He is one of the American Saints along with Alexis Toth, Alexander Hotovitzky, Herman of Alaska, and Peter the Aleut.

He was born Vojislav Nastić in Gary, Indiana, on January 31, 1914, into a family of Serbian immigrants.

His parents were Atanasije and Zorka Nastić, and the family attended the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, which is now located in Merrillville.

Nastić was baptized there, later served as an altar boy, and was first recognized as a prodigy in reciting Serbian traditional epic poetry.

After the war, he was ordained hieromonk and raised to the rank of protosyncellus by Bishop Nektarije of Zvornik and Tuzla.