Memory Holy Confessor John the Russian celebrated in the Orthodox Church on June 9 according to the new style.

Biography of St. John the Russian
John the Russian is a saint of the 18th century who spent most of his life in Turkish captivity among the Muslim population, remaining faithful to Christ and demonstrating the feat of confession. Almost nothing is known about his life in Russia, but the life of the saint mentions that he was from Little Russia. When John reached adulthood, he was drafted into the army, since during the reign of Peter each of the classes had to bear conscription duty.
In 1710, the Russian-Turkish War began, the purpose of which was to strengthen Russian Empire on Black Sea coast. Despite the fact that the army created by Peter was quite a serious opponent, Ottoman Empire won, and in 1713 a peace treaty was concluded, according to which the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Azov was given to it. Although the exact number of Russian soldiers killed and captured is unknown, historians claim that it was significant. Among the captives was Saint John, who was sent from Azov to Constantinople, where he was sold into slavery. Apparently, his owner was a fairly noble and wealthy man, since he had his own estate in Asia Minor, where the saint was destined to spend the rest of his life. John was offered to convert to Islam, but he refused, although he understood that he was thereby dooming himself to a hard life, since Muslims treated Christians with great contempt. The saint had to endure humiliation and mockery from his owners, but love for God and trust in Him helped the confessor endure all the hardships. After some time, those around him saw his kindness, gentleness and sincerity of faith. Imbued with respect for their captive, they stopped the persecution.
The Life tells that Saint John tried to live in a foreign land as the Orthodox Church prescribed. He fasted strictly, spent all his free time from work in prayer and at night visited the cave church, where other Christian believers gathered. For his deep faith and piety, he was awarded the gift of miracles, thanks to which he began to enjoy respect even among the Muslim population. The saint died in 1730 after a serious illness. The owner handed over John's body to Christian Church, where the saint prayed all his life and asked to be buried according to Orthodox custom.

Veneration of the saint in different countries
The veneration of John the Russian began immediately after his death, and pilgrims began to flock to the grave, who turned to the confessor with prayer and received help and healing. Three years later, Saint John appeared to one of the priests of the cave temple and ordered the relics to be opened. After the grave was opened, everyone was convinced of the incorruptibility of the saint’s remains, and they were transferred with honor to the shrine for veneration.
In the first half of the 19th century, a military conflict arose between Turkey and Egypt. The village where the relics of St. John the Russian were located was captured, and the soldiers burned the Christian church, but miraculously the fire did not touch the shrine. Later, on the initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church, a temple was built in the village in honor of the saint, but after some time, Christians, due to political changes in Turkey, moved to greek island Euboea, and transferred the relics there, where they are currently located. The name of St. John the Russian was included in the Russian calendar in 1962, and in 2003 a temple was erected in Moscow in honor of this confessor. In addition, the saint is also highly revered in Ukraine, where he was from.

Troparion, tone 4:
Coming to Heaven Holy Trinity,/ righteous blessed John,/ earthly angel, God's man,/ with the bodiless faces glorifying unspeakable love,/ in the Church of the firstborn with the saints,/ for us who exist on earth, offer prayers/ to the Creator of all and the Savior,/ may he give peace to the whole world,/ to the churches on earth, the prosperity and union of all,/ who honor the Son of God, who came in the flesh,/ in the holy Body of Christ Jesus,/ which is the Church of the Living God,/ for the salvation of the human race.

Kontakion, tone 4:
A servant of the Gospel,/ a zealot for the truth of God,/ a guardian of spiritual and physical purity,/ who confessed the faith of Christ in suffering,/ we honor and venerate Righteous John today/ and, edified by his life, we sing:/ Rejoice, our prayer book, glorified by God.

Magnification:
We magnify you, our holy and righteous Father John, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us, Christ our God.

Prayer:
Oh, holy newly-minted servant of God, John the Russian! Having fought a good fight on earth, you have received in heaven the crown of righteousness, which the Lord has prepared for all who love Him. In the same way, looking at your holy image, we rejoice at the glorious end of your life and honor your holy memory. You, standing before the Throne of God, accept our prayers, servant of God (names), and bring them to the All-Merciful God, to forgive us every sin and help us against the wiles of the devil, so that we may be delivered from sorrows, illnesses, troubles and misfortunes and all evil Let us live piously and righteously in this present world and through your intercession we will be worthy, even though we are unworthy, to see good things on the land of the living, glorifying the One in His saints, glorifying God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

(MP3 file. Duration 7:23 min. Size 3.6 Mb)

Saint John was born in one of the villages of Little Russia in 1690 and was brought up in piety and love for virtues. Upon reaching mature age he was called to the royal military service and participated in the Russian-Turkish War (1710). During the failed Prut campaign, he was captured by the Tatars and sold into slavery to a Turkish cavalry officer, who took John to his homeland - Prokopion in Cappadocia.

While many of his fellow captives renounced Christianity, Saint John steadfastly resisted both the promises and the beatings of his master, saying that no torment could shake his love for Christ. At the same time, he added: “You are the master of my body, but not of my soul. If you give me freedom to practice my faith, I will serve you well. With joy here, in the corner of the stable, I will think about Christ, for Whom the Bethlehem manger became a royal bed. I will endure your beatings without complaint, just as the Lord endured the beatings of soldiers. But even if you give me over to the most terrible and most terrible torment, I will never renounce Christ.” Such words, filled with fiery Christian zeal, as well as chaste and modest behavior changed the feelings and attitude of the Turkish officer towards him. He stopped mocking the Christian and no longer forced him to renounce his faith.

John was assigned to take care of the horses. He lived in a dark corner of the stable, and when the owner rode out into the city on horseback, he was obliged to follow him on foot, like a slave. But the blessed one gratefully accepted such a humiliating position and thanked the Lord for freeing himself from the compulsion to apostatize at such a price. John, like righteous Job, walked barefoot both in winter and summer, dressed in rags, slept on an armful of straw or on a dung heap, but at the same time continued a pious life, spending whole nights in prayer, kneeling on the porch of the neighboring church of St. George. John meekly accepted the insults and ridicule of other slaves and willingly helped them.

Such sacrifice and deeds of piety had beneficial influence on its owner, who by that time had become the richest and most respected among the townspeople. One day the owner decided to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, which is due to every devout Muslim, and after a long and exhausting journey he arrived in the holy city.

A few weeks after the owner's departure, his wife invited relatives and friends to a large dinner so that the guests could express their wishes for the safe return of her husband. When John entered the hall, bringing a rich pilaf to the guests, the mistress of the house exclaimed: “How glad my husband would be if he were with us, because pilaf is his favorite dish!” John indulged in silent prayer for a while, and then asked the hostess to give him a dish of pilaf to send to the owner in Mecca. The guests began to mock him, and the hostess served a dish of pilaf with a smile. John returned to the stable and turned to the Lord with the following prayer: “May He who once sent the prophet Habakkuk to Babylon to deliver food to the prophet Daniel in the lions’ den (see: Dan. 14:34), fulfill my prayer and deliver it dish for my master! Then he returned to the hall where the feast was taking place and reported that the dish had arrived as intended. Everyone laughed and began to accuse him of stealthily eating all the pilaf himself.

However, the owner, returning from a pilgrimage, brought with him an empty dish decorated with his initials, and said that one evening, returning to his tent, he found this dish filled with delicious pilaf. All household members were shocked by the story and, calling on Allah, from then on began to treat the Christian slave with respect and reverence. John was offered freedom, a more worthy room, but the saint refused, saying that he preferred to stay in his corner in the stable, where it was better for him to glorify the Lord.

So he lived in piety for many years. Having fallen ill, John asked the priest to bring him holy communion. He, fearing to openly bring the shrine into the Muslim’s house, hid it in an apple, which he handed over to the saint. So John received parting words to eternal life and rested in peace on May 27, 1730, to receive the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Three years later, the old priest and other Christians saw repeatedly how at night a pillar of fire descended from heaven onto the saint’s grave. They opened it and discovered that the relics of John were incorruptible and exuded a fragrance. The Christians carried them with great joy to the Church of St. George, placing them in a shrine under the altar.

Since then, the holy relics have performed many miracles not only for Christians, but also for Muslims in Cappadocia. In 1832, during the looting of the village army of Osman Pasha, Turkish soldiers threw the relics into the fire. But the precious shrine remained unharmed, and John himself appeared in the flames and began to threaten the godless soldiers. The frightened Turks, leaving their loot, rushed to flee the village.

Another time, the saint appeared to hold the collapsing roof over a Greek school with his own hands, and thus saved the two dozen children who were there.

During the expulsion of the Greeks from Asia Minor in 1922, the Christians of Prokopion took with them, as the most precious treasure, the relics of the righteous man and transferred them to the village of New Prokopion on the island of Euboea. To this day, Saint John the Russian is revered there as an inexhaustible source of healing and blessing for all who turn to him in faith.

