St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite passed away on this day in 1809. St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain was born on the Greek island of Naxos in the year 1748, and was named Nicholas in Holy Baptism. His parents were pious wealthy people, and his mother later became a nun. His first education on Naxos came from the village priest, who taught him to read. He also assisted the priest daily during the Divine Liturgy and other Services. Later Nicholas attended the school at Naxos, where Archimandrite Chrysanthos, the older brother of St. Cosmas Aitolos, taught him sacred and secular letters. Fr. Chrysanthos belonged to the Church movement promoting education on the ascetic life according to the holy fathers (the so called Kollyvades). Unlike his talented compatriots, Nicholas did not continue his education abroad, but went to the Evangelical school of Smyrna, which operated under the British protection. This school became a seedbed of modern Greek Enlightenment. St. Patriarch Gregorios V, who was lynched by a mob in Constantinople on Pascha in 1721, was one Nicholas’ classmates there. At that school he received education in philosophy, classical literature, and philology. In 1775 at the age of twenty-six, Nichols arrived on Mount Athos and was tonsured at Dionysiou Monastery with the name Nikodemos. As his first obedience, Father Nikodemos served as the monastery’s secretary. Two years after entering Dionysiou Monastery, the Metropolitan of Corinth, St. Makarios Notaras arrived there, and assigned the young monk to edit the manuscript of the Philokalia, which he had found in 1777 at Vatopedi Monastery. Editing this book was the beginning of many years of literary activity for St. Nikodemos. He soon moved to Pantokrator Skete, where he was under obedience to Elder Arsenios of the Peloponnesos, under whose guidance he studied Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers. According to the testimony of his contemporaries, St. Nikodemos was a simple man, without any malice, unassuming, and distinguished by his profound concentration. He possessed a remarkable photographic memory: he knew not only the Holy Scriptures by heart, and even remembered chapter, verse, and the pages for citations in books he studied. Moreover, he could recite long passages from the writings of the Holy Fathers from memory. In 1783 St. Nikodemos was tonsured into the Great Schema, and spent the next six years in complete silence. St. Nikodemos was known for his “habitual fasting.” He would eat some rice and beans, and drink water with honey. St. Nikodemos observed strictly a monastic vow of poverty. He did not have his own library, but knew very well in a library of what monastery he could find a needed book. On his next visit to Mount Athos St. Makarios gave Nikodemos the obedience of editing of the writings of St. Symeon the New Theologian (printed in three volumes: Syros, 1790) and Unseen Warfare (printed in 1796) by Lorenzo Scupoli (d. 1610). St. Theophan the Recluse (d. 1894) produced the adopted Russian translation of this book. This meant giving up his silence and occupying himself once more with literary work. From that time until his death, he continued to devote himself to such endeavors. One of the ascetic's remarkable books was his Exomologitarion, which was published in 1794. A few years ago Uncut Mountain Press made this Manual of Confession available in English. Fr. Anthony (Torp), an Athonite monk of Danish descent translated this manual into Russian and Holy Trinity Monastery used to have this manuscript. The Saint also made great contributions by publishing liturgical books. Using materials from the manuscript collections on Mount Athos, he published sixty-two Canons to the Most Holy Theotokos under the title, New Theotokarion (Venice, 1796). The most wise Nikodemos is also known as a composer and interpreter of hymns. His Canon in honor of the "Quick to Hear” Icon of the Mother of God (November 9) and his “Service and Encomium in Honor of the Fathers who Shone on the Holy Mountain of Athos” are used even beyond the Holy Mountain. Some of his other books include the Heortodromion, an interpretation of the Canons which are sung on Feasts of the Lord and of the Mother of God (Venice, 1836), and The New Ladder, an interpretation of the 75 Hymns of Degrees (Anabathmoi) of the liturgical book called the Oktoekhos (Constantinople, 1844). It is readily apparent that the literary work of