentioned person, must learn what marriage means, what family means, and what the upbringing of children means. “Men and women preparing for marriage. You are getting married. Why are you getting married? All these things. You need to know many things.” And perhaps we are already late in doing so. For the Christian family has now become a rarity, and even where it exists, destructive tendencies frequently appear. We must respond, because divorces have now surpassed marriages. The voice of Saint Nektarios, the voice of our incarnate God, the voice of his successor, Saint Porphyrios, and the voice of our Church as a whole must grow louder within us, so that it may prevail in our conscience. This will be our deliverance, and also a blessing for our entire world.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
