Nicholas Planas

Life and Ministry

Nicholas Planas was born on Naxos in 1851 to a captain named John and his wife Augustina. He married Eleni Provelegiou, who came from Kythira, and they had one son, John. His wife died while he was still young, before his ordination to the priesthood, and he lived thereafter in celibacy.

He was ordained a deacon on July 28, 1879, at the Church of the Transfiguration in Plaka, and a priest on March 2, 1884, at the Church of the Holy Prophet Elisha. His pastoral work centered on very small and poor congregations: the Church of Saint Panteleimon in Neo Kosmo, which numbered only about thirteen families, and the Church of Saint John the Hunter, which had only about eight, while the Church of the Prophet Elisha was the principal place where he celebrated the Liturgy.

For roughly fifty consecutive years he celebrated the divine services almost daily, frequently from around eight in the morning until two in the afternoon, irrespective of weather or unrest. He commemorated great numbers of people by name from prayer-request slips during the services. Accounts of his life emphasize his poverty: he kept no money for himself, distributing what he received to widows, orphans, and the poor, and was repeatedly left without any funds of his own.

Disciples and Influence

Among those drawn to his services were the celebrated Greek writers Alexandros Papadiamantis and Alexandros Moraitidis, who are described as his spiritual disciples and who regularly chanted near him at the Church of the Prophet Elisha. Their association helped preserve and spread the memory of his manner of life.

Glorification

Nicholas Planas reposed in Athens on March 2, 1932. He was buried in the courtyard of the church of Saint John, and his relics were later placed in a silver reliquary in the new church building. The Church of Greece, with the support of Metropolitan Nikodemos of Patras—who had personally met him and received his blessing—requested that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople recognize his holiness. The Ecumenical Patriarchate glorified him by synodical decree in 1992, appointing March 2 as his feast day; when that date falls within Great Lent, his commemoration is observed on the first Sunday following March 2.

Relics & Shrines

After his initial burial in the churchyard of Saint John, his relics were translated into a silver reliquary and are now kept in the new Church of Saint John the Hunter in Athens.