Water age. The story of Natalia Vodyanova, or how Cinderella turned into a good fairy
The Holy Great Martyr is called Sochava because his relics rest in Sochava, but he was from Trebizond, which was located near Assyria and touched Greater Armenia with its borders.
The inhabitants of this seaside city were engaged in maritime trade, and Blessed John was a merchant. Sailing along trade affairs on the ship of a papist, he had a contest with him about faith and exposed his wrongness; and this evil man, wanting to take revenge on him, upon arrival in Akkerman (Belgorod on the Dniester), declared to the Turkish mayor that a certain John from Trebizond, who was sailing with him, was ready to accept Mohammedanism, and advised him to immediately call him and take advantage of the desire that had not yet cooled down.
The mayor, having called John and seated him, said to him: “We know from many that you are a worthy man and excellent among those like you, and we are very glad to hear that you are captivated by our beautiful and true faith. Our faith really has the ability to attract noble people and contributes to long life. And since you love her voluntarily, do not hesitate to be our friend; reject the ridiculous and shameful faith of Christians, loudly disgrace their law before the people now gathered, praise our faith and, as promised, do it immediately! For this you will be honored by the king and will begin to live in contentment, like our brother.”
But the saint, filled with Divine jealousy, replied: “You are clearly lying; It never even occurred to me to renounce Christ in word or deed! All this is your invention and the trick of Satan! It’s better that you, unfortunate one, learn the truth and be baptized in order to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.” After this he loudly confessed his faith in one God, glorified in the Trinity.
Then the mayor ordered to strip him and beat him with sticks until he fulfilled his promise (that is, a fictitious one). The whole body was beaten and torn to pieces, and the place where the martyr was tormented was stained with blood. John prayed to God, and his tormentors scourged him even more, so that he no longer raised his voice. Since it was already evening, he was thrown into prison, beaten.
The next day, the tormentor again ordered the confessor to be presented and said to him: “This is what your unbelief has brought you to! But listen to me, and you will immediately recover; because here there are excellent doctors from India and Persia who will cure you.” John glorified Christ and denounced the madness of Mohammedanism. Then the judge again ordered to beat him and, noticing the murmur of the people at his bloodthirstiness, to hasten death, he ordered the martyr’s legs to be tied to his tail wild horse and drag through the streets. At the same time, the Jews shouted, spat and threw all sorts of things at him, and one of them ran home and, grabbing a knife, cut off his head. The executioners untied the honest body and left it with its head in the same place.
An extraordinary light illuminated the relics of the saint at night, so that the Jews also testified to this; Therefore, the next day the mayor allowed the Christians to take the relics, and they buried them at the Greek church, not far from the fortress.
The saint suffered no later than 1340...
In the list of the oldest churches in the Bessarabian province of the Akkerman district in the city of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, the Greek Church of St. John the Baptist is indicated. The time of the founding of the church is unknown. According to the memoirs of those who were in the church in 1907, the following data was preserved: “In the courtyard of the church, on the right side of the altar, there is a stone chapel, erected at the burial site of the martyr St. John of Sochava.” Most likely, the relics of the saint were kept here for seventy years after burial and miracles were constantly performed.
The Moldavian ruler Alexander II, having sought permission from the Akkerman authorities, transferred them to his capital city of Sochava...
In 1884, on September 1, at the request of priest John Enakevich, rector of the Akkerman cemetery church, a particle of the relics of St. John was transferred from Sochava to Akkerman and placed in a cypress shrine in a silver casket in the Church of John the Baptist.
Currently, part of the relics of the great martyr, brought from Sochava, is located in the Belgorod-Dniester Ascension Cathedral.
The name of John of New Sochava is also associated with the veneration of its spring, which, according to legend, appeared at the place where the saint first set foot on the Dniester bank, and is still famous today for its healing water.
In 1995, a brotherhood was organized in Belgorod-Dniester in the name of the Great Martyr John of Sochavsky, whose goal was to restore the shrine. On July 5, 2002, His Eminence Metropolitan Agathangel of Odessa and Izmail consecrated the underground church-chapel and blessed to perform divine services here every Friday.
