John the Merciful is the Patriarch of Alexandria. According to various versions, he died between 616-620. The memory is made on the day of his death - November 25 (according to the Julian calendar November 12).
Biography
John the Merciful is the son of Epiphanius, the governor of the island of Cyprus. He was born in Amaphunte (Limassol). John lost his wife and children. After mourning for a while, he began to help the poor and lead an ascetic life. John was neither a monk nor a cleric, but the people wished to be elected patriarch. The decision was approved by Emperor Heraclius.
So, John the Merciful became patriarch in 610. He counted all the beggars in Alexandria and distributed all his property among them. The Patriarch sent a donation to the Tomb of the Most High, provided assistance and shelter to those in need, redeemed the prisoners. His merciful work is described in hagiographic literature (for example, in Dmitry Rostov - "The Life of John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria"). John also fought against the false teachings of the Monophysites.
One day the Persians invaded Egypt and began to threaten Alexandria. Its populationfled, and John had to go to Constantinople to petition for the speedy dispatch of an army to defend the city. Unfortunately, he passed away around the year 619 after staying in his hometown of Amaphunta.
Canonization
John the Merciful was canonized by the Church as a saint. The first life of the righteous John was written by his colleague Leontius of Naples in the 7th century. Metaphrastus describes the miracles that happened after his death with his relics.
The relics of the saint were kept in Constantinople, in 1249 they were transferred to Venice. Some parts of the relic have been kept since 1489 in Budapest (now in Bratislava). It is known that the relics of Patriarch John are also kept in such Athos monasteries: Vatopedi, Dohiar, Dionisiat (right hand), Pantokrator and Caracal.
Life
So, St. John the Merciful was born in the VI century, in the family of the noble dignitary Epiphanius in Cyprus. When he was fifteen years old, he had a vision that influenced his entire subsequent life.
He was granted the highest virtue - compassion - in the form of a beautiful maiden. She was dressed in light clothes, with an olive wreath on her head. The maiden said: “If you make friends with me, I will intercede with the King for you immeasurable bliss and bring you to Him, for no one has such strength and boldness as I do with Him. I brought him down from heaven and clothed him in human flesh.”
This virtue was the companion of his entire life path, for which John was nicknamed by the peopleGracious. “He who trusts in the compassion of the Lord must first of all be merciful to everyone,” said John the Merciful of Alexandria.
At the request of his father and mother, he married, he had children. The wife and kids of the righteous man passed away, and he took monasticism and turned into a strict faster, brotherly lover and man of prayer.
Virtue and spiritual deeds made Saint John the Merciful famous, and when the patriarchal see was orphaned in Alexandria, the ruler Heraclius and all the servants of the altar persuaded him to become patriarch.
The diligent John appropriately carried out the archpastoral service, worrying about the spiritual education of the parishioners. During his work, he convicted the heresy of the monophilite Antiochian Fullon, and expelled his supporters from Alexandria. But John considered his most important duty to be doing good and giving to all those in need. At the beginning of his service in the department, he ordered to carry out a count of the poor and the poor in Alexandria: there were more than seven thousand souls. To all those in need, John provided daily free food.
It is known that Patriarch John the Merciful every Friday and Wednesday appeared at the doors of the cathedral and distributed alms, sorted out quarrels, supported the disadvantaged. Three times a week he visited the infirmaries, helping the sick.
At that time, the ruler Heraclius was at war with the Persian ruler Khazroy II. The Persians captured a large number of prisoners, devastated and set fire to Jerusalem. St. John set aside an impressive portion of the treasury for their ransom.
Beggar
John neverrejected those who asked. Once he decided to visit a hospital, on the way he met a poor man and ordered him to give six pieces of silver. The beggar changed his dress, overtook the saint, and again asked for alms. John again endowed him with six pieces of silver. When the poor man asked for alms for the third time, and the servants began to chase the annoying beggar, John ordered to give him twelve pieces of silver, saying: “Is it not Christ who tempts me?”
It is known that two times John gave money to a merchant whose ships were sinking in the sea, and the third time he gave him a ship full of wheat, which was the property of the patriarchy. It was on it that the merchant made a successful journey and returned the loan.