Compiled by Hieromonk Macarius of Simonopetra,
adapted Russian translation - Sretensky Monastery Publishing House

The Holy Confessor John the Russian was born at the end of the 17th century in Little Russia and was raised in piety and love for the Church of God. Upon reaching adulthood, he was called up for military service, served as a simple soldier in the army of Peter the Great and participated in the Russian-Turkish war. During the Prut campaign of 1711, John, along with other soldiers, was captured by the Tatars, who sold him to the commander of the Turkish cavalry. He brought the Russian prisoner to his homeland, to Asia Minor, to the village of Prokopiy (Urkup in Turkish). The Turks tried to convert captured Christian soldiers to Islam: some were persuaded and tempted, others, more persistent, were beaten and tortured. Saint John was not seduced by the promised earthly blessings and bravely endured cruelty, humiliation and beatings. He was often tortured by his master in the hope that his slave would convert to Islam. However, Saint John resolutely opposed the will of his master and answered: “Neither with threats, nor with promises of wealth and pleasures can you turn me away from my holy faith. I was born a Christian, I will die a Christian.” The bold words and firm faith of the confessor, his fearlessness and righteous life humbled the master’s cruel heart. He stopped torturing and blaspheming the prisoner, no longer forced him to renounce Christianity, but only forced him to take care of the cattle and keep the stall in order, in the corner of which was the bed of St. John.

From morning until late evening, the saint of God served his master, conscientiously fulfilling all his orders. In the cold of winter and in the heat of summer, half naked and barefoot, he performed his duties. Other slaves often mocked him, seeing his zeal. Righteous John was never angry with them; on the contrary, on occasion he helped them in their work and consoled them in trouble. Such sincere kindness of the saint pleased the master and slaves. The owner began to trust righteous John so much and respect him for his honesty and nobility that he invited him to live as a free man and settle wherever he wished. However, the ascetic chose to stay in the stables, where every night he could freely labor in prayerful solitude, strengthening himself in goodness and love for God and people. Sometimes he left his quiet refuge and, under the cover of darkness, came to the church of the Holy Great Martyr George, where he prayed earnestly on the porch, kneeling. In the same church on holidays, he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

At the same time, Righteous John still served his master and, despite his poverty, always helped the needy and sick and shared his meager food with them.

At the end of his arduous and ascetic life, Saint John fell ill and, feeling his death approaching, called a priest to last time receive a blessing for the outcome. The priest, fearing to go with the Holy Gifts to the house of the Turkish commander, put them in an apple and safely handed them over to Righteous John. Having glorified the Lord, he received communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and went to God. The righteous death of the holy confessor John the Russian followed on May 27, 1730. When the owner was informed that slave John had died, he called the priests and handed over the body of Saint John to them, who buried him according to Christian custom. Almost all the Christians living in Procopius gathered for the burial and accompanied the body of the righteous man to the Christian cemetery.

Three and a half years later, the priest was miraculously informed in a dream that the relics of St. John remained incorrupt. Soon the holy relics of the righteous man were transferred to the church of the Holy Great Martyr George and placed in a special shrine. The new saint of God began to be glorified by countless grace-filled miracles, the fame of which spread to remote cities and villages. Christian believers from different places came to Procopius to venerate the holy relics of John the Russian and received grace-filled healings through his holy prayers. Not only Orthodox Christians, but also Armenians and Turks began to venerate the new saint, turning to the Russian saint with a prayer request: “Servant of God, do not bypass us with your mercy.”

In 1881, part of the relics of St. John was transferred to the Russian Monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon by the monks of Holy Mount Athos, who had previously been miraculously saved by the saint of God during a dangerous journey. At the expense of this monastery and the residents of Procopius, the construction of a new church began in 1886, since the church of the Holy Great Martyr George, where the relics of St. John were located, had fallen into disrepair.

On August 15, 1898, a new church in the name of St. John the Russian was consecrated, with the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch Constantine V, by Metropolitan John of Caesarea.

In 1924, the inhabitants of Procopius of Caesarea, moving to the island of Euboea, brought with them the relics of St. John the Russian. For several decades they were in the temple of saints Equal to the Apostles Constantine and Helena in New Procopius on Euboea, and in 1951 they were transferred to a new temple in the name of St. John the Russian, to which thousands of pilgrims flock from all over Greece, especially on the day of his memory, May 27. Righteous John the Russian is widely revered on Holy Mount Athos, especially in the Russian Panteleimon Monastery.

Description of the tour in a nutshell

Travel from Athens 2.5-3 hours

Life and miracles of St. John the Russian

Born around 1690 in Little Russia. Upon reaching adulthood, he was recruited into the army of Peter the Great. He took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1710-1713. During the Prut campaign, together with other soldiers, he was captured by the allies of the Turks, the Tatars. Most likely, this happened in the battle for Azov.

Life in worldly slavery and freedom from evil.

After being captured, he was transported to Constantinople and sold into slavery to the commander of the Turkish cavalry (probably the Sipahi). In the life of the saint he appears under the name Aga; perhaps this is just his title.

He brought the saint to his homeland - to Asia Minor, Cappadocia, to the village of Urgup. Out of love for God and Orthodoxy, John refused the offer to convert to Islam and remained faithful to Christianity, for which he was humiliated and cruelly tortured by the Turks, who contemptuously called him and others like him “kafir,” that is, “infidel.” However, over time, seeing the firmness in faith, meekness and hard work of the saint, the owner and household members began to respect him and stopped the bullying. John was no longer forced to renounce Christianity. By order of Aga, the saint began to work and live in the stable. John performed his duties with love and diligence, which caused ridicule from other slaves. But the righteous one accepted this without malice, trying, on the contrary, to console in trouble and help mockers. Over time, for his sincere kindness, the saint earned the love and trust of Aga, and he invited John to live as a free man in a separate room. But he refused, answering: “My patron is the Lord, and there is no one higher than Him. He destined me to live in slavery and in a foreign land. Apparently, this is necessary for my salvation.”

During the day, John worked, observed strict fasting and prayed, and at night he secretly went to the cave church of St. George, where he read the prayers of the All-Night Vigil on the porch and received communion every Saturday.

Aga soon became rich and became one of the most influential people in Urgup. He connected this with the fact that a righteous man lived in his house. Having become rich, Agha decided to perform the Hajj. During his journey, the owner's wife called Aga's family and friends for dinner. When the owner’s favorite dish, pilaf, was served, she said to John, who was serving them: “How glad your master would be if he were here and ate this pilaf with us!” The saint asked her for this dish, promising to send it to Mecca. Everyone was very happy, but they complied with the request, deciding that John wanted to eat the pilaf himself or give it to the poor.

When Aga returned, he spoke about a miracle that happened to him: while in Mecca, he discovered in the locked room where he was staying, a steaming dish of pilaf, on which his name was engraved, as on all the dishes in his house . News of this miracle quickly spread throughout the village and surrounding area, and everyone, even the Muslim Turks, began to call John “ led" - "saint". However, he did not change his lifestyle, still spending it in hard work and prayer.

Last Communion

Before his death, he fell seriously ill, and, unable to get up, he sent for a priest to give him communion. The priest was afraid to openly go to a Muslim’s house and handed over the Holy Gifts, hiding them in an apple. Having received communion, the righteous man died. This happened on May 27, 1730 (June 9, 1730). Aga himself handed over the body of the saint to the priests, asking them to bury him according to the customs of the Orthodox. Aga covered his holy remains with a precious carpet. The body was carried through Urgup by all the inhabitants of the village - Muslims and Christians, and buried with honors at the local church, in which John himself prayed during his life.

Miracles of the Turkish period

The priest, who confessed and gave communion to John every Saturday, saw the saint in a dream in November 1733. The saint told the elder that by the grace of God his body remained entirely incorruptible, the same as he was buried 3.5 years ago. The priest was in doubt, and now, by Divine grace, heavenly light appeared over the saint’s grave in the form of a pillar of fire. Christians decided to open the grave. And, lo and behold! The saint's body turned out to be absolutely incorruptible and fragrant. This fragrance continues to this day. Then, with reverence, the believers took the body (the holy relics) and transferred it to the temple, which John himself had once visited.

The next event occurred in 1832, when Ibrahim Pasha rebelled against the Turkish Sultan Mahmud II in Egypt. While the Sultan's army was approaching Prokopion, the village residents, mainly the Janissaries hostile to the Sultan, did not want to send the army. The Greek Christians did not agree with this. But being a minority, they could not do anything. Fearing the revenge of the Sultan's army, they fled to nearby villages and took refuge in caves. Only the elderly and weak remained. The military leader entered Prokopion as an enemy. The soldiers plundered not only all the houses, but also the Church of St. George. When they opened the tomb of St. John and did not find any valuables in it, they angrily threw the holy relics into the courtyard and wanted to burn them in order to laugh at the Christians. Having collected wood, they lit a fire, but, to their surprise, the relics were again in the church. Not being enlightened by this miracle, they took them out a second time and put them on the fire, but the fire did not touch the shrine. And then the soldiers saw John alive, standing with a menacing look in the middle of the fire, with a gesture of his hand and words threatening them for their insolence. At this point the Turks could stand it no longer and fled in horror, leaving not only the relics of the saint, but also all the loot in Prokopion. The next day, several old Christian men came to the church and found the saint’s body intact among the burnt coals and ashes. It was blackened by smoke and soot, but was just as fragrant and incorruptible. The believers placed the saint's relics back into his shrine.

Two years have passed. The Christian population of Prokopion built a large church in honor of St. Basil the Great. The Greeks wanted to transfer the relics of the holy righteous John to this beautiful temple. They were transferred twice, but each time they disappeared and again ended up in the church of the Holy Great Martyr George. When the Greeks decided to transfer the relics for the third time, they served a prayer service and held an all-night vigil, turning their prayerful sighs to the Lord. This time the Lord heard the prayers of His servants, and the relics of John found peace in the church of St. Basil the Great.