Since then Holy place has changed significantly. In the above-ground part of the church building there is a fresco of the holy great martyr, in which he is depicted against the backdrop of the Dniester bank and the churches of Belgorod, icons and candlesticks, on which candles are always burning; in the corner there is an icon Holy Mother of God Kazanskaya, which, according to eyewitnesses, sometimes flows myrrh and smells fragrant. Ancient steep stone steps, decorated with ornaments, lead underground, where in the cool depths there is a holy spring with healing spring water.
In 2005, parishioners of the St. George (Bulgarian) Church George and Maria Vykhodtsev, with the help of the entire parish community and its rector, priest Evgeniy Polishchuk, built a beautiful spacious bath near the source for the benefit of all who came to the shrine, which was consecrated on June 15 by the abbot of the Holy Dormition Monastery, Archimandrite Alexy ( now - Bishop of Akkerman).
Martyrdom St. John of Sochava on the land of Belgorod became the end of history ancient Church in our region.
Troparion to the Great Martyr John the New of Sochava:
Having nurtured life on earth with goodness, suffering, with alms, and frequent prayers, and tears, and having courageously rushed towards suffering, you denounced the Persian wickedness. Moreover, you were the affirmation of the Church and the praise of Christians, John of all times.
I help priests serve prayer services in Epiphany cathedral. Before the start of this small service, you need to make a list of saints for whom believers have ordered a prayer service. They pray to each saint for a specific need: the sick - to the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon for healing; students - to the holy Venerable Sergius of Radonezh about successful studies; mothers - to the Most Holy Theotokos, called the "Mammal", about children.
I noticed that some people order a prayer service to the Holy Great Martyr John the New of Sochava. People involved in business and entrepreneurship pray to this saint. Many of our benefactors are also entrepreneurs, but they, unfortunately, do not know that the heavenly patron of trade and commercial affairs is the Holy Great Martyr John.
Entrepreneurs who come to our cathedral for a water-blessing prayer service take with them a bottle of blessed water and sprinkle it on their offices and production premises so that the grace of the Holy Spirit and the help of St. Vmch. John helped them in their creative works.
Often to new friends of "Russian Birch" - good people We tell entrepreneurs about St. Vmch. John and we advise you to turn to him for help and protection. By symbolic coincidence, our foundation was registered on June 15 (new style) - the day of remembrance of St. Vmch. John. Maybe that's why there are so many business people among our friends. This is exactly what they called merchants, manufacturers, factory owners in Rus' - people of BUSINESS AND CREATION.
The biography of this saint, who accepted martyrdom for Christ and Orthodox faith, we present in our people's magazine"Russian Birch", so that everyone business people knew who their heavenly patron was, to whom Hard time seek help.
The Holy Great Martyr John the New, Sochava, lived in the 14th century in the city of Trebizond, was engaged in trade, was pious, firm in Orthodoxy and merciful to the poor.
One day, on trade business, he had to sail on. ship The captain of the ship was non-Orthodox. Having entered into a dispute about faith with Saint John, he was put to shame and harbored a grudge against the saint. During the ship's stop in Belgrade on the Bosphorus, the captain appeared to the mayor, a fire worshiper by faith, and reported that on his ship there was a learned man who also wanted to become a fire worshiper.
The mayor with honor invited Saint John to join the fire worshipers, blaspheming faith in Christ.
The saint prayed secretly, calling for help from the One who said: “When they lead you to betray you, do not worry in advance what you will say, and do not deliberate; but whatever is given to you in that hour, then speak, for it is not you who will speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). And the Lord gave him the courage and understanding to reject all the claims of the wicked and firmly confess himself to be a Christian.
After this, the saint was beaten so cruelly with sticks that his whole body was torn to pieces, and the flesh scattered into pieces under the blows. The holy martyr prayed, thanking God, who deigned him to shed blood for Him and wash away his sins. Then the saint was put in chains and dragged to prison. In the morning the mayor ordered the saint to be brought again. The martyr appeared before him with a bright and cheerful face. The intrepid martyr refused the repeated offer to renounce Christ with the same firmness, denouncing the ruler as an instrument of Satan. Then they beat him again with sticks so that all his insides were exposed. The people present could not bear this terrible sight and began to scream indignantly, denouncing the ruler who was so inhumanely torturing a defenseless person. The ruler, stopping the beating, ordered the great martyr to be tied by the legs to the tail of a wild horse and dragged through the streets of the city. Residents of the Jewish quarters especially mocked the martyr, throwing stones at him; finally, someone grabbed a sword, overtook the dragged saint and cut off his head.
The body of the great martyr with his severed head lay until evening; none of the Christians dared to take it. At night, a luminous pillar and many burning lamps were visible above it; three luminous men performed psalm singing and incense over the saint’s body. One of the Jews, thinking that it was the Christians who had come to take the remains of the martyr, grabbed a bow and wanted to shoot an arrow at them, but, tied invisible force God, became motionless. When morning came, the vision disappeared, and the shooter continued to stand motionless. Having told the assembled residents of the city about the night vision and the punishment of God that befell him, he freed himself from invisible bonds. Having learned about what had happened, the mayor allowed the remains of the great martyr to be buried. The body was buried at the local church. This happened between 1330 and 1340.
The captain, who betrayed Saint John to torture, repented and decided to secretly take the relics to his homeland, but the great martyr, appearing in a dream to the presbyter of the temple, prevented this. After 70 years, the relics were transferred to the capital of the Moldo-Vlachian principality of Sochava and placed in the cathedral church.
Troparion
Great Martyr John the New, Sochava
Life on earth is kinder, nourishing, more suffering,
alms, and frequent prayers, and tears,
again, courageously striving towards suffering,
You have exposed the Persian wickedness.
Moreover, you were a statement to the Church
and praise for Christians,
John of Everlasting Memory
One day he had to travel on a ship for business purposes. The captain of the ship was non-Orthodox. Having entered into a dispute about faith with Saint John, he was put to shame and harbored a grudge against the saint. During the ship's stop in Belgrade on the Bosphorus, the captain appeared to the mayor, a fire worshiper by faith, and reported that on his ship there was a learned man who also wanted to become a fire worshiper.
The mayor with honor invited Saint John to join the fire worshipers, blaspheming faith in Christ.
The saint secretly prayed, calling for help from the One who said: “When they lead you to betray you, do not worry in advance what to say to you, and do not think about it; but whatever is given to you in that hour, then speak, for it is not you who will speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). And the Lord gave him the courage and understanding to reject all the claims of the wicked and firmly confess himself to be a Christian.
After this, the saint was beaten so cruelly with sticks that his whole body was torn to pieces, and the flesh scattered into pieces under the blows. The holy martyr prayed, thanking God, who deigned him to shed blood for Him and wash away his sins. Then the saint was put in chains and dragged to prison. In the morning the mayor ordered the saint to be brought again. The martyr appeared before him with a bright and cheerful face. The intrepid martyr refused the repeated offer to renounce Christ with the same firmness, denouncing the ruler as an instrument of Satan. Then they beat him again with sticks so that all his insides were exposed. The people present could not bear this terrible sight and began to scream indignantly, denouncing the ruler who was so inhumanely torturing a defenseless person. The ruler, stopping the beating, ordered the great martyr to be tied by the legs to the tail of a wild horse and dragged through the streets of the city. Residents of the Jewish quarters especially mocked the martyr, throwing stones at him; finally, someone grabbed a sword, overtook the dragged saint and cut off his head.
The body of the great martyr with his severed head lay until evening; none of the Christians dared to take it. At night, a luminous pillar and many burning lamps were visible above it; three luminous men performed psalm singing and incense over the saint’s body. One of the Jews, thinking that it was the Christians who had come to take the remains of the martyr, grabbed a bow and wanted to shoot an arrow at them, but, bound by the invisible power of God, he became motionless. When morning came, the vision disappeared, and the shooter continued to stand motionless. Having told the assembled residents of the city about the night vision and the punishment of God that befell him, he freed himself from invisible bonds. Having learned about what had happened, the mayor allowed the remains of the great martyr to be buried. The body was buried at the local church. This happened between 1330 and 1340.
The captain, who betrayed Saint John to torture, repented and decided to secretly take the relics to his homeland, but the great martyr, appearing in a dream to the presbyter of the temple, prevented this. After 70 years, the relics were transferred to the capital of the Moldo-Vlachian principality of Sochava and placed in the cathedral church.
June 15(June 2 according to the “old style” - the church Julian calendar). Friday3rd week after Pentecost(that is, the third week after the great twelve feast of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Pentecost). Petrov post. Today at the meal it is blessed food with vegetable oil . In the Russian Church, the memory of six saints is celebrated, as well as a celebration in honor of one revered shrine - the Kiev-Brotherly Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Next we will briefly talk about them.
Great Martyr John the New, Sochava. First half XIV century. A merchant ship is heading from Greek Trebizond to Belgorod-Dniester, which is under the rule of the pagan Tatars. Two of the travelers - a Trebizondian and a Venetian - start a religious dispute. An Orthodox man named John defeats a Catholic, but his opponent decides to take revenge. Upon arrival, he informs the mayor that the merchant from Trebizond has decided to renounce Christ. The head of the city receives John with honor, offering to accept their faith. But in response he hears a decisive confession of Christianity:
May I not deny You, Christ my Savior, with Your beginningless Father and with the Most Holy Spirit! I will not worship the sun, I will not serve the fire, I will not make a sacrifice to the star, which pagan fables call Venus, the same name as prodigal passion!”
The mayor goes into a frenzy, ordering John to be tortured. Local idolaters beat him with sticks, and the Jews threw stones at him. Finally, the sufferer was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged through the streets. Only the blow of the sword, which cut off the great martyr’s head, stopped the torture. On the very first night after this, a miracle happened. A luminous pillar appeared over the body of the saint, and many saw three angels performing a funeral service over the murdered man.
After this, Christians began to arrive in Belgorod-Dniester and receive numerous healings through the prayers of St. John. Having learned about this, the Moldavian clergy transferred the relics of the great martyr to their then capital - the city of Sochava, where they remain today. Saint John of Sochava himself has since been considered the heavenly patron of both the Moldavian people and all Orthodox traders. And today in the countries of the Orthodox world you can find an icon of this saint in almost every store and store.
Saint Nikephoros of Constantinople. Photo: pravoslavie.ru
Saint Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople. This saint startedIXcentury became famous for the fact that, having taken the Patriarchal throne of Constantinople during the years when the heresy of the iconoclasts (who blasphemed holy images and considered their veneration to be paganism) dominated in the Roman Empire (Byzantium), he defended Orthodox attitude to the holy icons. After the accession of the heretic emperor Leo the Armenian, 815 from the Nativity of Christ, Saint Nikephoros was exiled to the monastery of Saint Theodore, where he departed to the Lord in 828. In 846, the holy relics of the Saint were found incorrupt and fragrant.
Hieromartyr Pofinus, Bishop of Lyons, and with him the martyrs Blandina and the martyr Pontik of Lyons. These saints of the 2nd century from the Nativity of Christ suffered for Christ in the city of Lyon (present-day France), and therefore are especially revered in the Western Church. During the reign of the pagan Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, the persecution of Christians intensified; their victims were the Bishop of Lyon, the 90-year-old elder Pofinus, and several Christians, including the martyrs Pontik and Blandina. Glorification of these saints in the Russian calendar Orthodox Church happened quite recently, on March 9, 2017.
Holy Blessed Princess (Martyr) Juliania of Vyazemskaya and Novotorzhskaya. June 15 is the day of the discovery of the honorable relics of this saint, who died in 1406 from the Nativity of Christ. Saint Juliana was the wife of the Vyazemsky prince Simeon Mstislavich during the years when his lands were seized by the Lithuanian prince Vytautas, who betrayed Orthodoxy in favor of Roman Catholicism. While in exile in Torzhok, the local governor, Prince Yuri Svyatoslavich, was captivated by the beauty of Princess Juliana and began to harass her, but she, being a deeply religious Orthodox Christian, refused the seducer. The enraged Yuri Svyatoslavich killed both her husband, Simeon Mstislavich, and, after much torture, Princess Juliana, from whose relics miracles and healings soon began to occur.
Kiev-Bratsk Icon Mother of God.Photo: pravoslavie.ru
Kiev-Brotherly Icon of the Mother of God. This miraculous image was revealed in 1654 near Kiev in the Boris and Gleb Church in the city of Vyshgorod. This happened at a time when the Orthodox Moscow state was fighting with the Catholic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the unity of the Russian lands. In 1662, the Boris and Gleb Church was devastated by the Crimean Tatars, who entered into an alliance with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but the miraculous icon was sent by water to Kyiv, and it was miraculously saved and delivered to the Kiev Brotherly Monastery. Unfortunately, this image of the Most Holy Theotokos has not survived to this day, but there are several revered copies of it.
