Our Holy Father Among the Saints, John the Hesychast, Bishop of Colonia
December 3rd
As a young man of only 18, he inherited a fortune from his wealthy parents – but then gave every penny away to the poor, and for the construction of a brand-new church.
At the youthful age of 28, he was named Bishop of Colonia – only to spend many years hiding his elevated rank from everyone, while he served as a common steward who hauled water and labored in a busy kitchen.
More than anything else, the life of St. John the Hesychast (or “mystic”) was a life of humility. Again and again during his 104 years, this Fifth Century A.D. monk, hermit and bishop chose to serve others rather than himself by accepting the most menial and laborious tasks to be found in his daily life.
When he lived among other monks, St. John always sought to perform the most onerous and unappetizing chores, so that his brothers could be freed for more elevated pursuits. And when he lived alone (he would spend more than six years of his life wandering a barren desert), St. John deprived
himself of almost everything. For weeks at a time, he survived on nothing more than the roots of wild plants and small quantities of tepid water. He slept on the ground, or on the stone floors of cold, windy caverns.TAKEN FROM
Motivated by a passionate zeal to worship God, the ascetically minded St. John did not regard these deprivations as a painful sacrifice. Instead, he saw them as a convenient way to quickly meet his few earthly needs – so that he could spend the greatest part of each day caught up in joyful meditation on the wonders of Almighty God.Born in 454 in the Armenian city of Nicopolis, under the rule of the pious Emperor Marican, St. John was the scion of an influential family that had provided military generals and regional governors for the Empire from time immemorial. Both of his parents, like their parents before them, were extremely well educated . . . and they made certain that their son would receive the very best education (including a wide knowledge of the Holy Scriptures) that they could arrange for him.
St. John learned his lessons well. When his parents – Engratios and Euphremia – died in his eighteenth year, he immediately donated most of his belongings to the poor and spent the rest of the money building a church and monastery dedicated to the Blessed Theotokos. Along with nine other monastics, he then entered the facility and lived there for the next six years.
Devout and tireless in his dedication, this remarkable monk soon gained a reputation for his holiness. So esteemed was he that the Archbishop of Sebaste did not hesitate to make him a bishop – even though he was still in his twenties. Nor was he surprised when the youthful cleric expressed disappointment at the selection, while explaining that he would have much preferred to remain an obscure and lowly monk!
St. John obeyed, however, and spent the next ten years dutifully shepherding his flock. But then one night as he prayed, a brilliantly illuminated cross rose in the night sky outside his window. At the same moment, the startled bishop heard an authoritative-sounding command: “If thou desirest to be saved, follow the light!”
The cross burned brightly, and St. John followed . . . all the way to the famed Monastery of St. Saba, where he was quickly admitted as a novice. Entering the order of monks in 491, the young novice was still only 37. He said nothing about his credentials as a Bishop, however, and soon agreed to serve as a steward for the 150 monks who lived in this center of holiness. During most of the ensuing 12 years, St. John would work painstakingly at the humblest of assignments. He carried water and firewood. He cooked in the kitchen. He cleaned tables and mopped floors – and he was the happiest man alive!
But when the great St. Saba himself decided that this humble monk should be ordained a priest, St. John was finally forced to explain – to no less a figure than the Patriarch of Jerusalem – that he was already a Bishop. Disqualified from the priesthood and left in peace again, he would spend several tranquil years in prayer and meditation, then set forth to live for six additional years as a hermit in the neighboring Utter Desert of Rouba, a desolate place that was known for its vast expanses of sandy wasteland.
St. John loved this desert life, however. And when he was warned that a local brigand was attacking monks, he refused to return to the monastery for protection, while remembering the words of the Old Testament hero Daniel: “If God does not take care of me, why should I live?”
His faith was quickly rewarded . . . when a great lion suddenly appeared and insisted on remaining at the monk’s side night and day, in order to protect him from all attackers. Although the holy monk sometimes feared his protector more than he feared the brigands, he was left unharmed in his wanderings.
In 509, St. John finally answered a call from the monks and agreed to return to the settlement of St. Saba. There he isolated himself in a solitary cell, where he would remain for most of the next four decades. During these long years of prayer and service to God, the faithful St. John was often a witness to the miraculous power of the Lord. On one unforgettable occasion, for example, he was walking in the desert and suddenly fainted from overexertion and lack of food. As he lay helpless on the earth, a great wind erupted and instantly transported him back to his cell. The Saint had traveled more than five miles in a few seconds!
On another occasion, equally dramatic, the humble-spirited St. John drove an evil spirit from the body of a young child – simply by making the Sign of the Cross on the victim’s forehead with holy oil.
Later still, after the venerable St. Saba finally died at the age of 86, he returned to comfort the holy monk in a dream, while telling him: “Do not sorrow, Father John, concerning my repose. Though I am separated from thee in the flesh, yet in the spirit I am ever with thee!”
So humble that he often mixed ashes with his food before eating it, St. John lived to the ripe old age of 104 and then finally went to the Lord in the year 558. His long life of humility and service to Almighty God provides a wonderful lesson on the marvelous rewards that are reserved for those who turn away from the pleasures of this life in order to focus on God.
While wandering the arid deserts of Palestine, this great saint appeared to be denying himself every physical comfort, even as he savored the infinite peace and beauty that flow from the inexhaustible goodness of God.
How many people in our world today, without choosing to do so, live in conditions even more primitive than those that were embraced by St. John? May God grant us the grace to live more simply in order that others may simply live!
Apolytikion in the Eighth Tone
Guide of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and purity, luminary of the world, God-inspired adornment of hierarchs, O most wise John, by thy teachings thou hast enlightened all, O harp of the Spirit. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
O holy Father, thou didst delight in fasting and didst subdue the desires of the flesh; thou wast nourished by faith and didst blossom like the tree of life in Paradise, O godly-wise John.