Around 1862, a pious woman saw in a dream St. John holding the roof of a village school in his hands. The next day, during the Divine Liturgy, she spoke about this. Before she had time to finish her story, a terrible roar was heard. Everyone ran out of the church in fear and saw with horror that the roof of the school, which was located opposite the church, had collapsed. People rushed there, because all the children of the village were there! Beside themselves, they began to lift the collapsed roof, and, lo and behold! - all the children got out from under the rubble alive. It turned out that the children heard a terrible crash above them and, realizing what was happening, managed to crawl under their desks. When the roof collapsed, the beams fell onto the desks without crushing any children.

It is also worth telling about the transfer of the hand of Righteous John to the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos - a miracle of the saint’s special condescension and benevolence towards his compatriots fleeing there. Saint Righteous John never allowed particles to be taken away from his relics. He always forced those who dared to do such a thing by appearance and threats to return what they had taken. But there was no obstacle to the removal of the hand for the Athos Monastery.

It happened like this. For several years before 1880, the fathers who labored in the monastery of St. Panteleimon, having learned about the miracles performed at the shrine of St. John, asked the inhabitants of Prokopion for part of his multi-healing relics. The Greeks refused for a long time, but finally, suddenly everyone, as if by a miracle, agreed to fulfill the request of the Russian fathers of the monastery. Having served a prayer service and separated her right hand from the relics, they sent her in 1880, accompanied by Father Dionysius and one of the respected elders of the village on Athos. The reception of the relics in the monastery was very solemn: all the monks, led by their abbot, Father Macarius, came out to greet them with chants, ringing of bells, and striking of the beater. Having placed the venerable relics in the cathedral church on a lectern, they sang a solemn doxology. Then everyone came up to worship the shrine with great reverence. Thus, being now within the limits of the lot Holy Mother of God, the hand of the righteous John the Russian is revered there on a par with the honest relics of other saints.

Wonders of the Period on the Island of Evia

PROT. JOHN VERNEZOS, rector of the Church of St. John the Russian

TRANSLATION FROM GREEK

Edition of the Monastery of the Paraclete Oropos Attikis - Greece 1992

After the terrible defeat of the Greeks in the war with the Turks in 1922, the entire Greek population had to leave Anatolia in exchange for the Turkish population of Greece. The Greeks from Prokopion moved to the island of Euboea to the village of Akhmet Aga, which after the departure of the Turks was renamed Neoprokopion. They also brought with them a shrine containing the relics of Saint Righteous John the Russian, which was first placed in the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena. And when on May 27, 1951, the magnificent new church in honor of St. John, begun in 1930, was completed, his relics were solemnly transferred there. The body of the holy saint of God, preserved incorruptible, rests there in open cancer under glass. Every day hundreds and hundreds of Orthodox pilgrims, asking for the intercession of the holy righteous man and relief in his grief. And Saint John does not refuse emergency aid to all those who turn to him with true, deep faith.

New Miracles of St. John the Russian

Saint John Chrysostom, in his commentary on chapter 8, 4 of the Gospel of Matthew, writes that Jesus Christ in the Gospels twelve times forbids those who received healings to talk about the miracles they saw. Out of His humility and because he did not want to listen to cries of admiration.

But sometimes the Lord, as for example in the Gospel of Luke (in chapters 8-39), advises a healed demoniac to return to his house and tell people about the miracle created by God: “Return to your house and tell what God has done for you.” It is characteristic that Jesus Christ until His Resurrection, revealing secret meaning some miracles, spoke in parables.

If we return to the events taking place at the relics of St. John, we can say that many of those who were healed, about whom we have reliable information in the archives of our church, did not want their addresses to be printed in thousands of copies next to the description of their lives. They strive to avoid, whether in the city, in the countryside, at work or at home, any questions, even if asked with good intentions.

We know that hermits, ascetics of the Holy Mountain and other monastic centers, seeing many miraculous phenomena and having spiritual revelations, usually, due to their humility and modesty, tell surprisingly little, and then only in a narrow circle of spiritual people.

Personally, I postpone until a later time the question of publishing information about these people. Over the thirty years of my service to the Saint, miracles number in the hundreds.

Due to the fact that all the miraculous events occurred during such a long period of my service in the Church of St. John, I have personal experience their interpretations, while bearing spiritual responsibility.

Let us feel the joy and sense the greatness of these rare miraculous phenomena occurring in our time.

Shipwreck

A merchant ship with goods on board was sailing on the open sea to its destination. It was in one of the northern seas.

A storm has begun. The raging sea threatened to swallow the ship.

The crew members - Greek sailors - fought desperately, sensing imminent death. The pilot system and radar installation were out of order. The ship has lost course. In this chaos the captain's voice was heard. He gave no more orders. An experienced sailor advises only one thing - to pray to God for salvation. He goes to the ship's chapel, where the icon of St. John the Russian was located. On his knees, the captain offers a prayer to the Saint: “Saint John the Russian. I pray to you now neither for the salvation of my life, nor for the ship, but only for these poor sailors living in a foreign land, by the sweat of their brow earning their bread for their families. Now they are dying. Saint John, save them." All night, amid the roar of will and the whistle of the north wind, the captain prayed to St. John. And so scary night ended. What do the eyes of sailors see? That their ship is rocking peacefully on the waves in the port of Rotterdam. Who was the pilot who brought the ship to the port, avoiding certain death? It was Saint John the Russian himself. No one can object to Mr. Dimitri Varoutsikas, the captain of the ship, whose eyes have seen a lot in different seas and oceans. Struck by the miracle, the captain leaves the ship at the port for repairs and comes to Greece. He and his wife go to a church supply store. As a sign of his gratitude to the Saint, the captain acquires a set of gold and silver objects: the Altar Cross and the Gospel, a censer, an Artophorium, and a Chalice for Holy Communion. All these valuable religious objects remind us of the miracle of faith, prayer, and the salvation of our long-suffering sailors. January 23, 1978

Stick

If you ever come as a pilgrim to the relics of St. John the Russian, you will see in his temple one simple and poor offering. Stick! She is hung like a trophy near Raki with her relics. This stick belonged to grandmother Maria Spaka from the village of Frenaro, near the city of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus. This old woman walked for 18 years, bent almost to the ground.

On August 2, 1978, her relatives brought her to the Church of St. John the Russian, making a pilgrimage to Greece along with 100 other Cypriots. The grandmother was lifted in her arms to give her the opportunity to venerate the relics of the Saint. Looking at the incorruptible relics, the unfortunate old woman burst into tears, asking God's Pleasant for intercession and help. And Saint John heard her, saw the greatness of the soul of this suffering woman, saw her sorrow and at the same time - faith. And then, in front of everyone, it was as if someone’s invisible hand touched the pained woman’s back and straightened her body. The old lady straightened up! Tears filled the eyes of her fellow villagers, and the church bells rang. The entire group of Cypriot pilgrims immediately asked to perform a thanksgiving prayer. Everyone cried at this prayer service.

Those who have seen at least once a miracle happen before his eyes will understand these lines. At the end of the prayer service, the healed woman’s exclamation was heard: “How can I thank you, my son, Saint John? I'm poor. I leave here at your relics my stick, with the help of which I walked for so many years. I won’t need her anymore until I die.”

This is what the newspapers of the city of Nicosia, the capital of the island of Cyprus, wrote: “Maria Spaka, after her pilgrimage to Greece, to the relics of St. John the Russian, can now see the faces of her fellow villagers. For almost two decades she walked bent double and saw only the ground under her feet. Thanks to the miracle performed by the Saint, she was healed and is now completely healthy.” August II, 1978

Miracle to the scientist

“Your Eminence. - Mr. Matzoros, a doctor from the village of Aimni on the island of Euboea, addressed a letter to Metropolitan Chrysostom (Vergis) of Chalkida. - I'm not a very religious person, I have higher education. I am a doctor by profession and a former atheist.

It happened that I got sick. Passed the examination. Diagnosis: rectal cancer. My colleagues told the whole truth. This is cancer in one of its severe forms, which usually leads to death.

I was examined at the Pandocrator Cancer Center in Athens. After confirming the diagnosis, I am left alone with my illness. And then, in this difficult hour, I turn my soul and heart to God, in whom I did not believe.

I'm sitting on the bed, my legs are down. I’m having a conversation with myself and turning to God: “God, I didn’t believe in You, I said that everything was a fairy tale. I thought that all support lay in man and science. You see, now everything is losing its value. Accept my repentance and, if you consider me worthy, heal my illness through the intercession of the Holy Incorruptible John of Russia.”

It was a sincere and true “sin” of the human doctor. At that moment someone knocked on the door. A young, smart, handsome doctor entered.

“Well, colleague,” he asks Mr. Matzoros.

“What should we do, doctor, we’re dying.” “No, you won’t die,” came the answer. “I take upon myself all your illness.”

“I have grown gray at my job and know very well what my illness means. Who are you, young man?

“I am the one you asked for help.” And he left.

The patient in the corridors of the hospital began to look and ask about the young doctor. Colleagues shrugged their shoulders in surprise and said that the vision was the fruit of a hallucination.

No, the doctor is a cancer patient, he is sure that he spoke with God and the Saint. Insists on a re-examination.

It turns out that he is re-diagnosed - absolutely healthy. How many people have seen these two medical cards: one with confirmation of cancer, the other with recognition of complete health.

And here is the letter: “Your Eminence! I am not a believer... But I saw the Holy One and was healed.” April 10, 1964

MIRACLES WITH CHILDREN

Saint John has a special love for little children. This reminds us, first of all, of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for children: “Leave the children and do not hinder them from coming to Me.” (Matt. 18: 3-10, 14).

