I’d like to point out again that those of us who have apparent strange experiences with saints or directly from God should not go around bragging about it. No, quite the opposite. God sends us these things because He wants something from us, and we’re not bright enough or spiritually advanced enough to figure it out. So He has to give us a swift kick in one way or another to get us moving.
Last week you read the story of how Saint Nektarios kept playing tricks on me during my visits to Greece. I was entirely perplexed by this. Nektarios was known for healing people of cancer, not for being mischievous.
But then…
The Trip that wasn’t and the miracle that was.
In the summer of 2013, Khouria * Dianna and I had planned our usual trip to Greece. But then she had her annual physical. Her very capable and competent internist pronounced her well, and indeed she felt fine. But Dianna, who doesn’t miss much (believe me!), took a close look at the printout of her blood tests and found something that she thought seemed a little “off”. She went back to her internist who said it was very likely nothing, but they did some tests just to be sure. I can remember so clearly the moment she came home: “Bill, it’s cancer.” Ever since I’ve had bad dreams about that.
- Arabic for “priest’s wife, used in our Antiochian Archdiocese.
I won’t give you details. It’s enough to say that it was an aggressive malignancy, of the sort that shows no symptoms till it’s well along – and this was in its early stages. That it was detected early seemed almost miraculous in and of itself. Her primary doctor found a competent oncologist who said he felt sure he could get it.
Nevertheless, those of you who have dealt with major cancer know how we felt. We were very afraid. There was cancer in both our families. Dianna’s mother had died from her last bout with it. My mother had barely survived her two bouts with it. The first time she was relatively young, I was at the vulnerable age of eleven. Of course it would have been far worse had she died, but I knew what was happening, and I was so afraid. She was a wonderful, loving mother, and I couldn’t imagine how I could cope without her. It left permanent scars, fears in my psyche. So it was now with my dear wife.
At times like this faithful Christians should put our trust in God and be calm. Well, I tried to appear calm, but I definitely was not. (Dianna seemed to handle it better than me.)
Some words to the wise here: We had been warned not to go on the internet and search for what might happen. Nevertheless, one afternoon while Dianna was out, I yielded to temptation. I looked up all possibilities, and I fell apart. I was crying and shaking. I tried to get myself under control, but when she came home she saw that something was wrong. I was too ashamed to tell her what I had done, which I think left her afraid that I knew something she didn’t. Brothers and sisters, if you ever face a life threatening illness and have a competent doctor, get a second opinion if you need to – that’s almost always a good idea – but do not research it on the internet!
The Miracle
Or at least it seemed a miracle to me, and it still does.
Now, whether something is a miracle is often a matter of judgment. Unless it takes place immediately on the spot for reasons completely inexplicable, we can’t be sure. However, as I said, the chances of having caught this malignancy in time seemed so very remote…
…but I’m getting ahead of the story.
Here’s what I did do right. Not really me. It’s what Saint Nektarios had taught me. This blessed saint had already shown me he can do amazing things, and I knew cancer was his specialty. So immediately I knew where to turn. I don’t even remember deciding to do this, but each day I said the Paraklesis (Supplicatory Canon) to Saint Nektarios. I didn’t tell Dianna about this till it was all over. I don’t know why.
Here is a very small portion of the text, enough to give you the sense of it:
O holy hierarch of Christ, Nektarios, intercede for us!
Afflicted in body and soul, O Saint
I run to thy shelter
Seeking aid and crying to thee:
Bestow thou thy peace on me, O Father,
And do thou free both my spirit and flesh from harm.
O holy one of God, intercede for us!
As one that lived righteously in this life,
O Godbearing Father,
Saint Nektarios, do thou heal
(And) sanctify all that hasten to thee
And kiss thine icon and relics with reverence.
O holy one of God, intercede for us!
To them that seek healing of thee with faith ,
Come hasten, O Father,
And deliver them from all pain;
For thou art a merciful physician,
O most revered wonderworker, Nektarios
Before she went into surgery I anointed her, both with Holy Unction and with oil from the lamps of Saint Nektarios, and she was surrounded by the prayers of family, friends and church members.
The happy result, after a few hours of worrying and fretting and praying, was that the surgeon indeed got it all. This was followed by some very unpleasant chemotherapy. But thirteen years have now passed cancer free. Dianna now has an icon of Saint Nektarios hanging on the wall above her bed-stand.
Was it a miracle? If you mean, can I prove that the malignancy wouldn’t have been discovered in time, that the surgeon wouldn’t have got it without the help of Saint Nektarios? No, of course not. Nor can I prove that all those strange things that happened 
to me in Greece weren’t just coincidences. Life isn’t like that.
But you know my skeptical, scientific, “give me evidence” nature – and somehow this is different. There are other ways of knowing, and I know that by God’s help, Saint Nektarios has done all this.
Furthermore, the miracle wasn’t over. It’s the better part of wisdom not to share this in detail. But something else came out of this that was startling, scary, but immensely beneficial, and equally unlikely of being discovered… and I think that’s as far as I’ll go.
So… None of his tricks in Greece had been for my entertainment. They were all to prepare me, prepare us for 2013, and Khouria Dianna’s bout with cancer, and more. Looking back… Oh, dear Lord, thank you for it all, Thank you, Saint Nektarios. I love you so dearly.
In 2014 Khouria Dianna and I went to Greece and visited Saint Nektarios together with great gratitude.
That’s all I have to tell you about that. Except to say that right now, almost exactly thirteen years later, Khouria Dianna and I are sitting in our living room across from each other. I know we won’t sit here like this forever. But we have had these years which we so easily might not have had. And our grandchildren have grown old enough now to truly get to know their “great” grandmother.
Praise God.
O faithful, let us honor Nektarios, divine servant of Christ, offspring of Silivria and guardian of Aegina, who in these latter years was manifested as the true friend of virtue. All manner of healing wells forth for those who in piety cry out, “Glory to Christ who glorified you; Glory to Him who, through you, worked wonders; Glory to Him who, through you, works healing for all.
Did Saint Nektarios get involved with me after this? Just once. And once more it was in Greece.
Next Week: Saint Nektarios does it again, with help from a friend
Week after Next: Oh, Saint Mary Magdalene, what have they done to you? Another reprise from a couple of years ago. I’m getting lazy, but it’s summertime, after all.