Icon of St. Nikephoros the Leper - 00STNL01

Feast Day/Commemorated: January 4

Saint Nikephoros, born Nicholas Tzanakakis in a mountainous village of Crete in 1890, endured profound hardship from an early age. His life was marked by the tragic loss of his simple, pious parents, leaving him an orphan as a young child. At the age of thirteen, he left his grandfather and home to seek a living in Chania, where he began learning the trade of a barber. It was during this time that he started showing the initial symptoms of Hansen’s disease (leprosy). Fearing isolation on the notorious leper island of Spinalonga, which was the mandated treatment for the highly feared contagious disease, the sixteen-year-old Nicholas fled Greece for Egypt.

In Alexandria, Nicholas continued working as a barber, but the signs of leprosy, particularly on his hands and face, became increasingly conspicuous. Through the assistance of a local cleric, he was directed to the island of Chios, which housed a leper church and hospital. In 1914, at the age of twenty-four, Nicholas arrived at the Chios leprosarium. Here, his spiritual journey truly began under the guidance of the priest, Father Anthimos Vagianos, who would later be recognized as Saint Anthimos of Chios. Within two years, Father Anthimos recognized Nicholas's spiritual readiness and tonsured him a monk, giving him the name Nikephoros.

Life in the leper hospital was a pathway to holiness for Father Nikephoros. He lived a life of strict obedience to Saint Anthimos, practiced austere fasting, and worked diligently in the gardens, even as his disease progressed rapidly due to the lack of effective medication at the time. Nikephoros maintained a strong, special spiritual bond with his spiritual father, Saint Anthimos, and even recorded the numerous miracles he witnessed, particularly those related to deliverance from demons. Despite the progression of his illness, which caused him to slowly lose his sight, he became the monastery's master chanter, performing all the services from memory.

In 1957, the Chios leprosarium closed, and Father Nikephoros, then 67 and physically disfigured by the disease, was transferred with other remaining patients to the Saint Barbara home for lepers in Athens. There, he was joined by Father Eumenios, who, though cured of leprosy himself, chose to remain to serve his suffering brethren. Father Eumenios submitted to Father Nikephoros, recognizing the great spiritual gifts the Lord had bestowed upon him as a reward for his incredible patience. Nikephoros’s humble cell became a magnet for people seeking his prayers and spiritual counsel.

Despite being prostrate with wounds and pain, Father Nikephoros never complained; he maintained a sweet, meek, and smiling disposition. Testimonies from those who met him describe his face, though ravaged by the disease, as shining with divine grace. He possessed the gift of consoling the sad and encouraging all to glorify God. Father Nikephoros reposed in peace on January 4, 1964, at the age of 74. Three years later, his relics were exhumed and found to be fragrant, and numerous documented miracles attributed to his intercession quickly led to his widespread veneration.

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