By Dr. Haralambos M. Bousias,
Great Hymnographer of the Church of Alexandria
ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΕΔΩ
The venerable Elder Iakovos Tsalikis,
the admirable Abbot of the Monastery of the Venerable David in Evia, was
a long-range star who shined in our days with the rays of his
simplicity, his goodness, his equal-to-the-angels state and his numerous
wonders.
Elder Iakavos was the
personification of love, a living embodiment of "the new life in
Christ", a projector of virtue and a mirror of humility and temperance.
He
embodied and experienced the testament of grace and delighted all those
who approached him, since he was entirely the "fragrance of Christ" (2
Cor. 2:15). With his sweet words he gave them rest and conveyed to them
the good things of the Holy Spirit, "joy, peace and gentleness" (Gal.
5:22), with which he was gifted, affirming the Gospel phrase: "Out of
the abundance of the heart the tongue speaks" (Matt. 12:34).
Elder Iakovos was a spiritual
figure of the Monastery of the Venerable David, sent by the
philanthropic Lord to the modern lawless Israel and admonished them with
the example of his simple yet venerable life and the grace of his words
which were always "seasoned with salt" (Gal. 4:6). The Elder was not
very educated, but he was overshadowed, like the fishermen of Galilee,
with the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, making wise the unwise and moving
the lips of those chosen by God to spiritually guide the people to
salvation.
Elder Iakovos was born on
November 5, 1920 to pious parents, his mother Theodora being from Livisi
in Asia Minor and his father Stavros from Rhodes. In early 1922 Turkish
cetes captured his father and led him deep into Anatolia.
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| The Elder with icon of st David |
After the catastrophe of our
blessed Asia Minor, which was allowed by God for our sins and apostasy,
the family of the Elder followed the hard road of exile. Their ship
transferred them over to Itea and from there they settled in Amfissa.
There it pleased the Lord, in 1925, for his father to find them and together as a family they moved to Farakla in Evia.
At the age of seven the young
divinely-illumined Iakovos memorized the Divine Liturgy even though he
was illiterate. In 1927 he attended elementary school and was
distinguished for his performance and his obvious love for the Church
and sacred writings.
The appearance of Saint
Paraskevi to the young Iakovos and the revelation of his brilliant
ecclesiastical future stimulated the faith and piety of the young
student.
Often the purity of his life led
him to pray for his suffering countrymen, whom he would heal by reading
prayers that were irrelevant to their situation, but he did it with
much devotion showing to all that the "grace of God was on him" (Lk.
2:40).
In 1933 he completed elementary
school, but the financial difficulties of his family did not allow him
to continue his studies. So he followed his father in his manual work.
Impressed by his melodious chanting the Metropolitan of Halkidos consecrated him a Reader.
What impressed everyone was his
ascetic life, his prayerful disposition, his love for work, his lack of
sleep, and his strict observance of the fasts.
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| Icon from here |
In this voluntary personal
deprivation he came to add the involuntary suffering of the whole family
and that of all the hapless refugees from the dispossession.
In July of 1942 the mother of
the Elder died, foretelling his future as a priest. He joined the army
in 1947, where he remained undaunted by the derision of his colleagues,
who jokingly called him "Father Iakovos".
However, he received admiration
from his commander, who was among the few that sensed the future bright
spiritual path of the young refugee.
After being released from the
army in 1949, Iakovos, at the age of 29, was orphaned also of a father.
His focus was on his sister, without, however, neglecting the thoughts
of his childhood desire to enter the monastic state.
After his sister married, in
November of 1952 he went to the Monastery of the Venerable David near
Rovies, fulfilling his desire of completely dedicating his life to God.
At the age of 32 Iakovos was tonsured a Monk, and on December 19, 1952
he was ordained a Priest in Halkida by Metropolitan Gregory.
He then continued his ascetic
life in the Monastery, with concerted prayer in the cave of the
Venerable David, with divine visions and miracles, which increased over
time.
He achieved high measures in virtue and suffered many attacks from good-hating demons, who hated his equal-to-the-angels life.
He often saw and spoke with
Venerable David and Saint John the Russian, while he was also made
worthy of the gifts of foresight and insight.
Often during the Divine Liturgy
he would see Angels serving him in the Sacred Altar, Cherubim and
Seraphim encircling him covering their faces with their six wings,
revering the slain Lamb, the God-man Jesus, on the Holy Paten, broken
but not divided, forever eaten yet never consumed.
In August of 1963 in a wondrous
way he satiated with three kilos of noodles 75 laborers with generous
servings with half a pot of leftovers.
On the 25th of June in 1975 he
became the Abbot of the Monastery and held this rudder firmly until his
venerable repose on the 21st of November in 1991.
Due to his hermit and ascetic
life, however, the health of the Elder was shaken, the veins of his legs
rotted, and he had to undergo surgeries for his hernia, his appendix,
his prostrate and his heart, even being placed within him a pacemaker.
From 1990 onwards his strength
began to leave him. In September of 1991 he was hospitalized at the
General State Hospital of Athens for a small infarction.
When he returned to the Monastery he suffered from inflammation, which, unfortunately, turned into pneumonia. He sensed his end.
The morning of November 21, 1991
he followed the Service for the Entrance of our Theotokos, he chanted
and he communed of the Immaculate Mysteries.
After confessing some of the
faithful he took a walk around the Monastery. In the afternoon he
confessed a spiritual daughter of his and waited for the return of his
novice Iakovos from Limni, who that day was ordained a Deacon by the
Metropolitan of Halkidos.
As soon as the fathers arrived
the Elder tried to get up, but became dizzy. His breathing became heavy,
his pulse weakened and from his lips came a soft blow.
The Elder took the road to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The people who were informed of his funeral were few.
The phones, however, took fire and from one person to another the sad news spread.
The next day thousands of people
flocked to the Monastery, clergy of all ranks and spiritual children of
the Elder from all over Greece, who came to give their last embrace.
The courtyard of the Monastery
was crowded. The funeral service was chanted outdoors and after his
sacred body was processed around the Katholikon. During the procession
many of the faithful saw the Elder get up from his coffin to bless the
crowd.
Once the sacred body descended
into the grave, with one voice the thousands of faithful with
resurrection hymns and resurrection bells joyfully cried out: "Saint!
Saint!"
Since then Elder Iakovos, with
his dozens of posthumous miracles, has been classified in the souls of
the faithful as a Saint, by those who await with longing his formal
canonization by the Mother Church.
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