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become humble, simple and simple, like children, you will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18-3).

Two brothers are healed

In one poor house, in the city of Limassol on the island of Cyprus, a family lives in labor and sorrow. Two children - two brothers, 6 and 8 years old - suffered from leukemia.

Parents and doctors waged a constant struggle for the health of these children. At the sight of the pale faces and frail bodies of their children, the parent’s heart sank with grief.

And then someone told them about Saint John the Russian - the Wonderworker, whose relics rest in Greece. The kneeling mother stands up to pray, the father prays. Evening. The light of the lamp dimly illuminates the pale faces of the children. “Saint John,” the mother whispers, “make sure that my children get well, I can’t stand this torment anymore. Saint John, come, visit my house, here in Limassol, come today and help our grief.”

The father stood up in deep sobs, and the mother stood up too. In the morning, approaching the children’s crib, parents see that appearance them completely changed. Their parents woke them up and quickly went to the doctor. “But, my dears,” says the doctor, “we just recently conducted a blood test, don’t torture the children.” The mother, however, insisted. And, lo and behold! The analysis confirms the normal composition of the blood. Faith performed this miracle!

Happy parents ordered wax figures of children in full height. They flew by plane to Athens, and from there to the miraculous relics of St. John. The whole family knelt, saying words of gratitude. After their departure from the Temple, two wax figures of children remained in memory of the miraculous healing. Until now, this gift is in the Church of St. John the Russian as a symbol of the love of God and St. John. June 30, 1980

Divine Vision

“You have your whole life ahead of you, you are young. This is your first child. It's nothing you can do. You need to know the whole truth. Your child will die. The child has a severe form of leukemia. Let him spend the little time he has left to live at home, under the supervision of medical personnel. Dont be upset. You are still young.”

These were the words used by a pediatrician at one of the children's hospitals in Athens to see off the parents of a three-month-old child who was dying of leukemia.

Family relatives (35 people in total) gathered in the house to support the unfortunate parents in difficult times.

And so the child’s father, in a moment of grief, turns to Saint John: “Holy John! I don’t have the strength to see my first-born son pass away. Remember, Holy One, how we brought him to the Temple, wearing your name and the baby was baptized. (Since 1925, 253 children have been baptized in the Temple of St. John). Help me...

And at that moment, the relatives, sitting next to the sobbing father, see how the little one suddenly opened his eyes and pointed at the wall. In full view of everyone, the image of St. John, like shining lightning, appeared in the house and disappeared. The child recovered. May the Name of the Lord and His Saints be glorified. July 27, 1981

Like in the book of God's Law

In one of the children's hospitals in Athens, a mother stands by the bedside of her sick child day and night. The boy, brought from Patras to the capital, suffered from paralysis of his legs for many years (in his medical card all test results and examinations are available).

An exacerbation of the disease (lack of asbestos in the body) forced the parents to urgently hospitalize the child. One evening, at sunset, the mother-nurse in the hospital room remembered her city of Patras and a small chapel Mother of God, where she often came with children or alone. Mentally transported to her native place, the unfortunate mother in grief turned in prayer to the Mother of God: “O Mother of God, sweetest Virgin, You who have endured sorrows, help my child. Send, Lady, the Saint to help us, looking at the grief of the child.” “Mom, who are you talking to?” “Now, my boy, you probably remember how you read in books on the Law of God that when the Lord lived in Palestine, He healed the demoniac, opened the eyes of the blind, raised the paralytic, and raised the dead. Turn to Him too, my child, and He will hear you - good boy, ask Him to heal you.”

The child looks at his mother, then at the setting sun, at the heavens, and falls asleep.

At night, little George dreams of a beautiful horseman who stops right in front of him.

Get on your feet, Georgy, take a leap and jump into my saddle!

But I'm paralyzed, my legs can't lift me.

Give me your hand, boy, get on the horse. I am Saint John from Russia. The Lord has sent me to heal you with His grace and power. The child, half asleep, struggles with the disease and tries to move. The mother woke up hearing the words: “Mom, hold me. Saint John of Russia ordered me to stand up.”

In the morning, when the night nurses informed the doctor that the paralyzed child brought from Patras got to his feet and walked that night, the doctor hurried to the healed one. He hit his knees with a hammer and touched his leg with a needle. The reaction is normal.

“You are free,” said the professor. “The Lord Himself showed His power here.” August 17, 1977

Acromegaly

The doctors are categorical: “Your child,” they explain to the parents, “has a congenital rare disease, and in its most severe form. He is very weak and no matter what preparation we provide for these two operations he needs, he still will not survive. We will wait for the development of his body.” The leading doctor was the unforgettable Professor Khoremis.

The child's mother does not believe the doctor and convinces her husband to sell his property and use the money to go to the Institute of Child Health in Paris. But here, too, the unfortunate parents heard the same diagnosis and the same advice. The doctors say one thing, the mother repeats another.

Mother, who was created by God to be a co-creator, an assistant in His work. A mother who suffers and gives everything for the sake of the fruit of her womb - for the sake of her children. She repeated only one thing: “Save my child.”

Suddenly, in the hospital, the boy’s temperature rises and he begins to have a fever. Like a kite, the woman grabs the unconscious child and runs to the exit of the hospital, causing the surprise of those around her. Getting into the first taxi she comes across, she goes to Bussy, a famous resort in central France. There is the Russian Orthodox Monastery of the Mother of God. The woman heard about its existence on her first visit to France, while still a student. A Greek woman enters the monastery and goes to the icon of the Mother of God: “My Lady, I have no more strength. If my child is destined to die, let him die in front of your icon. I pray to You, Most Pure One, that I saw Your precious Son crucified on the Cross. You, who withstood everything, help me overcome my grief.”

In the church at that time there was a certain Sergei Ivanovich Rossos, who knew a little Greek and had once lived in Athens. He saw the unfortunate woman, approached her and said: “The relics of one of our fellow countrymen rest in Greece. Saint John the Russian. Through his prayers miracles are performed. For many years I have carried his icon with me and always turn to him. I will bless your child with this icon and let us hope for God’s mercy.”

At that very moment when the icon of the Saint touched the child’s forehead, he began to shake as if in a fever, his whole body was covered in cold sweat. The mother touched the child's forehead. The fever has gone down!

An all-night vigil was immediately held, and in the morning the mother returned the child to the hospital and decided to leave him for treatment. Three months later, without any surgery, it was found that the patient’s skeleton was developing normally, and that the crooked arms and legs were straightened.

“An emergency in science,” said the French doctors.

“An extraordinary case of faith and the help of the Saints,” says the mother and cannot look at her son enough. who, full of strength, goes to school every day. November 12, 1974

Apoplexy

The Papadimitriou couple brought their comatose child with Mediterranean anemia to the Hagia Sophia Children's Hospital in Athens

This time it is not an exacerbation of the disease. In the X-ray room, the doctor showed the mother an encephalogram; the office showed blood clots that had formed in the vessels of the brain. “This is true courage,” the doctor whispers, pointing to blood vessels clogged with blood clots.

In inconsolable grief, the mother, a native of the island of Euboea, mentally turns to Saint John the Russian: “Saint John, save my little Vasula.”

And at this moment, both the doctor and the parent see on the encephalogram, as if someone’s invisible hand is dissolving blood clots in the vessels, and hear the voice of the awakened child: “Mommy, where are you?” “Here,” the woman barely managed to answer and burst into hot tears of gratitude. How great you are. Lord, in His Saints!

Now the healed Vasula herself has become a mother and is raising a wonderful son. June 4, 1976

Tragedy of a small child

Every mother wants her child to be the best. In one poor house among the narrow streets that lead to the Church of Pandanassa in Patras, a tragedy occurred.

From the first minutes of the birth of the second child in the family, the mother, seeing the newborn, was horrified. The baby's tongue was sticking out. Breastfeeding was impossible. The tongue was 3-4 centimeters longer than usual. From that moment the torment began. The mother does not appear with the child in public. For three years in a row she has been visiting hospitals in Athens. Meanwhile, the tongue continues to grow and hangs below the chin.

“Oh my God,” the mother begs. - Tell us what to do!”

Doctors advise surgery to completely amputate the tongue. But at the same time, the child must remain mute for the rest of his life. Poor parents borrow money and go to Stockholm, Sweden for consultation. Swedish doctors also recommend surgery.

In grief, the family returns to Greece. Relatives and friends, expecting at least some glimmer of hope, could not find words to console the child’s parents. And then in the crowd the voice of one of the relatives of a believing woman was heard: “I believe that the Lord will hear our prayer. You, as a mother, make a vow to Saint John the Russian, the Saint whom the Almighty often sends to help people. Pray earnestly for help. Now let’s go to the Pandanassa temple.”

As writer Alexis Karel writes: “Is the prayer we offer for others the most effective and always heard? God." The old priest performs a prayer service to the Saint, the Small All-Night Vigil is celebrated, after which all the relatives quietly go home. And suddenly in one of the rooms a mother’s cry is heard: “Saint John, how quickly you hastened to the aid of our pain. What do my eyes, dimmed with grief, see? Everyone witnessed how the child’s torment ended. The tongue returned to its place and the child spoke.”

A fact inexplicable by human logic. A fact that for many is just a fictional tale. For many, those who cannot overcome naked logic. But for believers everything is very simple. Everything for believers has its own explanation.

