A drawing I did of Elder Iakovos in 2007.
matushka constantina
Excerpt from The Garden of the Holy Spirit: Elder Iakovos of Evia, p. 79
That year, the area [of Livanates] suffered from a long drought. The villagers in the boat, who knew Fr. Iakovos, pleaded for rain. Fr. Iakovos listened to them, then sat in a corner. The boat was approaching Livantes. Then Fr. Iakovos, holding the woven bag with the holy head [of St. David of Evia] in his arms, addressed the following exact words to St. David: “Old man, your fellow villagers are here on account of the drought. Now, when we arrive, I ask you to thunder [rain]. Take good care not to embarrass me. You will be ridiculed, and I will be ridiculed too!” As soon as they got on shore, it started thundering. Thirty years later, Fr. Iakovos said: “I, my brother, say these things to the Saint’s ears, and he opens a direct line with our Christ!”
This simple explanation contains, in fact, the theological wisdom of a thousand and one theologians. God alone has miraculous power, divine grace, and uncreated energies. He bestows them, though, upon human beings through his very elect, through the saints, who, having loved Him exceedingly and having cleansed themselves by means of every kind of ascesis, having obtained the gift of boldness towards God. That is, the saints have been given the privilege to ask something from God, while God “obeys” them and fulfills it.
Elder Iakovos with St. David of Evia
http://lessonsfromamonastery.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/the-boldness-of-a-saint/
