"Divinely inspired lips of the Holy Spirit, harmonious lyre of heavenly songs, the pride of Athonite monks, the God-bearing scribe of God's wisdom — let Nicodemus the Wise be praised with joy, for he is a true servant of Christ."
(Sedalen, Tone 5)
27 July – the commemoration of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain.
A restless soul that wanders off the rightful track and loses its direction needs more than a flicker of light — it takes a towering flame to shatter the gloom of its missteps and guide it back to the straight path. For many, the writings of Venerable Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain provide that steady guidance. Born 275 years ago on the small island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea, this Holy Father still guides readers caught in life’s fierce tempests.
Saint Nicodemus does not fully reveal himself in his works. Out of humility, he avoids sharing his most striking thoughts, offering instead the pure teaching of Orthodoxy, carefully checked against the tradition of the Holy Fathers. He stands alone as a popular teacher of Orthodox theology in all its fields and forms: ascetic practice, theology, mysticism, liturgics, ethics, hymnography, dogmatics, canon law, and the discipline of repentance. As a hagiographer, ascetic writer, and publisher, he was first and foremost a devoted monk and a faithful servant of Christ.
Naxos, the homeland of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
Saint Nicodemus’s pious parents, Anthony and Anastasia Kallivursi, named their son Nicholas at baptism. Later, his mother accepted the monastic life with the name Agathia. A local priest taught young Nicholas to read and write, noticing how the boy shunned rowdy games with other children, drawn instead to the quiet joy of books. The Lord blessed His chosen servant with a sharp mind and a remarkable memory, so keen that he could recall all he read and repeat it perfectly at any time. At sixteen, he left for Smyrna to study under the renowned Hierotheos Dendrinos. There, both teacher and fellow students loved him for his gentle nature and noble character. Alongside worldly subjects, he immersed himself in sacred studies, ancient Greek, Latin, Italian, and French, mastering the Greek tongue so well that he could later unlock the treasures of the Orthodox tradition for countless souls, casting them in plain, heartfelt words.
Because of the war, Nicholas had to return home after four years. While in Naxos, Athonite monks staying there sparked a love for monasticism in his young heart. They taught him the discipline of ascetic struggle and the practice of mindful prayer. They also spoke of the grace-filled bishop Macarius of Corinth, who lived on the island of Hydra.
Places where Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain lived and laboured
Metropolitan Macarius of Corinth (Notaras), a figure of remarkable grace and deep knowledge of the early Church Fathers, became a mentor and guide to the eager student. In Macarius, the future saint found a kindred soul who shared his vision for what the Church sorely needed: translating and publishing the Fathers' works — the very bedrock of Church tradition. On Hydra, Nicholas also met the hermit Sylvester of Caesarea, who spoke so warmly of the joy of a life spent in solitude that, at twenty-six, Nicholas finally set his mind on serving God as a monk. With letters of recommendation from Saint Sylvester, in 1775 he set out for Mount Athos and entered the Monastery of Dionysiou. There he received the monastic habit and the name Nicodemus. The brethren, recognising his gifts, made him the monastery’s reader and scribe.
Dionysiou Monastery, photo from the nineteenth century
In 1777, Saint Macarius (Notaras) visited the Holy Mountain. He asked Father Nicodemus to edit and prepare for publication the “Philokalia” and the “Evergetinos”*, as well as his own work, “On Divine and Sacred Communion,” which Nicodemus greatly enriched. For the “Philokalia”, Nicodemus wrote brief lives of the holy fathers and an introduction. He also corrected the “Evergetinos” and composed its preface. To carry out these tasks, the young monk withdrew to a quiet cell near Karyes. Metropolitan Macarius took all these manuscripts to Smyrna for printing — the “Philokalia” was published in 1782. After finishing this work, Saint Nicodemus returned to Dionysiou. Desiring to give himself fully to prayer and stillness, he withdrew to a secluded cave.
