Righteous
Righteous Nicholas (Papa-Nicholas) Planas
1851 — 1932
Also known as: папа-Николай, Николай Планас Афинский
Righteous Nicholas Planas — a simple Athenian parish priest of the late 19th–early 20th century, who for almost 50 years celebrated the Divine Liturgy nearly daily, glorified by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1992 for his humility and ascetic simplicity.
Righteous Nicholas was born in 1851 on the island of Naxos. He was ordained deacon in 1879 at the Church of the Transfiguration in the Plaka district of Athens, and priest on March 2, 1884 (exactly 48 years to the day before his death). He served briefly at a small chapel of the Prophet Elisha near the Acropolis before becoming the long-time rector of the Church of St. John the Forerunner "the Hunter" in Athens.
For almost 50 years (1884–1932) he celebrated the Divine Liturgy nearly daily — often from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. — commemorating roughly 2,500 names at each proskomedia. He was semi-literate by formal standards, but was revered for exceptional humility, simplicity, tireless care for Athens's poor, and a reputation for clairvoyance (later described by the writer Photios Kontoglou).
He was canonized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1992. His relics rest in a silver reliquary at his own church, St. John the Forerunner "the Hunter."
His feast is kept on February 18/March 2.