Family and Formation
Nektarios and Theophanes were brothers born to the prominent Apsarades family of Ioannina in the late fifteenth century. According to their vita, their parents and three sisters eventually also took monastic vows in a cell on the island of Ioannina.
The brothers received an extensive education at the Monastery of Philanthropinon under Abbot Makarios. Both took the monastic schema in 1495 at the Hermitage of the Honorable Forerunner on the island of Ioannina and studied under Elder Savvas until his repose in 1505. They then traveled to Mount Athos, where they were guided by the former Ecumenical Patriarch Nephon II at Dionysiou Monastery.
Monastic Work at Ioannina
Returning to Ioannina, the brothers established a monastic community at a half-ruined hermitage dedicated to Saint Panteleimon, set in a cave above a lake, and completed the Church of the Honorable Forerunner in 1507. They also built the Hermitage of Saint Nicholas in Lepenos for members of their family.
Around 1510-1511 they left Ioannina on account of trials from local authorities and made their way toward the rocks of Meteora.
Rebuilding the Barlaam Monastery
The rock of Barlaam had first been ascended in 1350 by an ascetic named Barlaam, who built small chapels and a water tank before the site was abandoned after his death. The brothers initially occupied the pillar of the Honorable Forerunner at Great Meteoron for seven years, then settled at Barlaam in October 1517/1518 with the permission of Metropolitan Bessarion of Larissa.
By tradition the brothers spent about twenty-two years hoisting building materials to the summit by means of a tower with a rope-and-pulley basket system, while the construction of the katholikon itself is reported to have taken only about twenty days. They laid the foundation of the Church of All Saints in 1542 and completed it on May 17, 1544, aided by helpers including Benedict and Pachomios. The katholikon is built in the Athonite cross-in-square style topped with a dome.
The Barlaam Monastery became one of the principal houses of Meteora and remains an active male monastery, the second largest in the community. It preserves over three hundred manuscripts and a museum of relics, carved wooden crosses, icons, and embroidered epitaphia.
Relics and Shrines
Nektarios reposed on April 7, 1550, some six years after his brother. The relics of both brothers are venerated at the Barlaam Monastery, where the incorrupt right hand of Nektarios and the left hand of Theophanes are kept.
The two brothers are commemorated jointly on May 17 as founders of the Barlaam Monastery at Meteora.
Miracles and Traditions
Traditional Accounts: The vita relates that at the repose of Saint Theophanes on May 17, 1544, a miraculous star was seen to appear above his cell.