Cave of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, not far from Karyes
Some time later, the holy elder Arsenios of the Peloponnese, whom Nicodemus had met in Naxos, returned to Athos and settled in the skete of Kapsala. Then Nicodemus willingly left his solitude and became Arsenios’s disciple. In this peaceful silence, he devoted himself entirely to spiritual work, day and night reflecting on the law of the Lord and studying the writings of the Fathers.
The ascetics finished building their new cell, but their solitude was endlessly broken by curious visitors. In 1782, they chose to retreat to the barren, sun-scorched island of Skiropoula, facing Euboea. There, Nicodemus lived by the fruit of hard toil, glad to be stripped even of books; in their place he tasted the deep peace of mindful prayer. At the urging of his brother Hierotheos, Nicodemus wrote “Symvuleftikon” (“Advice on guarding the five senses, the imagination, the mind and the heart”). This work, which discusses guarding the senses and the inner struggle for spiritual perfection, was printed in Vienna in 1801.
Venerable Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
In 1778, Saint Nicodemus returned to the Holy Mountain and received the great angelic habit from Elder Damaskinos Stavroudas. Soon after, he settled for good in a cell above the skete of the Pantocrator, known as Theonas. There, he toiled and prayed, nurturing a sweet harvest of goodness. Bathed in the light of the Holy Spirit, he wrote and taught those who came to him with words full of wisdom. Overflowing with grace and insight, and blessed with the gift of teaching, he became a luminary of the faith, a great guide in the Christian life, and a mighty foe of all false teachings. His writings on theology, doctrine, interpretation, and ethics fill a whole library and show the depth of his spiritual understanding.
Saint Macarius of Corinth
On the advice and with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius of Corinth, who visited the Holy Mountain again in 1784, Saint Nicodemus corrected and prepared for print the works of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (published in Venice in 1790). He also wrote the “Exomologitarion” (the Book of Confession), compiled and enriched the “Theotokarion,” the “New Martyrology” and “Spiritual Exercises,” and translated the famous “Invisible Warfare.”
Guided by his mentor Athanasius Parios, then teaching in Thessaloniki, and by Metropolitan Leontius of Ilioupolis, Saint Nicodemus also gathered writings of Saint Gregory Palamas from Athonite libraries and prepared them for publication in three volumes with commentary. He sent this work to Vienna to be printed by the Markides Pouliou brothers — but sadly, the priceless manuscript was lost. Later, Hieromonk Agapius arrived from Dimitsana in the Peloponnese. Together with him, Venerable Nicodemus began the careful work of sorting and explaining the Church's sacred canons — guidance that clergy and all believers needed. This invaluable effort, completed with Agapius’s aid, came to be known as “The Kormchaia” (Pedalion).
Modern edition of the works of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain in Russian
Saint Nicodemus later settled at the Pantocrator Monastery with Elder Sylvester of Caesarea, who kept a cell dedicated to Saint Basil. There, Nicodemus continued his spiritual labours and writing. Among his works was the “Christoiphian” (Good Morals) — a book of spiritual guidance and moral teaching, calling readers to avoid all deceit, magic, and spiritual delusion. He also refined the “praises” for the burial service. Before long, he left Pantocrator and sought solitude in a humble hesychastic kellion across from Saint Basil’s cell. Living as a wanderer on this earth, watched over by his spiritual brothers, he revised the "Prayer Book," prepared a second “Exomologetarion”, wrote a Commentary on the Epistles of Saint Paul, and translated with notes the Comprehensive Commentary on the Psalter by the twelfth-century monk Euthymius Zigabenus (Constantinople, 1819–1821). He then composed nine odes in a book he named "The Garden of Grace."
Venerable Nicodemus at work
In his quest for holiness, guided by the Holy Spirit, Venerable Nicodemus faced envy from misguided brethren and unseen adversaries. Yet, with the Lord’s strength, he fought a noble “invisible warfare” against dark forces, resisting their cunning traps. Trials and struggles only made him stronger, much like gold purified by flame. In his final years, he often moved from place to place to continue his work.
