The Passion of St. John the New

Some holy men, in their godly, godly lives, have become examples for us to imitate. Among them is the true God-pleasing, no less than the former, though the latter in time.

Not only did the Lord Christ crown the martyrs of the first centuries, but now, in the last days, he opens the door (of his Kingdom) to those who seek it, endowing them with the same glory and gifts.

So let us begin the story of St. John, a valiant soldier of Christ, full of the grace of the Holy Spirit, who he was, where he came from, and what his face and crown looked like.

This man's homeland was Trapezon, a glorious and great city in the eastern countries, near Assyria and the border of great Armenia.

The city is a haven for ships that sail to it from all over the world, and its inhabitants trade and navigate the seas to make a living.

Likewise, blessed John was a merchant, making frequent sea voyages to different cities.

One day he had to board the ship with a considerable stock of goods of a foreign husband, who was a Frog [Friggers in ancient Russia were called mainly Genoese, and later Western Europeans in general.] , not of the Eastern confession of faith, but of a rude, unmerciful and inhuman nature.

During the voyage of the saint with his husband, the enemy, the devil, began to envy John's blameless life: he could hardly bear the virtuous life of the blessed, often seeing him in prayer and fasting, virtuous and accessible to everyone, merciful to those in need on the ship and to those who had to be sick.

The slave of Christ comforted such ones by giving them what they needed from his means, extending a generous hand of help, and with eyes full of tears he said to himself: "If you show mercy to a brother in distress, you will be shown mercy; if you comfort a depressed one, you will be comforted by God.

An invisible enemy saw this, became jealous, and tried to hinder the saint in his path to salvation.

First of all, he intended to turn him away from the pious faith and armed him with a visible enemy, the ship's captain, who held another creed, who began to harass the faithful slave of Christ with disputes about eastern (orthodox) piety.

In the many verbal debates about the faith which took place between them on the sea voyage, St. John, as a very wise and skilled man in the doctrine of the book, always overcame the ferryman and exposed his wrong thinking; and he was angry with the irresistible soldier of Christ, irritated, harassed him by many

And he devised an evil plan against him out of envy and hatred.

When such enmity broke out in him, the ship docked at Belgrade, near the Bosphorus [According to the well-known church historian E. E. Golubinsky, Belgrade is the present-day Bessarabian Belts.

There the evil shipwright went to the local town chief, a native and believer of Persia [According to the biography of St. John, compiled by the presbyter of the Moldovan church (from 1416 the South Russian metropolitan 1419), as well as in service the martyr suffered from fire worshippers, and according to the Greek martyrology from the mahometans.

From history we do not see that these fire-worshippers were Persians or Mahometans: in the middle of the 14th century, when the great martyr John died, Akkerman was owned by the Polovtsians, who, like the Tatars during the Batya, could have worshiped fire.]

And he began to speak against St. John in this way:

"O Commander, a man has come with me on the ship who wishes to abandon the Christian faith of your fathers and join your religion. He informed me of this during the voyage and confirmed by many oaths that he would not change his mind.

And if thou wilt make haste to bring him unto thee, thou shalt have great honour from thy people; for he is a man of great eloquence, and of the nobles of the city of Trappzont.

When he heard this, he was greatly pleased and sat down on the judge's seat. Then he sent for the blessed John with honor.

Our faith is a matter of honest reflection, and it kindles love in the hearts of those who understand it; to those who receive it with joy, it gives a good life and long life; the Christian faith, however, is a subject of ridicule.

Put it away from you without delay, and in the hearing of all these people, they have blasphemed the Christian traditions and laws; therefore, they have all gathered here together, not excepting their wives and children, who have heard of your desire to confess our glorious and glorious faith.

Come, then, O wonderful man, stand with us, with the clearest voice praise the bright sun, worship the star that precedes the sun, and offer sacrifices to the heavenly lights that illuminate the universe; then you will receive many honors and great dignity from our king, and you will be our sincere brother,

You'll enjoy a life that's pleasing to all people.

While the governor, with a mixture of malice and cunning, spoke these flattering words, St. John, lifting up his mental eyes, cried out to the Lord for help, saying, "When you are brought before kings and governors for my name's sake, do not worry beforehand what you shall say or what you shall answer, for the word will be given you in that hour".

which none of your adversaries will be able to resist.

Then he looked at the torturer with a sensual eye, and he stretched out his hand fearlessly in response: "Sir, I know you are clearly lying.

Let not my Lord Jesus Christ, who is your father, the devil, ever make me proud.

By entering into you, as into his true vessel, he speaks through you to me, hoping to lead me to perdition, and to force me to turn from the true God, Creator of all other visible and invisible creatures, and of this very sun, which you worship as God, seduced by the power of darkness, and in madness

You give the creature the honor that is due to God himself.