“Faith is the observation of things inaccessible to the eye.”

Faith is the confirmation of what bodily eyes cannot see. (Heb. 11.1) May 16, 1966

100 kilometers

In the city of Estiaa, in the north of the island of Euboea, a child was born with twisted legs turned towards the back. For three and a half years, parents and doctors struggled with the disease. After several operations, doctors were finally able to return the lower limbs to their normal position.

However, the parents were told that the child would not walk because the motor nerves were damaged. At home, the father, looking at his paralyzed child, remembered Saint John the Russian and turned to him in prayer with the following words: “Saint John, I will not be able to contemplate the misfortune and pain of this child all my life. You have healed so many, help my poor child too, strengthen his legs. I promise that I will walk barefoot to your Temple. I don't have any offerings for you. I have one lamb in my garden, and I’ll bring it to you.”

And so the parents set off barefoot on foot from Estiaia to Prokopion, carrying a child and a lamb in their arms. They walked for two days and two nights through the forests and ravines of northern Euboea with the secret hope that the Saint would hear their prayers when he came to the Temple of St. John, the travelers performed a prayer service at the Holy Relics, holding a child and a lamb in their arms. Silence and pain reigned at that moment in the church.

In the evening, the unfortunate family refuses to go to the hotel and spends the night at the door of the temple. After midnight, the father wakes up the child with the words: “Get up, child. The saint performed a miracle on you. Go and get me some water.” And the child, for the first time in his life, gets to his feet on his own and takes his first steps.

And then a cry of joy is heard in the night. The whole village, pilgrims, woke up to see with their own eyes the manifestation of the power of God through the prayers of the Saint.

Since that day, a stately young man with a lamb in his hands comes to the Temple every year. He venerates the Holy relics and returns home in peace. September 19, 1976

At the Agios Savvas Cancer Hospital, 1978

In Athens, at the Oncology Center, a woman is fighting the disease of the century - cancer. The disease has won. The doctors told the children to take their mother home.

“Don’t torture your mother in the hospital. The situation is hopeless. It's better to let him die at home. It’s calmer for both her and you.” Five children who came to the hospital from Kavala listen to the doctors' conclusions with tears. They cry for their mother, for the only being that each of us has in life.

At that moment an unfamiliar woman appeared at the door of the room. “Is this your mother? - she asked. - Do not Cry. Above all sciences and doctors are God and His Saints. As a human being, you did everything you could. I once went to venerate the relics of St. John the Russian on Fr. Euboea. I took with me a little oil from the lamp near the relics to anoint one of the sick here in our hospital. I’ll anoint your mother too, and then as God pleases.”

Indeed, how important words, compassion, support are for a sick person lying in grief. Even just sitting next to someone without saying anything gives strength to the sufferers. An unknown woman anointed the sick woman’s forehead with cotton wool dipped in oil from a lamp and left. Divine power is transmitted both directly and through holy objects, through the relics of Saints, lamp oil, holy water. This is the Church's faith in the healing power of Christ. Moreover, such a humble way of transferring the miraculous energy of God into our bodies, into our illnesses, was called by the church fathers: “the highest God-pleasing therapy.” St. John Chrysostom wrote: “We deeply believe that we are not worthy for Christ himself or one of His Saints to come to us, but the grace-filled healing power can descend on us in the most accessible and in a simple way. Is it in plain bread and in simple wine we do not see Christ Himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist?”

But let's return to our topic. After some time, the patient came to her senses, opened her eyes and saw her crying children. She made a sign with her hand. The eldest daughter bent over to her.

Why are you crying like that?

Mom, you didn’t see us for several days and couldn’t speak. And now you ask why we cry.

Yes, you know, a few minutes ago a soldier came to me, said that his name was John the Russian, crossed my forehead with cotton wool dipped in lamp oil and said: “Come back to life.” A woman who was in the grip of a terrible incurable disease was healed. And now he lives with his children and grandchildren according to the Word of God. August 8, 1978

“Do a craniotomy”

In Athens, a famous civil engineer, who has undergone many examinations, receives a doctor's diagnosis: severe headaches are explained by a malignant brain tumor.

The patient is advised to have surgery on the skull to remove the tumor. When asked about the consequences, the doctors tell him the whole truth. The patient refuses surgical intervention exposing himself to terrible suffering.

A few days after this event, early in the morning, at dawn, a bell rang in the patient’s apartment: “Uncle, is that you? - the voice of his twelve-year-old niece was heard. -Sorry for calling you so early, but I just woke up, I had a dream about you. I saw a tall, fair-haired man young man, who told me: “Girl, I am Saint John the Russian. Let your uncle agree to the operation. I’ll help the surgeon, nothing will happen to your uncle.” Now, uncle, don’t even think about saying “no” to the Saint.”

So, the sick engineer agreed to the operation, and his tumor was removed.

How the faces of all those who came to the Temple, including the engineer himself and his niece, shone. His head was still bandaged.

“The doctors haven’t allowed me to go out yet. But I arrived. Couldn't do it any other way. I had to thank from the bottom of my heart this Holy Wonderworker, who comes to the rescue everywhere and always.” March 10, 1980

First plane

One of the major hospitals in New York is preparing for an operation. Malignant tumor, similar to a large pear, is located in the lungs of the patient Georgiy Skura, a Greek of American origin.

The patient's wife, Mrs. Afanasia, asks to postpone the operation for a while. The hospital management allows a two-day delay.

What happened? IN last minute the woman felt that she must definitely give her husband Holy water before the operation and anoint him with oil from the lamp near the relics of St. John the Russian. A woman calls us at the temple and asks us to send water and oil on the first plane flight to New York. We complied with her request. At the New York airport, Ms. Afanasia was not just waiting for two bottles of water and oil, she was waiting for the Saint himself. With tears, she takes the package. Like flying on wings to the hospital.

Mr. George gratefully follows the actions of his wife and receives a blessing from her - anointing lamp oil. Then Mrs. Afanasia goes to the director of the hospital and asks him to repeat the fluoroscopy.

The miracle she believed would actually happen did happen! Surprised doctors are convinced that the tumor no longer appears on the new X-ray.

“An interesting case of scientific therapy,” the doctors said unanimously.

“An interesting case of healing through the prayers of St. John the Russian,” said Mrs. A. Skura with faith and left the hospital with her husband, returned to normal life. Day and night she glorifies the Name of the Lord and His Saints. June 3, 1983

“The house is yours”

Mrs. Areti K., a widow, and her only daughter Chrysa had not yet recovered from the untimely death of her husband and father when they found themselves faced with human lawlessness. Three brothers of the deceased filed a lawsuit in the Athens arbitration court, declaring their rights to what he left real estate(a house under construction in the center of Athens), costing tens of millions of drachmas. All this inheritance was left by her husband to Mrs. Areti. The three brothers received their share. Taking advantage of the death of their brother, they learned that there were some legal rules according to which they, too, could demand part of the property. The court upholds the claim, and the brothers win the case. Mother and daughter realize that they are in the jungle, where stronger animals devour weaker ones. But they have no other inheritance. Therefore, they decide to engage in a fierce struggle. The house under construction is the embodiment of the husband’s work, but it is also their only economic base in the future. They are filing an appeal. The court rejects it. The court also rejects the secondary appeal. Two women go to the last resort - the Supreme Court.

Tuesday evening. Mother and daughter reflect on their efforts, their struggles, and their vague future. The women have a stone on their hearts, they are killed by the behavior of their relatives, they worry that their lawyer, who urgently went abroad, is not nearby. Only late at night did the exhausted women fall asleep. In a dream, a widow sees herself rushing to beat her sister-in-law. At this time, an unknown young man with a calm face appears and says: “The house is yours. I took care of your case myself. In any danger, ask for God's help, and for us - those who serve Him. I am John the Russian. Go to court tomorrow"

There was no sleep. Mother and daughter begin to pray earnestly. In the morning, in the third department of the court, in front of the courtroom, their lawyer, who somehow managed to return to the process, gives them advice. You need to have calm and courage! The secret hope of women was unknown to him. And here is the decision: the Supreme Court of Appeal recognizes that the house rightfully belongs to the widow of the deceased and his daughter.

When both women came to the relics of St. John the Russian, they told us: “We never knew this Saint. We have always prayed only to God, we have a spiritual father, we receive communion, but we have never come here to Euboea and never turned to St. John. And so we understood - the Saints live among us and know all our aspirations.” March 28, 1985

“John the Russian”

Mr. Constantine Polihrannu, one of the country's highest government officials, spent two hours in prayer and tears in front of the shrine containing the relics of the Saint. He was dressed in pajamas, and a taxi was waiting for him at the northern entrance of the temple. When this mysterious communication with the Saint ended, he slowly walked towards the pykhod. We stopped him. asking, if possible, to tell about his grief. about why he is dressed so strangely. and offered him rooms in a hotel next to the church.

“No, father, thank you. This Saint, the great Miracle Worker-Healer, calmed me down for many years. This morning my wife came to visit me at Evangelismos Hospital. For K) years now I have not been able to rise to my feet and stand like this. as I stand now. This is the result of a chronic disease of the nervous system. an illness that caused me to lose my job, retire and be hospitalized with 80% paralysis in my legs. Paralysis and a severe mental state led me to moral death. So here it is. This morning my wife came to me and, seeing. that I'm still sleeping. She sat down in a chair next to her and took a nap herself. And she sees a dream. as if in the next ward there was a round of doctors, among whom was some unknown doctor. My wife comes up to him and says: “Are you the new doctor? I've never seen you here before. I beg you, my husband is lying next to me in the room. he has been paralyzed for more than K) years. The doctors told me that I would lose my husband, my support in life. He will die. Approach him. doctor, look at him. say your word and encourage him.”

“Go ahead, lady, wait, I’ll come to him.”

“What’s your name, doctor?” - the woman asked.

“John the Russian.” - came the answer. My wife woke up and saw me trying to get up. "Help me. wife, I say. feeling as if someone's strong hand was lifting me up. I got to my feet. Doctors and nurses came running into the room when my wife screamed and cried. The head of the department, a believer, was shocked by my wife’s story and immediately said: “Go, take any taxi and go to Prokopion, on the island. Euboea. where the relics of St. John rest. Thank the Saint and return for the extract, which this time will be signed not by the doctor, but by the Saint himself. As a doctor and a Christian, I believe this. what am I saying? Above all sciences stands Almighty God with His Saints.”

That's what the doctor told us. And now, father. you bless us.”

This is how we met this pious man, who thanked St. John with tears.

Words of gratitude are eager to be uttered by many, many sick and suffering people who are in sorrow, similar to those. who in ancient times sat at the font, waiting for the movement of the water, when the angel of the Lord would descend from heaven in order to feel the miraculous healing that the Lord sends through his ways unknown to us.

“Is it possible to forget friends?”

As soon as I hear this phrase, I immediately want to laugh with Uncle Niko, a pensioner, a factory worker in Piraeus. Uncle Niko, bald and wearing glasses, which he has worn for 20 years after cataract surgery, calls St. John the Russian his friend in his prayers. And the Saints are truly our friends. “I came again, father, to my friend,” he says every time he comes to our church.

I can't help but light a candle for my friend. We have been friends for many years! Whatever I ask, he does everything, everything.”

And then one day Uncle Niko arrived upset. He didn’t greet anyone, he went straight to his friend - St. John. After venerating the relics, he approaches us dejectedly. “I’ve been worried since yesterday,” he says. - Yesterday morning I bought a lamb liver, gave it to my wife, and I took a jug and went to get some bottled wine. I’m standing at a traffic light, and suddenly I hear a voice in my car: “How can you forget your friends, huh?” I looked around - no one. I enter the store and hear church chants on the radio. “Here,” says the seller, “they are broadcasting the liturgy from the Church of St. John the Russian.” I came to my senses, grabbed my empty jug and rushed back. I didn't eat anything. It’s no joke when the Saint himself tells you that you have forgotten him.” No, Uncle Niko, you were and will remain a friend of the Saint. We would like to comprehend your simplicity. You have surpassed us and can be the kind of friend that the Lord commanded us to be. April II, 1985

“He said again: mom”

In June 1976, three of the four teenagers who studied at the city gymnasium arrived in one of the mountain villages near Arta. Only Afanasy, the son of Dimitra P., was missing. The only child in the family, he lost his father early, who suffered from liver disease. The mother, despite her poverty, wanted her son to study. She sent him to Arta, here he graduated from the gymnasium, and then from the lyceum. Having learned that her son did not come to the village, the mother runs to his classmate G. Giuseli to find out what happened. George told her the whole truth. Afanasy practically stopped studying since March and ended up in bad company, rented out the room and disappeared somewhere. “Understand, Aunt Dimitra, something wrong is going on with him.”

The mother is terrified. She couldn't even cry from grief. Why did she deny herself everything, for whose sake did she endure hardships? Finally, she decides to go to Arta. She learned all the details from the neighbors of the apartment she rented for her son. But where to go, where to look for his son? Returning to the village, the mother prayed day and night for God’s help.

And so, four days later her son comes home. Unshaven face, evil eyes. She didn't recognize him. Who did he turn into? Instead of a greeting, she heard only one phrase: “Hey, you have money. Come here, I’m in a hurry.”

The mother tried to say something and object, but was hit in the back. After taking the money, the son disappeared. Having spent it, he returned again and again. He beat the mother, took the money and disappeared again.

This drama continued for eight years. The mother turned into a living skeleton. Will leave Is her son part of a gang of drug addicts or will he go to jail? Or will he die physically?

In hopelessness, the unfortunate woman listened to the advice of her neighbor: “Go to the relics of St. John on the island of Euboea. He is the Miracle Worker. Ask him, he will hear your pain, help your sadness.”

Mother went. They performed a prayer service in front of the relics, after which the poor woman exclaimed: “Return to me my son, Saint John. Find him, talk some sense into him. Let him, as before, tell me: “Mom.”

The next day we celebrated the liturgy, remembering the name of the lost son, and the mother left. In the village she found the house open, her son was waiting for her.

“Mom,” the first thing he told her, “I’m back, you wanted it.” I repented of everything I did. I will now live in this house, my father's house. Only yesterday I realized that I had committed a crime before you and before myself.”

The mother was unable to hold back her tears. Only in the evening she was able to say: “Welcome, my child. Tomorrow morning I will leave to thank the one who found you and returned you to the house.”

Two days later we saw this woman again in the temple, thinking that she had not yet reached home. But no, she arrived and found her son, who again told her: “Mom.” June 30, 1976

Holy Week, 1980

Palm Sunday, evening. “We have arrived, father, to attend services with my wife Holy Week in your Temple. We want to confess and, if we find ourselves worthy, to partake of the Holy Mysteries. But first, let's tell you a story. About six months ago, our daughter, a third-year law student at the University, lost her life. One day she called us from Thessaloniki and said that she would change her address. As soon as we heard this, we immediately decided to go to Thessaloniki. Our home is in Comopoli. The owner of the apartment that our daughter rented said that the girl left 8 days ago, possibly because the police, a special anti-drug department, were watching her. Lately she had been returning at dawn and sleeping all day.

At the University they told us: “Look for your daughter urgently, she may end up badly.” But it's all in vain.

Suddenly, two months later, the phone rang. It was my daughter calling. She showered her mother with dirty curses and demanded that she not interfere in her life and stop searching. She doesn't want to know her parents anymore, she doesn't want to study.

Well, father, we have been looking for her for 6 months now. But she seemed to have disappeared into the ground. Either she left Greece, or died somewhere from a strong dose of drugs.

We couldn't stay at home this Easter. We went back to Thessaloniki. Again we went to dirty dens and bars and again everything was useless.

This is our only daughter. Without her we are alone in the world. Our last hope is Saint John the Wonderworker. All of Greece knows about his wonders! So we decided Holy Week spend in your Temple and pray to the Saint for the salvation of our daughter.”

On Holy Saturday, after serving at the service and hearing the touching chants - “Let all human flesh be silent...” - the couple decided to leave and celebrate Easter in their village. They set off on a long journey with the secret hope of help. On Easter Day itself, leaving the southern gate of the temple with the Easter candle in my hand, I bump into spouses I already know. “Father, father - here is our daughter Efi. Our beloved girl. We found her at home. She sat and waited for us. How can we thank the Great Saint! How can we thank the Lord! Glory to You, Lord, and to all Your Saints!”

“Here, Efi, do you see the joy of your parents? - I said. “I’m glad you came here to St. John.”

“Father, all this week I was between life and death. I always chose death. But someone's unknown force, superhuman strength in the full sense of the word, she snatched me from the clutches of death, brought me back to life, brought me home, and then here, to the temple. And today I will also sing along with everyone: “Christ is risen from the dead.” And Efi burst into tears in her father’s arms.

Evening Easter service was delayed by 20 minutes, but it began with the resurrection of Efi. Easter, 1980

Expensive vase

Frightened faces, tear-stained eyes, fear, and even panic seized the children of one of the primary schools Athens district of Kallithea. Katerina, their classmate, from the fifth grade, fought with wild screams in a fit on the floor. This often happened to her in class, at the blackboard, in the school yard. The girl was in constant fear, almost didn’t laugh and lived with the nightmares of these terrible minutes. Her heartbreaking screams resonated with pain in the hearts of the children. Before their eyes stood the mad look of Katerina, beating in a fit. These terrible pictures haunted everyone day and night.

During the attack, the girl first howled like a dog, then meowed like a cat, then growled like wild animal, and a chill ran down my spine from these sounds.

Katerina is not a psychopath, she is mentally healthy. She is possessed. Psychopathy is a natural disease, demon possession is a corruption of the spirit. When possessed by a demon, the demon enters a person and leads him wherever he wants - through the deserts and backwaters of life.

Even before school, Katerina had seizures. Now she is already in the fifth grade, and is still severely tormented by demons. She also attacked her parents. They prayed and took her to holy places. The girl fasted and prayed to the Lord, the Mother of God, and all the Saints for healing. She heard that demons leave a person when he fasts and prays; Christ Himself spoke about this to His Apostles.

Two or three times she came with her parents and to St. John the Russian - frightened, downtrodden. On her knees she turned to the Saint with the words: “My good Saint John, I ask you with all my heart, heal me by a miracle. So that I don’t fall anymore, don’t hit rocks, don’t make wild screams and don’t scare those around me - parents, friends, classmates. My good Saint John, I am growing up, I have already entered the fifth grade. I'm covered in bruises from falling during fits - at home, at school, on the street. You have healed so many. I ask you to heal me too.”

So Katerina prayed with pain, and the prayer echoed with pain in the hearts of everyone who heard it. The children at school loved her for her humility.

