SAINT JOHN THE RUSSIAN - ΑΓΙΟΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ Ο ΡΩΣΣΟΣ

Saint John the Russian.

Life

Saint John the Russian was born around 1690 in the region of Asia Minor, now Ukraine, to Christian parents. He enlisted in Peter the Great’s army and took part in the Russo-Turkish War (1710-1711), where he was captured and then sold as a slave to a Turkish officer (horseman) who came from the village of Prokopi in Asia Minor.

The Turkish officer took the Saint to Prokopi and there he tried, as was the custom at the time, to persuade him to convert. The Saint strongly resisted all the efforts of the Turk and finally the Turk left the Saint alone to maintain his faith.

The Saint’s living conditions were very harsh. He slept in his master’s stable, together with the animals whose care he had entrusted to him. He ate very little, his clothes were poor and he was forced to walk without shoes. In this stable, the Saint prayed, and in the evenings he often visited a nearby church dedicated to St. George.

His master became rich and became one of the most powerful men in the region. When at some point the Turkish officer visited Mecca on a pilgrimage, St. John miraculously sent from Prokopi to Mecca a plate of rice for his boss. At first they did not believe him, but when the Turk returned from Mecca bringing the dish with him they were convinced and the miracle became known to all those who lived in the area.

The Turk, wanting to honour the Saint, offered to improve his living conditions. But the Saint refused and continued to take care of his master’s animals and stayed in the stable. Working by day and praying by night, St. John the Russian lived the rest of his life until May 27, 1730, when he was laid to rest at the age of 40.

John’s holiness could not be hidden, nor could his love for God and people. When his end was drawing near, he asked to receive communion in the Body and Blood of Christ. The priest, aware of the fanaticism of the Turks, in order to protect the Holy Communion, hid it in an apple and thus passed it quietly through the Turkish house to the Saint. His body was handed over by his boss to the Christians of Procopius, so that they could bury it according to the rules of Christianity. The Saint’s body was buried in the Christian cemetery and remained there for three and a half years. At the end of this time, the Saint appeared in the sleep of an old priest asking him to have his holy relic reburied.

The Christians performed the reburial of the Saint’s relic and placed it in an urn under the altar of the Church of St. George, where the Saint prayed while he was alive.

Λατρεία

In 1832 the Turks tried to cremate the relic of St John when the viceroy of Egypt Ibrahim Pasha rebelled against Sultan Mahmud II, who sent Oglou Osman to suppress the rebellion. After a fierce battle the village was destroyed and the churches desecrated. Although they set fire and even threw the saint’s skeleton there, it remained undisturbed and, to the surprise of the Turks, did not turn to ashes.

When in 1834 or 1868 a large Church of the Great Kingdom was built in Prokopi, his relic was transferred there. Three times, however, the Holy Relic of the Saint was returned to the old temple in the evening, while the faithful carried it to the new temple during the day. After many vigils, his relic was now permanently transferred to the new Church.

The Saint remained in this church until 1924. With the exchange of Greek and Ottoman populations that took place at that time, the Holy Relic of Saint John of Russia was also transferred to Prokopi Evia (through the port of today’s southeastern Turkey, as well as Chalkis), where the Greeks who lived in Prokopi in Asia Minor settled. The transfer to Prokopi Evia was made possible thanks to the efforts of Panagiotis Papadopoulou. The late Panagiotis Papadopoulos chartered at his own expense the ship “Vassilios Destounis”, which, apart from the relic of the Saint, transported 800 patriots to Greece. The ship first sailed from Asia Minor to Rhodes, then to Chalkida and then to Prokopi in Evia. In Rhodes the ship remained at a standstill for an unknown reason and was circling at the same spot. Then Panagiotis Papadopoulos reminded the captain of the presence of the holy tabernacle in the hold. Immediately the order was given to bring it up to the main area of the ship and so the march to Chalkida continued unhindered.

In 1930, a temple in honour of the Saint began to be built, which was completed after much effort by the faithful in 1951. Then the Saint (from the Holy Church of St. Constantine and Helen of the village) was transferred to the new church and is still there today. Believers visit this church and worship the Saint from Greece and abroad.

Countless are the miracles of the Saint, many unknown, but many of them known to the general public. Among them, the healing of Kostas Mitsios’ brother from a holy disease, as well as the healing of Evangelia Arnaoutoglou from a demon (with the contribution of the faith in the Saint of Athanasios Soridis, mortgage officer of Thebes) in 1954.

The conversations of Saint John with the then Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint David the Elder and now Saint James Tsalikis are admirable and worthy of reference.

St. John the Russian, together with St. Nicholas, St. John the Baptist, St. David the Elder in Rovia of Euboea, St. John of Calvita, St. Daniel the Stylist, St. Paraskevi and the 14 (now) Euboean Saints, are the pride and hope of Euboea and the whole world.

The pastors of the Holy Church of St. John were brilliant and highly respected fathers, such as Polycarp Chrysikos, Ireneos Georgiades, Ignatius Kapnisis, Clement Zokaris, John Vernezos (for 56 consecutive years), etc.

Finally, other Holy Churches dedicated to the Saint can be found in Makrymalli (Prokopi) of Psahna, in Vasiliko of Evia, in Patras, etc.

His memory is celebrated on 27 May.