Word of his virtue and insight spread across Mount Athos and far beyond, and many sought him out for comfort and guidance. His constant writing, spiritual counsel, and encouragement to monks and visitors, along with his prayers, vigils, and ascetic practices, slowly wore down his health. At last, he had to retreat to the cell of the icon painter Cyprian. Even there, though burdened by illness, he continued the monastic struggle with a mind and heart set on things above.
Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and Saint Macarius of Corinth, contemporary icon
Nicodemus also composed and interpreted sacred hymns. In his final years he compiled a three-volume “Synaxarion”, wrote the “Eortodromion” (Festal Guide) on the canons of the feasts of the Lord and the Theotokos, and in the “New Ladder” arranged the canons of the Octoechos. He composed the canon in honour of the “Quick to Hear” Icon of the Mother of God and the service to the Venerable and God-bearing Fathers who shone in ascetic life on Mount Athos, both now beloved in the Russian Church.
He also wrote a “Confession of Faith” in answer to the unfounded charges made against him by a few envious monks of the Holy Mountain.
Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain gave his whole life to spiritual struggles and writing sacred texts. The grace of the Holy Spirit, dwelling deep in his pure heart, spilled from his mouth like a rich spring, uplifting every Christian heart with its warmth. All through his righteous life, he cared only for serving the Divine will and helping others. His life of sacrifice and holiness inspired awe. His meals were simple — mere boiled rice or honey mixed with water. Gentle and unassuming, he shunned possessions, walked in meekness, and bowed low in humility, as his own words reveal. Often, he would murmur, “I’m a wretch. I’m no better than a stray dog. I’m nothing, a simpleton, a dunce.” Instead of shoes, he wore simple sandals made from cloth. He owned no second robe and had no fixed home. The whole Holy Mountain was his dwelling, and from it he took the name Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain.
The Honourable Head of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain
Drawing near to the final stage of his earthly life and feeling utterly worn out, the elder returned to the cell of the Great Lavra dedicated to Saint George, known as the cell of the Skurtei (Skurteon). There, he was surrounded by the monks with whom he shared a deep bond of love and friendship in Christ, receiving their care and kindness. His hearing faded, and it became hard for him to walk. As he made ready for his departure from this life, he asked for the sacrament of Holy Unction and received Holy Communion each day. Surrounded by his beloved brothers and always thinking of the Lord and the blessings of Heaven, Saint Nicodemus fell asleep in the Lord on 1 July (14 July, new calendar) 1809. His body was laid to rest in the Skurteon cell at Karyes, where his holy relics remain to this day. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain was numbered among the saints in 1955 by decree of Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople.
"Enriched with Divine wisdom, you acquired the wealth of spiritual knowledge. Blessed one, you became a wellspring from the treasure of your heart, feeding the soul and mind of the devout with words of grace. By shaping the ways of people, you showed all the light of salvation, God-bearing Nicodemus. Pray to Christ our God to grant forgiveness of sins to those who celebrate your holy memory in love."
(Sedalen at the Polyeleos)
Prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photos from the Internet
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* A collection of ascetic texts, sayings, and stories from the lives of saints, grouped by theme and compiled in the twelfth century by Paul, founder of the Evergetis Monastery in Constantinople.
Sources:
1. The Life of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain – Afonit (afonit.info)
2. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (pravenc.ru)
3. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain: Adorned with the Wisdom of Grace (ruskline.ru)
4. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (Kallivurtsis) (azbyka.ru)
5. Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain – Teacher of Spiritual Life and Guide of the Church – Orthodox Community (pravoslavnaya-obshina.ru)
6. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain – A Shining Star of the Church / Orthodoxy.Ru (pravoslavie.ru)
