Venerable John the Hermit (VI)

The Venerable John the Hermit laboured in Palestine, near Jerusalem. The only thing the poverty-loving ascetic possessed was an icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. The holy father often travelled to venerate the holy places of Jerusalem and Mount Sinai. Before leaving his cave he would ask the Mother of God for her blessing and leave a lamp burning before the icon. When the father came back, after one month or sometimes even after six, he always found the lamp still burning and full of oil. Once on a narrow path the elder met a lion; it was impossible either to flee or to go round it. Then the king of beasts himself bowed his neck before the saint: rising on its hind legs, it pressed itself carefully against the rock and reverently let the hermit pass.

The Venerable John the Hermit died in deep old age in the sixth century.