One evening, a handsome young man, as if in a dream, stopped in front of her. “Hello, Katerina,” he said, “I’ve come. I am Saint John from Russia. The demon will leave. You will no longer fall, and you will no longer have bruises, there will be no more pain. In the morning, when you wake up, tell your mother that you should come to me again and bring flowers.”

The mother heard her daughter's story about the dream as good news. For years and years she waited for this call from heaven. Yes, Heaven heard them. Demons cannot be driven out by drugs or medical treatment. The parents struggled with evil spirits and knew that these were not medieval fantasies, as some said. The parents saw that they were fighting with representatives of an unknown world. Through their daughter's condition, they saw that the demons knew them and knew their desire. Demons used their child for their own purposes.

The mother goes to the store and buys an expensive vase made of porcelain, smalt and gold. He buys the most expensive flowers, fulfilling the will of the Saint, who wished that flowers be brought to him.

What a wonderful sight! An unforgettable picture! Minutes full of greatness! The mother holds Katerina with one hand, a precious vase with the other, and approaches the relics of St. John. With tears of gratitude, they leave the vase at the shrine with the relics and fall on their faces as they always did. In deep prayer they offer thanks to God's Pleasant. What happened to Katerina? She graduated from the lyceum and dreams of taking a worthy place in society. You will ask if the demon attacked her again. But the Saint told her: “The demon will go away.” And the demon left forever. Katerina is sure of this too. With this feeling she lives in the love and mercy of God and His Holy One. December 14, 1980

“Saint John, do you hate me?”

8 years have passed since the wedding day. In vain Mr. Georgiy K. and his wife Archondula were expecting a child. Their souls were plunged into deep, incurable sadness. How sad life looks when a woman does not become a mother, when she does not have children! The husband always supported his wife in grief, giving her strength. “Be patient,” he told her. - This is God's will. Tears and worries cannot change anything. The purpose of marriage is not only to have children. This is, first of all, the path to spiritual progress, growth, this is a union in eternity with God.”

Mrs. Archondula prayed without ceasing. She put all the strength of her soul into prayer. From childhood, her beloved mother taught her to pray and always said that strong people they pray, and prayer equips a person with patience and the ability to wait in the difficult struggle of life.

While still a girl, she and her parents came to venerate the relics of St. John. And now she often turns to the Saint: “Great Saint John, I ask and pray you, intercede for me before God, so that you may also be worthy of becoming a mother for me. Neither people nor science have given me any hope for this for eight years now. So I live with pain in my heart, in a house without children's laughter. But I, Saint John, will wait for help from Heaven. May the Lord give me a child, may my home and my heart be filled with joy and happiness. I will trust in the Lord.”

The winter of 1979 has arrived. With tears in her eyes, on her knees, Mrs. Archondula tries to concentrate on prayer. But nothing works. Her soul is uneasy. I want to cry and scream. She looks at the iconostasis and, turning to the image of St. John, says: “What did I do, Saint, that you hated me? Why doesn't the Lord send me joy? Saint John, tell me, do you hate me?”

Time after midnight. Someone unknown is climbing the stairs of the house. The husband and wife woke up. “Not a word,” says the husband. -It could be someone from work. He mixed up the time and went to get the keys to the office. Happens. Don’t make a sound and he’ll leave.” The unknown person got up, knocked on the door, and it opened on its own. In the darkness a light appeared, through which the image of St. John appeared: “Archondula, what prayer did you say tonight? Saints never hate anyone. There is no Will of God yet for you to become a mother. It will take another 2 years for this joy to come to you.” The light disappeared, not a sound was heard.

After 2 years, joy came to the family with God's help- first, second, third child. Children's voices sounded in the house, filling the hearts of their parents with joy. December 3, 1979

Do not be afraid!

1947 Ongoing Civil War. Greek kills Greek, brother kills brother. Christian - Christian. Parents - children, children - parents. All over Hellas, in cities and villages, blood is shed, a sword, a rifle, a knife is raised, houses are burned! Hellas is on fire. And everyone was sure that they killed in the name of restoring justice, in the name of truth and democracy. But what on earth is more just, more beautiful and true than human life. The one who fell victim to murder no longer needed anything. No justice, no democracy, nothing.

Truly, all the ideologies, political systems and democracies of the world are worth nothing compared to one single human life, blood that is shed aimlessly, and what a minute ago was a living person becomes a corpse. I saw these corpses with my own eyes. Lives Lost, in the name of one ideology or another, in the name of blind faith in empty words and systems. Save the man! Teach a person to be a person, and nothing more.

1947 Grief and crime left their mark on such a short human life.

The village of Prokopion did not experience this tragedy. Saint John did not want the land where his relics rested, where his temple, his House stood, to be stained with blood.

Shepherd Dimitri V. was once tending his sheep. And he sees in the sky, above the high tops of the trees, the image of St. John. The saint seemed to float above the forest, spreading his arms like wings. At the same moment, a voice was heard, like the sound of a heavenly trumpet: “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid!” The saint described a circle over the mountain valley and disappeared into the temple. The shepherd claimed that he saw everything with his own eyes, and during the day. And we believe him, for St. John did not allow evil to happen

What I wrote down, I learned from a conversation with one of the partisan commanders, but not then in 1947, but already in 1988. This former partisan is now hiding under a false name and living among us. Let's listen to his story:

“Father, do you serve in the Church of St. John?” “Yes,” I answer. “Can I talk to you?” "Please".

“You know, I was once a commander partisan detachment in Central Greece and here on Euboea. I was responsible for imposing death sentences and carrying them out. The death squads obeyed me. Five times I sent my people to carry out the death sentence - to shoot such and such (names 9 names). But the detachments returned without following the order. As soon as they approached your places, they suddenly lost strength and courage, their legs became like cotton wool. It was impossible to advance, and they turned back. None of our orders were carried out on your territory. I am sure that Saint John the Russian saved you here.

Then, after the war, I went into hiding for a long time and changed all my documents. Nobody knows me. Only the Lord God knows everything. I repented. I pray to God to forgive me my crimes.”

“Yes, Mister Captain, God is great. His Truth is higher than the sins of the thief and the sins of the harlot. But tell me just one thing. Will your Truth, your ideology and democracy be able to bring back lost souls, will they be able to give life to the dead again? When, Mister Captain, will they rejoice in your truth? How long can the Saints groan and where should they first rush to help? What other way can they make us understand? Maybe the fact that you are alive is enough, Mr. Captain? Walk with God, and let Him alone know.” May 23, 1988

From Arab Mecca to Prokopion on Euboea

A dish of food was once miraculously sent by Saint John the Russian from Prokopion in Asia Minor to Arab Mecca. This was one of his first miracles.

A young man suffering torment in his name Orthodox faith, amazes the enemies of Christianity and strengthens the faith of his fellow men. History records this miracle, which took place before the eyes of astonished Muslims. The miracle of sending the dish is recorded in the Life of the Saint. It happened 270 years ago and amazes with its Old Testament grandeur.

The love of Christ equipped the Saints with the same powers as the Prophets, High Priests and Righteous Men of the Old Testament.

Nowadays, a priest serving in the Church of St. John wanted to systematize some of the miracles of the Saint, collect historical material, write down what was brought to Prokopion on Fr. in oral tradition. Euboea refugees from Asia Minor.

The purpose of this work was to publish the Life of the Saint, supplemented by the living tradition of old emigrants, those who leave one after another for another world.

One day, the priest, who had begun work on recording facts and traditions about the life of the Saint, served an evening service in the Church of St. John. With the words: “May my prayer be corrected like a censer before You...” - he censed at the Reliquary with the Holy Relics. His gaze fell on a large icon with stamps from the Life, standing at the head of the Cancer. The priest looked at the place in the icon where the Saint is depicted on his knees praying for the miracle of bringing the copper dish to Mecca. Father muttered to himself: “Saint John, it would be nice to have a copy of this dish and photograph it for the new edition of your Life!”

A week has passed. And a woman pilgrim from Sparta named Linardatou comes to the village. At the entrance to the temple she meets a priest. “Father, are you from this church?” - asks. And, having received an affirmative answer, she continues: “Last week, on Friday evening (this was exactly the day when the priest already known to us served in the temple), I saw St. John in a dream. He told me the following: “Among the things that your father brought you from Asia Minor and which are in the basement of your house, there is one copper dish. Clean it and bring it to my temple in Prokopion on the island of Euboea and leave it there, I need it.”

Having said these words, the woman takes out a copper dish from her bag. The amazed priest sees that this is exactly the dish that is depicted on the icon. Tears filled the father's eyes. He takes the gift, approaches the relics of John the Russian and places the dish on the lid of the Shrine. “Saint John,” he addresses the Saint, “so we tire you, sinners, with our requests. Glory to the Lord, glory to you, who has such love for Him. You glorified Him and remain with Him forever. I thank you, Saint John, I glorify your name.”

And today the Saint’s dish is in his temple. A photograph of this relic will be published in the New Edition of the Life. October 30, 1976

“Heals bleeding”

One of the priests of the Church of St. John suffered from frequent nosebleeds. He was tormented by this disease for more than 15 years. Suddenly the vessel burst, and blood began to flow from the nose in a copious stream. Often in alarming quantities.

One morning the priest came to the service and went into the altar to prepare for the service. It was still very early - 4 o'clock in the morning. On the way to the temple the bleeding started again. Blood stained his beard and cassock. Feeling dizzy, the priest began to look for water to wash himself. And the thought came to his mind that the bleeding might be a symptom of some disease. He remembered his three children, his mother. “Saint John, if the illness from which I suffer leads me to the other world, take charge of my family. If it is possible to get rid of this illness, heal me so that I can fulfill my duty to the church and family.” Having washed and rested a little, the priest entered the church.