St. Nikodemos was multi-faceted, representing more than half a dozen fields of theology: ascetical-mystical theology, ethics, Canon Law, exegesis, hagiology, liturgics, and hymnography. He wrote the preface to the Philokalia, and brief Lives of the ascetics whose writings are included therein. St. Nikodemos had a special love for hagiography, as attested by his work, New Eklogion (Venice, 1803), and his posthumous book, The New Synaxarion (1819). He completed a Modern Greek translation of St. Paul's Fourteen Epistles in three volumes (1819) as interpreted by the Hierarch Mētrophánēs, by St. Theophylaktos, the Archbishop of Bulgaria (December 31), and others. In 1799 Nikodemos edited the New Martyrologion, which he and St. Makarios of Corinth seem to have prepared together in order to demonstrate that the Orthodox Church continues to produce Saints, particularly Martyrs, who were subjected to the same trials, torments, and death as the ancient Martyrs. The example of the saints whose Lives appear in this book strengthened and encouraged the Orthodox to remain faithful to Christ, and not to convert to the religion of their oppressors. St. Nikodemos himself prepared for martyrdom St Constantine of Hydra, who returned to Christianity from Islam. St. Nikodemos saw introduction of Orthodox Christian discipline as an aspect of Kollyvades’ spiritual revival movement. With this in mind he undertook the first printed edition of the Orthodox corpus canounum: canons of ecumenical councils, regional councils and holy fathers. St. Nikodemos had a great respect for his Slavic contemporary St. Paisius of Niamet Monastery (Velichkovsky). Perhaps this connection with Slavic Orthodoxy explains why he chose for his collection the translation of the title of Slavic canon law reference book Kormchaia (Pedalion, Rudder). He did not include in his edition Byzantine imperial legislation, organizing canons chronologically and not thematically using modern Greek translation of the texts and commenting extensively. St. Nikodemos worked on this project together with Monk Agapius (Leonart), who already published a collection of canons in Venice in 1787. For his source of canons St. Nikodimos used the so-called Pandectae canonum by the Anglican Bishop William Beveridge (d. 1708). In 1800 Pedalion was published in Leipzig. Unfortunately, Archimandrite Theodorite from Ioannina (later the abbot of Esphigmenou monastery), who was a liason between the authors and a printshop, doctored the manuscript crossing out things and adding his own interpretations. Nevertheless, when in 1839 St. Philaret of Moscow oversaw the revision of Kormchaia he used the Pedalion as a benchmark for Kniga Pravil, which remains the standard source of canons for the Russian Orthodox Church. The English translation of D. Cummings was published for the first time in 1957. In 1803, St. Nikodemos published in Venice Christian Morality. In it he says: "Those monks who are strong in body and in soul ... should occasionally go into the world to preach and to counsel. Those who cannot go into the world, either because of the passions that assail them when they are in the midst of society, or because they are physically infirm, should seek the good of their brethren through prayer and by offering counsel to those who visit them, and if they are learned, by writing edifying books." Not long before his repose, Father Nikodemos, worn out by his literary work and ascetical struggles, went to live at the Kelli of the iconographers Hieromonks Stephen and Neophytos Skourtaίos, who were brothers by birth. He asked them to help with the publication of his works because he was hindered by his infirmities. The day before he went to the Lord, he was able to make his Confession, receive Holy Unction, and then Holy Communion. His first biographer, Father Euthymios, describes the Saint's repose in this manner: "When the sun rose on the earth that day (Wednesday July 14, 1809), the intelligible sun of the Church set. The fiery pillar, the guide of the New Israel into piety disappeared; the cloud which refreshed those who were melting in the heat of sin, hid itself.” St. Nikodemos reposed peacefully at the age of sixty on July 14, 1809, and was glorified by the Church of Constantinople in 1955.
Sources: “Repose of Venerable Nikodemos the Hagiorite,” Orthodox Church in America O.A. Rodionov, “Nikodim Sviatogorets,” Pravoslavnaia Entsiklopedia Priest Dmitry Artemkin, “Pidalion,” Pravoslavnaia Entsiklopedia | 
