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Remembering Venerable Nίkander Wonderworker of Pskov · Saints and Scripture

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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Saints and Scripture Podcast.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today is Thursday, september twenty fourth, twenty twenty six.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today we remember Venerable Nikandere, known as the Wonderworker of Piscaf.
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  SPEAKER_00: He was born on july twenty fourth, fifteen oh seven in the village of Vida Lebo in the land of Pscav.
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  SPEAKER_00: His parents were Philip and Anastasia, and at baptism he was named Nikon.
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  SPEAKER_00: From a young age, Nikon dreamed of following the ascetic life of Saint Euphrosinos, a fellow villager who lived in the Skov wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: His older brother Arsenios was the first in the family to enter monastic life.
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  SPEAKER_00: After their father died, the seventeen-year-old Nikon convinced his mother to give up her property and enter a convent.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nikon visited monasteries in Skov and venerated the relics of Saint Euphrosinos and his disciple Saint Sava of Kripetsk.
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  SPEAKER_00: These visits strengthened his calling to the monastic life.
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  SPEAKER_00: To learn to read the Word of God, Nikon worked for a man named Philip Impskov.
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  SPEAKER_00: Philip sent him to study with a teacher because of his diligence.
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  SPEAKER_00: One day while praying in a church, Nikon heard a voice from the altar telling him to go to a place in the wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Lord would show him the way through a servant named Theodore.
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  SPEAKER_00: The peasant Theodore led Nikon to the Demyanka River, between Piskov and Porkov.
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  SPEAKER_00: Later, both Philip and Theodore became monks themselves, taking the names Philaray and Theodosios.
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  SPEAKER_00: After years of silence and strict asceticism, Nikon went to the Kripetsk monastery, founded by Saint Sava.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Igumen, or abbot, was hesitant to accept him because of his weakened body.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nikon prayed before Saint Sava's tomb, asking to be accepted.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Igumen then tonsured him with the name Nikander.
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  SPEAKER_00: Saint Nicander faced many temptations and hardships.
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  SPEAKER_00: Blessed Nicholas predicted his trials, and Saint Alexander of Sphere appeared to him twice, offering guidance and strength.
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  SPEAKER_00: Through prayer, Nicander overcame physical weakness, human failings, and even diabolical apparitions.
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  SPEAKER_00: Once robbers attacked him and stole his precious books and icons.
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  SPEAKER_00: By his prayers, two of the robbers repented after a comrade suddenly died.
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  SPEAKER_00: Saint Nikander forgave them.
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  SPEAKER_00: He did not stay long at Kripetsk Monastery at first, returning to the wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Later he served as ecclesiarch and seller at the monastery before going back to the wilderness to live in fasting and prayer.
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  SPEAKER_00: Each year during Great Lent he visited the Damianoff monastery for confession and to receive Holy Communion.
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  SPEAKER_00: Eight years before his death he was tonsured into the Great Schema, a higher monastic rank.
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  SPEAKER_00: Many people sought his counsel because of the grace and spiritual gifts given to him by the Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: He cared for visitors, even building a heated guest house.
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  SPEAKER_00: Though he had the gift of tears, he prayed silently when others were near, hiding this gift.
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  SPEAKER_00: Saint Nicander remained an anchorite in the wilderness until his death.
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  SPEAKER_00: He instructed that a church be built at his grave and that an icon of the Annunciation be transferred there.
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  SPEAKER_00: He knew the day of his death, predicting it would come during an invasion.
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  SPEAKER_00: On September twenty fourth, fifteen eighty one, during an attack by the army of Polish King Stephen Bathory, a peasant found him dead on his bed with his hands crossed on his chest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Clergy and faithful came from Skaf to bury him.
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  SPEAKER_00: In 1584, a monastery was founded at the place where Saint Nicander had prayed for nearly fifty years.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was called the Annunciation, Nikandrov Hermitage.
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  SPEAKER_00: The monk Isaiah, who founded it, was healed of a foot ailment after praying to the saint.
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  SPEAKER_00: Saint Nicander was glorified in 1696 with celebrations on September twenty fourth, the day of his repose, and other feast days.
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  SPEAKER_00: He is also commemorated on the third Sunday after Pentecost with the saints of Novgorod and Pskov.
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  SPEAKER_00: May we be inspired by the life of Saint Nicander, who through prayer, humility, and perseverance became a light for many.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us to follow the example of Saint Nicander in prayer and humility.
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  SPEAKER_00: Strengthen us to endure trials with faith and love.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.