Память преподобных Иоанна, Антиоха, Антонина и Моисея

Of these saints, Saint John knew Saint Limnaeus 1580, who lived and labored in the vicinity of the village of Targala, was his disciple and imitated him in the manner of his ascetic life. Having found one hill on the bank of the river, open on all sides to the wind and devoid of any vegetation, he, having no dwelling, spent 25 years on it in exploits. During all this time, he ate only bread and salt, and wore clothes made of sheep's wool, and his whole body was covered with heavy iron chains. Weighed down by the latter and constantly scorched by the burning rays of the sun, he never entered the shade and never sought coolness. One day, one of the monk’s regular visitors planted an almond tree along the path leading to his place of residence, but when the tree grew and began to cast a shadow on him, he ordered it to be cut down so that there would be no coolness for him anywhere. Among such exploits, the monk departed to the Lord. The Monk Moses was inflamed with love for the ascetic life of Saint John and labored like him on the top of a certain mountain, which towered over a village called Rama. The Monk Antiochus, already at an advanced age, built a fence for himself in one deserted place and labored in it also through the exploits of a bloodless life; the Monk Antoninus, also an old man, labored near him, and imitated him in everything: in food, in clothing, in wakefulness, as well as in daily and all-night prayers. And neither advancing years, nor old age, nor the natural infirmities of this age could overcome the saints in patiently enduring all the hardships of their ascetic life. They labored to please God with such zeal, as if they felt youthful strength within themselves. Among such feats, they gave up their souls to the Lord in peace. In the feats of physical fasting, they labored in the same way as St. John 1581. The memory of St. Limnaeus is celebrated on February 22. All these reverend fathers lived in the 5th century in Syria. You might be interested in: