Iakovos of Evia

Iakovos of Evia
Born	5 November 1920 Livisi, Asia Minor
Died	21 November 1991 Evia, Greece

Iakovos Tsalikis (Greek: Ιάκωβος Ευβοίας, 1920–November 21, 1991), also known as Iakovos of Evia is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was abbot of Monastery of Saint David the Elder.

Life

The Elder at a Church service

Iakovos was born to pious parents - Stavros and Theodora - in Livisi, a small town of Asia Minor. He was descended of many holy men. His family, alongside hundreds of thousands of other Asia Minor Greeks were forced to migrate to Greece as refugees of the Greek genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire and Kemalists. His family moved to the island of Evia.

Posthumous appearance of Iakovos in a photo

As a child, with help from his pious mother who taught him how to pray and serve God, Iakovos grew to love the faith. Saint Iakovos recalled: “When the village priest was officiating, while the cantors were singing “Those who secretly represent the cherubim…”, I heard fluttering around the Holy Altar.” “The priest,” the Elder said, “I thought he had no body. He was an angel. I said he had two bones on his shoulders, like a hanger and the robes hang from there.”

On a hill outside his village, there was a shrine to Saint Paraskevi, which he would regularly visit to light candles and take care of the Church. In 1927, the year in which started elementary school, Saint Paraksevi appeared to him and revealed his brilliant ecclesiastical future. In the coming years he had many more visions of Saints. He was in continuous prayer and was reported to have healed people in his village. Growing up, everyone knew of his faith.

Going into his teenage years, he began to live more ascetically.

In 1942, his mother passed away. He was comforted by her appearance to him in his sleep.

In 1947 he was drafted into the army where he continued to be pious.

Upon his dismissal at 30 years old, he fully committed himself to the monastic life. His initial intention was to go to the Holy Land, but before his departure, he visited the Monastery of Saint David the Elder, wherein he had a vision of Saint David, heavenly beings, and heavenly ascetics. He thus promised the Saint that he would remain in the Monastery.

He faced many temptations from demons during his time at the Monastery, yet did not succumb.

By 1975 became abbot. Word spread of his piety, making his Monastery a site of pilgrimage from across Greece and even abroad.

Illness & Material Death

From the age of 55 onwards, he began to suffer from many illnesses. The Elder had many visions of Saints who aided him. In 1991 he died. Thousands of people attended his funeral.

Posthumous Miracles

There are over 300 testimonies of believers relating to healings, beneficial interventions, and appearances.

In 1992, a young Deacon from Cyprus visited the Monastery, only to find out that the Saint was dead. He took a photo of the corner of a room wherein Iakovos lived, then took it to be developed, only to find the Elder depicted. The date stamp of 10 October 1992 is at the bottom left of the photo. Regarding the image, journalist M.G. Michaels stated:

"I have one observation that I made about the photo. The late Elder is full-bodied, in gigantic proportions, in relation to the space in his cell and the very near distance to the wall from where the photo was taken. Make a comparison with the photo on the cover of your book. A professional Cypriot photographer told me that it takes at least 15 feet to shoot a full-length upright person."

Canonization

On November 27, 2017, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Bartholomew canonized him. His feastday was set for November 22 (Gregorian Calendar)/December 5 (Julian).