Do not tempt me to lie, but, having learned from me the secret of truth, put away, I beg you, the mist of wickedness that lies in your soul and be glad to be a son of light, shining brighter than the sun of divine baptism.

And do not count the sun, which is seen in the sky, as God, but know that it is a lamp of fire, set by the Creator for the service of man and created on the fourth day.

I will not worship the sun or worship the fire or sacrifice to the star, which in pagan mythology is called Venus.

The martyr spoke with a firm voice and a cheerful face.

The tormentor, inflamed with the fire of his own anger, often changed his countenance, and could not long endure the words of the man who spoke against him, for St. John among the multitude glorified that Christ whom the ruler had blasphemed, confessed Him to be the true God, and to the end humbled and despised Him.

a wicked belief or, rather, a deception of the ruler.

The commander ordered the soldiers to strip Paul of his clothes, so that he could stand without clothes. Then he ordered that they put a whip around Paul's head.

- You promised not to tell fables, but to renounce your useless faith, and you were eager to join our shining faith and adorn yourself with our laws.

Therefore, cease from your long-suffering, and fulfill your vow, and join our glorious faith, and worship the bright sun. If you do not do this, for our great goodness, I will not only crush your body with these rods, but also with some other fierce torment, unbearable for you.

Man, I will torture you and finally give you the bitterest death.

And the holy martyr answered and said, O torturer, full of all filthiness!

I am not a mere man of words, but a servant and a preacher of the truth, in the name of the blessed God, in whom I have learned to believe from my fathers and mothers. To Him alone I now worship and offer sacrifices of praise, and confess and confess Him as the Creator of all things, waiting for Him as the judge of the living and the dead, who will come and render to each one according to his works.

When it is darkened by His command,

Therefore, do not expect to hear anything else from me. As I said before, I say again: As long as I have my mind and my mind, I will not worship the creature instead of the Creator, and I will not worship the creature instead of the Creator.

And then, do not delay, O wrongdoer, to reveal your hidden sins and inhumanity, and free yourself from the worry of inventing torment for me, by whatever means of torment and death, and lead me to the Lord God, to whom I myself seek refuge.

Make haste, do, lest I hear in my ears thy wicked words, of which the prophet saith, They devise evil in their heart, they contend all the day long.

Behold, my naked flesh is ready for thy torment: be smitten with rods, be burned with fire, be drowned in water, be cut with the sword; and if thou hast any other torment more fierce, be not slow to inflict it upon me: all things I am willing to receive gladly for Christ's sake.

These words of the martyr inflamed the wrath of the cruel torturer; he immediately ordered the blessed man to be stretched out on the ground and beaten mercilessly with wooden sticks.

The servants beat the martyr so severely that many parts of his flesh were torn apart and his staffs were lifted up into the air, and the place where the saint was tortured was covered with blood.

I thank thee, Lord God, that thou hast pleased to cleanse me with my blood from my sins, into which, through the weakness of man, I have fallen after holy baptism.

When evening came, the governor ordered that Paul be put in prison, where he was to be kept until morning with two chains. He was too sick to walk, so they took him and threw him into the tower.

In the morning, the beast-like tormentor, sitting in the usual courtroom, ordered the holy martyr John to be brought.

When the unrighteous judge saw the martyr's bright and happy face, he was very surprised to see how, after so much torment, his soul was rejoicing, and he seemed to have suffered no pain.

You almost lost the sweetest and most humanly pleasant life there is.

But if thou wilt heed my wise counsel, thou shalt be healed, and in a few days thy wounded flesh shall be healed, for we have very skilful physicians from India and Persia.

He's waiting for you.

But the holy martyr said, "I do not care about my wounded flesh, O judge.

(Mark 13:13) If you have any further grievance, charge it to me, for the first wounds you inflicted on me were useless to me.

Embarrassed by these wise words of the saint, the mad torturer trembled with rage and, with a growl like an animal, ordered the martyr to be laid down again on the ground and beaten even more severely, and for a long time the servants beat the sufferer mercilessly, one after the other, so that the intestines of the martyr were wounded;

whispering with his mouth, praying to God.

When the soldiers were weary, the former members of the body who wore the diamond soul, and people of all ages gathered to watch the torture, began to shout at the wicked judge, condemning his ruthless and cruel nature, then the torturer ordered to bring a wild and fierce horse, to tie his feet tightly to his tail.

a martyr, and one of the soldiers, riding a horse, to chase him through the streets of the city and drag the Christ sufferer until the horse can run.

So the holy man was dragged all over the city, and the pious eyes were saddened to see this.

