Let's Keep the Saints Out of Retirement!

St. Nektarios of Pentapolis once said (after his repose), "It's as if we saints are in retirement... The people don't pray to us, don't entreat us, don't ask us for anything, don't give us any handiwork to do. They don't give us the opportunity to pray to God for them."

Surely we can find some way to call him out of retirement!

November 9 is the feast of St. Nektarios. Orthodoxwiki tells us that, "St. Nectarios was born on October 1, 1846, in Selymbria in Thrace to a poor family.  At the age of 14 he moved to Constantinople (Istanbul) to work and further his education." When looking at the Akathist hymn, we get a beautiful picture of this transition:

"When Thou didst leave home and travel to Constantinople, thou didst labor in the midst of worldly distractions. Yet thou didst not forsake the Faith, which dwelt first in thy grandmother and mother and also dwelt in thee."

Let us ask St. Nektarios to pray for our young adults, as they transition into leaving home and travelling out into the great, big world. May they, like him, not be drawn into the earthly distractions even though they be surrounded by them. May the Faith of their childhood still dwell in their hearts!

The Akathist continues:

"Steadfastly dedicating thyself to prayer and to the sayings of the Fathers, thou didst write these sayings on packages and wrappings so that others might read them and receive spiritual profit." 

St. Nektarios scribbled little words of inspiration on the backs of packages in the store where he worked, little surprises for customers to find later. May he also send fitting sayings of the Fathers to our young adults, leading them towards spiritual profit. May he help them to steadfastly dedicate themselves to prayer.

What if our young adults make unwise decisions, as surely they must be tempted to, as surely we ourselves do too? Let us give a little more work to St. Nektarios, whose Akathist claims, "Rejoice, thou who makest wise the unwise by the teachings!" and "Rejoice, good guide of men!"

St. Nekatrios, guide us to draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ!