03 — The Liturgist
The heart of St. Iakovos Tsalikis’s witness: the Divine Liturgy, which he had loved since childhood and celebrated with such absorption that those present believed he served in the visible company of angels and saints; and his intense devotion to the two saints of his adopted island, St. David of Evia, whose monastery it was, and St. John the Russian, whose relics rest nearby at Prokopi. These two files treat the liturgical center of his life and the veneration that surrounded it.
Tradition: Greek Orthodox (20th-c. elder; glorified 2017)
If any single thing defines Iakovos, it is the Liturgy. The other features of his life — the humility, the discernment, the charity — his own tradition subordinates to this: he was above all a priest at the altar, and the accounts of his sanctity cluster most densely around what witnesses saw and sensed when he celebrated. This section treats that liturgical witness, and the concrete devotion to the local saints — David and John the Russian — in whose company he understood himself to serve.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Divine Liturgy of Elder Iakovos | The renowned, tearful, prolonged Liturgy of Elder Iakovos; the accounts of his weeping, of pauses as though he saw what others could not, and of witnesses’ conviction that he celebrated in the visible presence of angels and saints — attestation-pinned. |
| Veneration of Saint David and Saint John the Russian | St. David of Evia (c. 1519–1589), founder of the monastery, and St. John the Russian, whose incorrupt relics rest at Nea Prokopi in Evia; Iakovos’s closeness to both, the relics of the monastery, and the refugee history that binds him to St. John. |
See Also
- Arrival at the Ruined Monastery (1951–52) — the vision of St. David that fixed Iakovos in Evia
- Clairvoyance and Counsel — the discernment of the same seer who wept at the altar
- Orthodoxy: The Divine Liturgy — the rite at the center of Iakovos’s life
- Orthodoxy: The Great Feasts — the liturgical year Iakovos kept
References
- The Garden of the Holy Spirit: Saint Iakovos of Evia. Monastery of Venerable David the Elder, Rovies, Evia.
- “On Elder Iakovos (Tsalikis) of Evia: ‘And You, My Child, Will Become Holy.’” OrthoChristian.com, orthochristian.com/109373.html.
- Bousias, Haralambos M. “Elder Iakovos Tsalikes, the Long-Range Star of Evia.” Trans. John Sanidopoulos. johnsanidopoulos.com, 20 November 2014.