And when the horseman that had drawn the holy man came to the houses of the Jews, and ran through the streets of them, the multitude of the Jews rebuked the drawing martyr; and these wicked men, changing their countenances, were crying out, and casting what they had in their hands at him, making a wild and ridiculous mockery.

Finally, one of the Jews ran into the house, grabbed a naked sword, overtook the dragging saint and cut off his honest head. Thus the valiant soldier of Jesus Christ ended his suffering feat, surrendering his holy soul into the hands of his Lord [the Holy Martyr died probably not later than 1340].

His honorable body was untied from the horse's tail by the soldier and thrown in the same place, and it lay with the head cut off without a burial and a guard, and none of the Christians dared to touch it, fearing the wrath of the wicked.

When night fell, a marvelous miracle could be clearly seen above the martyr's body: many lamps burned brightly, and three light bearers sang sacred hymns and made incense, and a pillar of fire was fixed over the saint's body: this miracle was seen by many.

A Jew, whose house was near the place where the body lay, thought that it was the Christian priests who had come to pick him up and give him a proper burial; he took a bow and arrow, approached it and, wishing to shoot one of those visible priests, put the arrow, then with

He pulled the bow as hard as he could.

And when he shot an arrow, the arrow went into his right hand, and the bow into his left hand, and he could not shoot, nor let his hand go out of the bow and the arrow; and the Hebrew, who had the snake's tongue, was tormented all night.

At daybreak the strange men became invisible, the pillar of fire and the lamps disappeared, and people of all ages, coming to this place, saw the agonized archer in the same position, as he drew the bow with the arrow, and remained bound by the invisible power of God, as with iron fetters.

And when he had said this, his hands were stretched out, and he escaped.

When the governor heard of this, he was very much afraid and ordered that the body of the martyr be given to the Christians for burial. The Christians took him and buried him with honor in their church.

A few days later, the frigate who had betrayed the saint to torture wanted to steal his decent body and take it to him (to his homeland): he had already repented of his malice.

But the centurion said to the centurion in a dream, "Get up and go quickly, for they are going to steal me". The centurion got up and went to the tomb, and found the tomb uncovered, and the body of the saint carried away.

And when he had gathered together the godly men, he told them what had happened, and they all glorified God, who glorified his saints; and they took the holy martyr's honourable relics, and brought them into the church, and laid them on the altar before the holy throne.

The holy relics had been there for more than seventy years, and there were often night and day various miraculous phenomena: sometimes a miraculous light appeared, sometimes a pillar of fire, sometimes an unmistakable fragrance came from the coffin, and healing powers were manifested.

The news reached the ruler of Moldavia at that time, the pious and Christ-loving Grand Voivode Alexander, a man who adorned himself with many virtues and loved martyrs; and he very much wanted to have a treasure - the honest relics of the holy martyr John of Christ.

On the advice of the most holy archbishop, Joseph, he sent several of his nobles with a sufficient number of troops to Belgrade, and they did not hesitate to bring the remains of the martyr from there.

The great chief with all the nobles, the most holy archbishop with the spiritual rank and all the people came out to meet him, joyfully welcoming the arrival of the martyr with candles, incense and fragrant peace.

The Grand Voivode, cringing at the saint's cancer, embraced his much-suffering relics, touched his eyes and lips to the martyr's honest hands and, shedding joyful and abundant tears, begged the saint to be the guardian of his power.

With great honor, the martyr's remains were laid in the most holy metropolis, in the capital city of the Moldavian state of Sochava [Currently, as some believe, Jurja is a city of Romania, on the left bank of the Danube, opposite Rustic.] .

But the former healings, then and now, which were performed by the martyr's power on those possessed of various diseases, we leave to the blessed to speak for themselves, to preach about the benefits received from him.

Here too it was enough to tell of the sufferings of St. John, how he humiliated a wicked mayor, how he rose to the occasion and received the crown from the hand of the martyred Christ.

This was the good acquisition of St. John: he gave little, but gained much, leaving his body as a burden to a treacherous tormentor, and he went not to Trapezoid, but to the upper Jerusalem, to the face of martyrdom as a martyr, to the bosom of Abraham, to the city of the saints, to the good shelters, to the incorruptible chambers, where he stood.

To the most holy and glorious Trinity, to whom be glory, power, honor, praise and worship, now and forever, amen.

The life on earth, well fed by the suffering, charity and frequent prayers and tears, but to the suffering manly strives, the Persian denounced his wickedness, the same church was affirmed and Christians praised, John recalls.

I have swum the deep of the sea, I have looked from the east to the north, but I have cried to God, like Matthew the tax collector, and you have left me, and you have followed me in the blood of torment, temporarily redeeming the imperishable, and receiving the crown of the invincible.

I 'm going to have to get back to you .