Saint John the Russian

Seriograph icon crafted in canvas with gold background on carved wood.

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Saint John the Russian

Saint John was born in a village of Minor Russia in 1690 A.D. to virtuous parents and went to the army at the right age during the reign of Peter the Great. He fought against the Turks and was arrested by the Tatars who sold him to an Ottoman officer in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Saint John did not abandon his faith like others. His faith to God softened his master’s soul who, together with his wife, as time went by, loved him and provided him lodging near the barn. However he preferred to live in the stable together with the animals, to exhaust his body physically, to pray and to overtake the stench of the animals, sustained by the spirituality and the scent he emitted. When his master went to Mecca, his wife invited relatives and friends to eat and wished her husband would be there with them to enjoy the food she had prepared. Saint John then, empowered with faith and prayers "transferred" a platter with his wife’ rice to his master, who revealed it, upon his return at home. This miracle made him well known to the world, he however continued to live as a hermit, fasting and praying. He passed away peacefully in the barn with the animals, in 1730 A.D. After his death, his holy relics was transferred intact and fragrant to the church of Saint George and later to the temple of Saint Basil and finally to the temple that was built in his honor. Many miracles are related to him after his death. A typical one is when Ozman Pasha ordered to throw the relics into the fire, the relics remained intact and unburned and the faithless soldiers admitted they saw the relics threatening them and pushing them out of the church’s limits.

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