Remembering Metropolitan Nicholas on the 15th Anniversary of Repose
Friday, March 13, 2026
JOHNSTOWN, PA [Diocesan Chancery] — Today, March 13, 2026, marks the fifteenth anniversary of the repose of the soul of His Eminence, +Metropolitan Nicholas.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, was consecrated as bishop on March 13, 1983—the Sunday of Orthodoxy—and reposed on March 13, 2011, also the Sunday of Orthodoxy, at 3:00 p.m., just as the Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers were beginning in his home parish of St. John the Baptist in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
On this day, when it scarcely seems possible that fifteen years have passed, the words of His Eminence in his final address to the Diocese on the occasion of his 75th birthday fittingly describe the significance of remembering milestones in our earthly and spiritual lives—not for our own glory, but for the glory of Almighty God.
May we, on this day, give glory to Almighty God for the twenty seven blessed years of His Eminence’s service to our God-protected Diocese as our Chief Shepherd and Father in Christ.
May His Memory Be Eternal! Vichnaja Jemu Pamjat!
It seems that the older we get, and more spiritually mature, it is easier to understand that a person’s life is just as complete at twenty-five years old, or fifty-five years, or seventy-five years. There is one thing that we must keep in mind: with the Lord, a day can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years can mean a day. Remember that the purpose of life is living, and not counting years! And a life well-lived achieves its full potential.
At seventy-five years old, I have stopped counting years. I realize that God doesn’t want it, and I don’t need it. We can celebrate our birthdays, and please don’t leave here saying the Bishop doesn’t want you to celebrate your birthday! I do want you to do that, but especially for the right reasons. We can celebrate our birthdays, and we should. But we should be celebrating something even more important than how many years old we are.
We should be celebrating the years of Christian life God has given us. We should be celebrating what we have done with all those years God has given us. Have we used those years wisely, or have we wasted them? Did we glorify God in all those years, or instead did we give ourselves glory?
I hope I have been a wise steward of the years God has given me ....
-Metropolitan Nicholas of Amissos (February 22, 2011)
Read A Reflection By Pani Constance Miloro