Quilt
Many believers constantly read the akathist to John the Merciful. They want to get rid of the need as soon as possible, because the saint always took care of the suffering. On the day when John could not help anyone, he considered this day lost. John cried out with tears: “Today I have not offered anything to my Redeemer for my sins!” A case is known that indicates the extraordinary modesty of the saint.
One we althy dignitary, having learned that John was sleeping under an ordinary blanket, sent him an expensive blanket as a gift. The saint accepted the present, but could not sleep for a minute: “Woe to me, I am resting under such a chic veil, and the poor brothers of Christ at this moment, perhaps, are dying of hunger and spend the night without sleep in the cold.”
The next day John orderedsell the blanket, and distribute the coins to the poor. The nobleman, finding the cover in the marketplace, bought it again and sent it to the saint. This went on several times. As a result, for the third time, when the patriarch again had the blanket, he sold it again, while declaring to the nobleman: “Let's see who gets tired faster - whether you buy or I sell!”
Monk
St. John wholeheartedly forgave insults and himself, with the deepest meekness and humility, asked for forgiveness from those to whom he caused grief and sorrow. Once a monk was accused of an unlawful relationship, and the saint believed this slander. The monk was locked in a dungeon.
At night the patriarch had a dream about this monk. Having exposed his body, covered with wounds and ulcers, he said to John: “Do you see this? Are you good? Is this how the apostles instructed to lead the flock of God? You believed the slander.”
The next day, John called a monk from prison, and he told him that he had baptized a girl at the relics of the divine martyrs John and Cyrus in Gaza. Then he wished her to go to one of the women's monasteries and accompanied her with simplicity of heart.
John listened to the monk and was very sad: he sincerely asked for forgiveness from the innocent victim. After this incident, the patriarch was extremely cautious in his judgments about his neighbors, and asked others not to condemn anyone. “Let us not condemn anyone,” John said, “we only see evil deeds, but we are not allowed to see the secret sorrow and repentance of the sinner, hidden from us.”
Icon
Many unfortunates were helped by John the Merciful. His icon also works wonders!Pray before her:
- When losing a breadwinner.
- About healing from anger.
- In poverty, hunger and other worldly difficulties.
Cleric
John was universally recognized as a patriarch, very gentle with the laity. Once he was forced to excommunicate a cleric from the church for some fault. The offender became angry with the patriarch. John wanted to talk to him, but soon forgot about his desire.
When he celebrated the Divine Liturgy, he remembered the saying of the Gospel: “If you bring your gift to the Altar and remember something against yourself, you need to leave this gift and first make peace with your brother.” (Matthew 5:23-24).
The Saint came out of the Altar, called the sinning cleric to him and, falling on his knees before him, publicly asked for forgiveness. The surprised cleric instantly repented of his deed and subsequently turned into a pious priest.
Lesson
Once George, John's nephew, was insulted by a city dweller. George asked the saint to take revenge on the offender. John promised to repay the offender in such a way that all Alexandria would be amazed. His promise appeased George. The saint began to instruct him, talking about the need for humility and meekness, and then, inviting the offender, proclaimed that he was relieving him of payments for the land. Alexandria was truly amazed at this "retribution." George learned his uncle's lesson.
Relics of the saint
Akathist to John the Merciful protects from poverty and gives prosperity, because St. John was a strict prayer book and ascetic, he constantly thought about death. The patriarch ordered a coffin for himself,but he ordered the masters not to finish it to the end. He told them to come to him every holiday and in the presence of everyone to ask if it was time to finish the work.
Before his death, John fell ill and was forced to leave his pulpit and go to the island of Cyprus. When the sick man was traveling, he saw a sign. A radiant husband appeared to him in a dreamy vision and said: “The King of kings is calling you!” This phenomenon foreshadowed the death of John.
The saint arrived on the island of Cyprus, in his father's city of Amafunt, and with peace went to the Almighty (616-620). Before his death, he said: “I thank You, the Almighty, that You made me worthy to give You for Yours, I did not save anything from the we alth of this world, except for the third part of the piece of silver, and I command that I donate to the poor.” The relics of St. John were brought to Constantinople, where in 1200 they were seen by the Russian pilgrim Anthony. Then they were transferred to the Buddha, and then to the Hungarian city of Pressburg.
