Venerable John the Poor (V)

The Venerable John the Poor (the Hut-dweller) lived in Constantinople in the fifth century. His rich and noble parents gave him a good education. The youth read a great deal, and was drawn especially to divine books. He came to see the vanity of this world and decided to devote himself to the service of the Lord. The saint asked his parents to give him a Gospel, and then secretly left home, went to the desert of the Thebaid, and there was tonsured a monk in the monastery of the Unsleeping. The young monk set about his service diligently; he amazed the brotherhood by his unceasing prayer, uncomplaining obedience, strict abstinence and patience.

Six years later a trial befell John: his parents, their love and tenderness, kept coming to his mind, and he thought of how the sudden loss of their son must grieve them. Troubled by thoughts and images sent by the devil, the monk grew so weak that he was already in danger of death. The saint revealed his spiritual state to the superior and asked permission to leave the monastery. And he, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gave him his blessing. Before leaving John fervently begged the brotherhood to pray for him, for he hoped that through their prayer God would look on him with mercy: that he would both see his parents and escape the devil’s cunning.

Returning to Constantinople in a beggar’s clothes, John settled at the gate of his own house. The saint was so changed that even his parents did not recognise him. For God’s sake and out of their own compassion they sent food every day to the “unknown beggar”.

For three years the saint lived in a hut and patiently bore every hardship. One day it was revealed to John that the end of his sufferings was near and that in three days he would stand before the Lord. Only then did the saint show his father and mother the Gospel they had given him. Saint John’s last request was that he be buried where his hut stood, and laid in the coffin in his own rags.

The venerable father, nearing the age of twenty-five, met his end in the middle of the fifth century. Over his grave his parents built a church, by which they also founded a shelter for the infirm. In the twelfth century the saint’s incorrupt head was taken by the crusaders to Besançon (France), while his holy body rests in Rome.