St. Nektarios was born in Selybria of Eastern Thrace to the family of Demos and Maria Kephalas on the 1st of October 1846. He was named Anastasios at his baptism, a name which suited perfectly his early behavior. As a child he was distinguished for his piety and devotion to ecclesiastical literature. He received his first education in Greece and at the age of 14 he went to Constantinople to live with a relative of his. Soon afterwards he joined the school of the Metochion of the Holy Sepulcher as Paidonomos, i.e. teaching the younger and being taught by the elder students. At the age of 16 he went to Chios to become a teacher in the village of Lithion for a period of seven years. It was there that he developed his religious interests through frequent visits to the Sacred Monastery of the Holy Fathers and long conversations with Elder Pachomios, who was renowned for his advanced mystical life and mature Christian perception. On November 7 in the year 1876 he received the tonsure in the New Monastery of Chios and was named Lazaros. Soon afterwards he was elevated to the office of the secretary in the Monastery.
