Holy Confessor John the Russian (+1730)
The holy Confessor John the Russian was born in the seventeenth century in Little Russia and was brought up in piety. When he came of age he was called up for military service. The saint served as a common soldier in the army of Peter the First; during the Russo-Turkish war he was taken captive by the Tatars and sold to a commander of the Turkish cavalry. The latter took John to his homeland, the village of Prokopion in Asia Minor (in Turkish, Ürgüp). The Turks tried by torture to make the captives Muslims. Saint John fearlessly confessed Christ. “Neither by threats nor by promises of wealth and worldly pleasures can you make me change my faith. I was born a Christian and a Christian I will die,” he said. The confessor’s bold words and firm faith, his holy and righteous life, softened the heart of his fierce master. He stopped tormenting the captive, no longer required him to renounce Christianity, and only charged him with tending the livestock and looking after the stable.
The chosen one of the Lord served his master conscientiously all day long; half-naked and barefoot, in winter’s cold and summer’s heat, he diligently carried out every order, for which he was often mocked by the other captives. By such conduct the saint won the love of all. Filled with respect and boundless trust for the captive, his owner gave him his freedom and allowed him to choose a place to live himself. John lived in a corner of the stable. Here he could give himself calmly to the labour of prayer, and so he would not leave the place. Sometimes, when it was quite dark, the saint would go out of the stable, make his way to the church of Saint George, and pray fervently on his knees at its gate. In this same church he received Communion on the feasts of the Lord.
In spite of his poverty, John always helped the poor and the sick, sharing his meagre food with them.
At the end of his life of many sufferings the blessed confessor fell ill and grew weak; he felt that his end was near and called for a priest. The priest avoided going with the Holy Gifts to the house of the Turkish commander; he placed the Holy Mysteries in an apple and so carefully handed them to John. The God-pleaser glorified God, received the Body and Blood of Christ, and gave up his spirit. Saint John the Russian reposed on 23 May 1730. His master entrusted the clergy with honouring and burying the captive’s body. And they committed him to the earth according to the Christian rite.
Three years later the priest learned by a miraculous revelation that John’s relics had been preserved incorrupt. They were then uncovered.
The blessed confessor is held in special honour on Mount Athos, above all in the Russian monastery of Saint Panteleimon.
