Память преподобного отца нашего Иоанна пустынника

There once lived a rich, very beautiful and God-fearing wife named Juliana 2253. In her young years, she lost her husband and remained a widow with two young children, John and Thimistia. After the command to put Christians to death 2254 was announced, she, taking with her John, who had already come to adolescence, hid with him in the same non-residential premises and raised him in the admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4), constantly teaching him to read books and pray. The boy, leaving his mother, sometimes came to a nearby monastic monastery and, having secretly prayed there alone, returned back again, since at that time all Christians were hiding for fear of the pagans. When, according to custom, he one day came to the monastery, he was met here by a pious man who gave him advice to go to deserted places to perform feats of prayer, rather than, when performing them in the monastery, be always in danger of surrendering himself to the power of tormentors. Having accepted this advice, the boy said to his mother: - My lady mother, one pious man invited me to come to him, and I think that this happened most of all through your prayers. Juliana let her son go, thinking that he would soon return back. But John, having said goodbye to his mother and sister, went into the desert to an Egyptian hermit, a certain Farmufius, and, having received prayerful instructions from him, went into the depths of the desert. Here he found an empty well filled with snakes, scorpions and reptiles, and, after praying, threw himself into it. The well was twenty cubits deep 2255, but the Angel of the Lord supported John, and he remained unharmed. Standing at the bottom of the well, with his arms outstretched crosswise, without sleep, food or drink, he spent forty days in prayer, and all the reptiles came out of the well. After this, the Angel, who always brought food to Farmufius, brought bread for John and at the same time said to the monk: “The Lord sent you this bread so that you could take it to Abba 2256 John’s well.” The Angel himself did not want to bring him bread, so that he, being at a young age, would not become proud. Farmufy went to John and gave him the bread. The monk, having accepted the bread and thanking God, began to eat it. From then on, for a long time, he received food daily from Farmufi and glorified the Lord for this. Meanwhile, the devil, unable to bear the godly deeds of the Monk John, once took the form of one of his former servants and, coming to Farmufius, deceived him, and he led him to the well where the monk labored. But when the demon said something inappropriate to John, John led Farmufius out of error, and, shaming the demon, drove him away from himself. After this, the devil, having gathered many demons, ordered them to take the form of John’s mother and sister, his relatives and neighbors, his servants, maidservants and acquaintances, and they all came to the well, with tears begging him to show himself to them, since they allegedly wanted to see him, but the monk, performing his usual prayer at the bottom of the well at that time, said to them: “Get away from me,” and all the demons became invisible. Having lived in the well for ten years, having accomplished all sorts of monastic feats and valiantly pleasing the Lord, Saint John departed to the eternal abode. For his burial, at the direction of the Angel, a certain monk, who had labored in the desert for thirty years, named Chrysichius, came. For three days he asked the monk to come out of the well, and by the power of God he conjured him not to hide anything from his life, but to tell everything in order, for it is so pleasing to God. And a wondrous miracle happened, stunning every ear and eye: the earth at the bottom of the well rose by itself twenty cubits, and the saints came together. Due to the spell of the monk Chrysikhios, John did not hide anything, but told Chrysihius everything about himself, and the latter thanked him for this with a brotherly kiss. After this, the Monk John himself prepared himself for burial and again departed to the Lord. Then Chrysichius covered his body with his mantle, so that its ends lay on the edges of the well, and, after singing the usual psalms, he planted a date at the burial site. Immediately the date took root, grew to the height of a large oak tree, blossomed and became covered with many fruits. Seeing this, the monk Chrysikhios offered thanks to God, saying to himself: – Glory to You, Master, for You Yourself reveal those who love You and make them heirs of Your Kingdom. And while he was praying and thinking about this, an Angel immediately caught him and carried him to the place where he was staying. After this, calling one pious man, Chrysikhios asked him to write down everything that he saw and heard 2257. Juliana lived in Africa and probably in Egypt. Taking into account that the Monk John lived in the 4th century, one must think that this command was given by Diocletian, who in 303 opened a widespread persecution of Christians in the empire. A cubit was equal to 10.5 vershoks. (The length of the elbow was ≈ 4.45 cm. The length of the elbow was defined as the distance from the end of the extended middle finger of the hand to the bend of the elbow; it could vary up to 46 cm. - Editorial of the ABC of Faith.) The Monk John lived and labored in the 4th century. You might be interested in: