11/22/2025
Saint Iakovos (Tsalikis) of Evia is one of the Church’s most beloved modern elders. Born on November 5, 1920 in Asia Minor, he was uprooted to Greece as a refugee child near Corinth. By the age of seven he had already memorized the entire Divine Liturgy despite being illiterate, and from early on he lived in deep love for the Church. He later entered the Monastery of Saint David in Evia at age 32, was ordained a priest in 1952, and became abbot in 1975, leading a poor, struggling brotherhood through a life of strict asceticism, humility, and tireless pastoral care. Though often ill, he received and consoled the faithful until his repose on November 21, 1991, when thousands attended his funeral, many crying out: “A saint! A saint!”
At the Monastery of Saint David more than 300 testimonies of miraculous help have been recorded through Elder Iakovos’ prayers. On November 17, 2017, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate formally canonized him, appointing November 22 as his feast day. Today he is especially cherished in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America: in 2024 he was proclaimed Patron Saint of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey, a sign that this “modern-day saint,” who reposed in 1991 and was canonized in 2017, has become a spiritual father far beyond Evia and the monastery where he labored.
For Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Saint Iakovos is not only a great contemporary elder but a personal heavenly patron.
As Metropolitan of Bursa and member of the Holy and Sacred Synod, his final act before accepting election as Archbishop of America was to sign the canonical act proclaiming Elder Iakovos a saint—an event he has described as profoundly moving and providential. In a 2020 homily, His Eminence said: “I have borne witness to him many times, Saint Iakovos played a very important role when I was elected Archbishop of America. In the moments before the formal acceptance of my election as Archbishop, I had one last act to perform as the then Metropolitan of Bursa and a member of the Holy and Sacred Synod of a prior term. I had to sign the canonical act that proclaimed the Righteous Monk Iakovos Tsalikis a Saint. This was especially moving to me in those seconds before becoming Archbishop of America, as it brought full circle the vision of the Saint that I had beheld the night before I commenced my Synodal tenure in 2017.”  At the Archdiocese headquarters in New York, His Eminence keeps an icon of Saint Iakovos in his office.
Reflecting on Saint Iakovos and the communion of saints, Archbishop Elpidophoros has said that “the saints are our bridge and bond with heaven.”  Through the life, canonization, and continuing miracles of Saint Iakovos Tsalikis, the faithful in America and throughout the world come to know how close that bridge truly is.