It's dark, there's no electricity. Only the dim light of the lamps illuminates the temple, reviving the icons and faces of the Saints. The Holy Father begins preparatory prayers, tuning in to the great Sacrament - the Divine Liturgy and Eucharist.

For a priest to serve the Divine Liturgy means to accomplish something great and incomprehensible not only for man, but for the heavenly angelic forces. Only a priest receives grace from God during ordination and can perform the Sacraments, pronounce the Holy words of prayers - and in those minutes everything happens exactly as he says. “Because the word of the prayer that the priest reads has divine power, and what the people of God ask at the Divine Liturgy through the lips of the priest every time becomes reality.”

At that moment, when the sick priest was still in the altar, a young man appeared three meters from him, tall, fair, dressed in military uniform, who with all his appearance showed that he needed something from the priest. The priest began to quickly kiss the icons of the iconostasis, and at the last icon he passed very close to this military man, at a distance of 1 meter. The young man showed with all his appearance that he was in a hurry, and moved to the western part of the Cathedral, as if saying by this that he was leaving. The priest entered the altar, venerated the Holy Altar and said to the elder: “Tell this military man, who is there at the altar doors and is in a hurry, to wait for me. I’ll finish now and go.” A second later the elder returns in fear and says: “Father, there is no one in the temple, no one entered here. I went out and even checked outside the doors. It's deserted all around. It must have been St. John.” "Maybe. But don’t tell anyone about anything yet.”

10 years have passed since then. The priest has since been healed of his illness. Performs his priestly duty. Through the grace transferred to him from God, on behalf of the believers, he turns to the Almighty and prays daily for the sins and transgressions of people. June 29, 1972

Hymns from the service to St. John the Russian

MONTH OF MAY, ON THE 27TH DAY,

AT THE GREAT EVENING On the Lord, I cried: stichera on 6, tone 4:

Named by the same name, the Divine currents of salvation, given by the Holy Spirit to the faithful, you have appropriated, O blessed one, you have been enriched by the image, you have lived on earth piously, you now stand in the joy of the Savior in Heaven from the faces of the Bodiless, glorifying the greatness of God, Who prayed to John for salvation bestow upon those who praise you.

You joined the ranks of the elect from the font of rebirth, and, having become a partaker of the Church of Christ, you grew in the passion of God, and you became accustomed to grace in virtue, and you reached the Kingdom of Heaven. For this reason, your Russian Fatherland rejoices, for it has you as an intercessor standing before the Holy Trinity. And we, your people, the only begotten tongue, filled with joy, cry out: with your prayers, save us from every situation, John, servant of Christ.

If what praise is due to the saints who lived in the body on earth and always walked good deeds before the Lord, it is more appropriate to please you, John: in Cappadocia God committed an undefiled life. You fulfilled the Divine commandments and with your soul in the Heavenly villages you are considered to be the Bodiless Powers, granting peace and prayer and salvation to our souls.

O John, you have lived like an angel, keeping your heart pure from all defilement of the flesh and spirit; you have also been vouchsafed to see the Almighty of the Highest, and by His light shining before men, having taught people the Orthodox faith, you show the way by your life to the Kingdom of Heaven to all who with your holy relics who come, through your prayer you have given healing and all that is necessary for life and piety, strengthen in it all who sing your memory.

Glory,voice 2: For the sake of the Eden tree of life, for the sake of disobedience, the forefather was quickly rejected, having lost the immortality of food through the transgression of the commandment, and was given over to death as perishable. You received the crown of incorruption, John, for you obeyed the law of the Gospel with your being, and, strengthened by eating the Divine Eucharist, you united everything with your God, pray for Him for all who honor you.

And now: Theotokos: Pass the legal canopy: Entrance. Prokeimenon day. And the reverend's readings. On the stichera verse, tone 1: To John the wise, in the name of Christ you endured heat, and cold, and exhaustion from labor, and you were hungry and exhausted from thirst, but you were filled with Heavenly joy, earnestly praying to the Victorious at night, and through suffering you were worthy of communion However, you were not afraid of the tormentors of insolence; you showed yourself the glory and praise of the confessors. Ask the Lamb of God who was slain for the salvation of all to grant Divine mercy and peace to the world

Poem: The righteous, like the phoenix, will prosper, like the cedar of Lebanon, he will multiply.

You were a sheep, a hedgehog led to the slaughter, Blessed John, when you endured strangulation and suffering, but you kept your invincible faith and you did not fall away from your fatherland, being Russian in body and holding Christ in your soul. Pray to grant the Russian country God's blessing, salvation to those who honor you, and peace to the whole world.

Poem: Plant in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God they will flourish. Sheep, hedgehog to the slaughter: (see above).

Glory, same voice:

You appeared as a blameless and favorable lamb, you accepted the gospel faith within, you lived on earth as if you were incorporeal, and, being a captive being, you showed freedom in Christ. Origin of the Russian land, Hellas exudes miracles with majesty, Glorious John, wonderworker, pray for all who honor that.

And now. Theotokos: Bride Chosen One, O Mother of God, you conceived in the flesh the Son of God and God the Word with earthly beings, united you, inseparable and inseparable from the Father and the Holy Spirit, who by humanity accepted the mortal passion by will, may He free His creation from the slavery of corruption, may He give peace and salvation to all through the Cross and Resurrection.

Troparion, tone 4:

Standing in Heaven is the Holy Trinity, righteously blessed John, earthly angel. O man of God, with the Bodiless faces glorify unspeakable love, in the Church of the first-born with the saints, for us who exist on earth, offer prayers to the Creator of all and the Savior, that he may give peace to the whole world, to the Churches on earth, prosperity and the unity of all who honor the Son of God, having come in the flesh, in the holy Body of Christ Jesus, which is the Church of the Living God, for the salvation of the human race.

John was born around 1690 in Little Russia. He was recruited into Peter's army and in the years Russian-Turkish War(1710-1711) was captured and sold into slavery to an Ottoman officer, chief of the cavalry. He took John to his native village of Prokopi (Turkish name Urgup) in Asia Minor.

The owner tried to convert John to Islam, this would make his life easier in captivity, but he refused, answering: “You captured only my body, but not my soul, my soul is free, I cannot worship the Koran and Mohammed, I believe in the True God.”

John's life in captivity was harsh. He slept in the stable, next to the animals he was entrusted with caring for, dressed poorly, walked barefoot, and spent every day in fasting and prayer, and at night he secretly visited the Church of St. George, where he read prayers and received communion weekly.

John accepted all adversities humbly, and performed the work in the stable with love and diligence, for which he was ridiculed by other servants. But John did not hold a grudge against them; on the contrary, in times of trouble he tried to help his scoffers.

For his hard work, sincerity and kindness, John over time earned everyone's trust and love. The owner, wanting to reward John, even invited him to live alone in a spacious room, but he refused, answering that if he was destined to live in slavery far from his homeland, then this was the will of the Almighty, and this was necessary for his salvation. John will remain to live in the stable, in fasting and prayer, looking after the animals, until his death on May 27, 1730.

John became seriously ill, and, feeling the approach of death, he sent for the priest to receive communion, but he was afraid to enter the Muslim’s house and gave John the Holy Gifts hidden in an apple. Having received communion, the righteous man died.

The Turk, John's master, handed over the body to the priests for burial according to Orthodox rite. John was buried in a Christian cemetery. Many people came to his burial place, regardless of religion. Miracles began to happen at his grave.

Three years after the burial, John himself appeared to one local priest and reported that his body remained incorrupt. Simultaneously with this sign, a pillar of fire appeared on his grave. Then local Christians decided to open the burial and saw that the relics were truly incorruptible and fragrant. They remain so today.

The relics of Saint John the Russian were solemnly transferred to the very church where the saint prayed during his lifetime. Many miracles of healing occurred from the shrine.

When in 1832 the troops of the Egyptian Sultan, passing through Prokopi, plundered the village, the soldiers decided to burn the relics of St. John. When the fire was already burning, they noticed that the relics had miraculously been transferred back to the temple. They were taken out again and placed in the fire, then the saint himself appeared to the wicked warriors in the flames of the fire and threatened them with words and a gesture of his hand. Frightened, they fled, abandoning both the relics and all the loot. The next day, local Christians discovered the relics in the midst of ashes and ash; the fire did not touch the shrine; the relics of St. John remained incorrupt and were only darkened by the smoke of the fire.

After the end of the Greco-Turkish War, a population exchange took place between Greece and Turkey. The Greeks from Prokopi, having taken the relics of the saint, will move to the island of Euboea, to the village of Ahmed-Aga, which will be renamed Neo-Prokopi. Here in 1930 they will begin construction of a temple in honor of St. John the Russian, which, through the efforts of everyone Orthodox world, will be completed in 1951. Since then and to this day, the relics of the saint have remained in the temple on the island of Euboea. The Church of John the Russian is one of the most significant monuments of Greek-Russian relations in Greece.

A particle of the relics of St. John the Russian is also located in the St. Panteleimon Russian Monastery on Mount Athos.

There are countless miracles of St. John, many of them are widely known. Through the prayer of the saint, hopeless patients recover, barren women conceive, ships are saved in storms.

The memory of St. John the Russian is celebrated in Greece May 27, Russian Church - June 9.