Congratulations to Orthodox Christians on the memory of today's saints! Through their prayers, Lord, save and have mercy on us all! We are happy to congratulate those who received names in their honor in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism or in the rank of monastic tonsure! As they used to say in Rus' in the old days: “For the Guardian Angels - a golden crown, and for you - good health! To our departed relatives and friends - eternal memory!
There are many holy men who, with their godly, virtuous lives, have given us examples to follow. And among them is St. John Sochavsky.
The homeland of this husband was Trebizond, a glorious and great city located in the eastern countries, near Assyria and the border of great Armenia. Abundant with everything necessary, this city serves as a convenient haven for ships sailing to it from everywhere: its inhabitants, having their stay at the sea, are engaged in trade and navigation, from where they acquire their means of subsistence. Likewise, Blessed John was engaged in trade, making frequent trips by sea to different cities. One day, with a significant supply of goods, he had to enter the ship of a foreign husband, who was a Fryag by birth, a faith not of the Eastern confession, a rude disposition, unmerciful and inhuman. During the saint’s voyage with that husband, the enemy-devil began to envy John’s immaculate life: he could hardly bear the virtuous life of the blessed one, seeing his prayer and fasting, good behavior and accessibility to everyone, mercy towards those in need on the ship and to those who had to be sick. The servant of Christ consoled such people, giving them what they needed from his wealth, extending a generous hand to them with help; with eyes full of tears, he said to himself:
- If you show mercy to a suffering brother, you yourself will be pardoned; and if you comfort the grieving, you yourself will be rewarded with consolation from God.
Invisible Enemy saw this, was jealous and tried to hinder the saint on the path to salvation. First of all, he intended to tear him away from the pious faith and armed a visible enemy against him, the captain of the ship, who adhered to a different confession of faith; the last one started to annoy the faithful servant of Christ with disputes about Eastern (Orthodox) piety. In the numerous verbal debates about faith that took place between them during the sea voyage, St. John, as a very wise and skillful man in book teaching, always overpowered the fryag and denounced his wrong-headedness, and he was angry with the invincible warrior of Christ, became irritated, annoyed him with many reproaches and, out of a sense of enmity, planned evil against him. When such enmity flared up in him, the ship landed on the shore near Belgrade (near the Bosphorus). There the evil shipbuilder went to the local mayor, a Persian by birth and faith, a zealous guardian of his fatherly traditions, and brought up before him the following slander against Saint John:
- Boss! A husband came here with me on the ship, who wants, having renounced the Christian faith, betrayed by the fathers, to begin your faith and be a fellow member of your traditions; During the sea voyage, he informed me about this and confirmed with many oaths that he would not change his intentions. If you take care to quickly bring him to the same faith with you, then you will receive great praise from your people, for this man is very skilled in speech and is not the least among the noblest nobles of the city of Trebizond.
Hearing this, the wicked chief was filled with joy: in the usual judicial place, he ordered Blessed John to be brought to him with honor and said to him:
- “I have heard a lot about you, venerable husband, - I heard that you loved our faith and want to begin it. Our faith has honest reflection as its subject and ignites the hearts of those who understand it with love; to those who accept it with joy, it gives prosperous life and longevity; the Christian faith is worthy of ridicule. Honored friend! Do not hesitate to put it aside and publicly blaspheme Christian traditions and laws before this national assembly; that is why everyone came here together, not excluding their wives and children, because they heard about them. your desire to confess our bright and glorious faith. Go, O wonderful man, stand with us, glorify the holy sun with the clearest voice, give honor to the star that precedes the sun, and make sacrifices to the heavenly bodies that illuminate the Universe; then you will receive many honors and great things; rank from our king, you will be a sincere brother to us and you will enjoy a life pleasant to all people. While the ruler, with the thought of malice and deceit, spoke these flattering words, St. John, raising his mental eyes upward, called for help from the Lord, who said: when they lead you before. kings and princes for my name's sake, do not worry in advance what to say or what to answer at that hour: for I will give you a word that all those who oppose you will not be able to resist. Then, looking at the tormentor with sensual eyes and fearlessly extending his hand, he said in response:
- I think that you are clearly lying, oh, boss! I did not say that I wanted to renounce my Christ; May this not happen to me, may my Lord Jesus Christ not allow me to ever even think about this; these are the plans of the enemy of truth, your father, Satan. Having entered you as into his true vessel, he talks to me through you, hoping to draw me to destruction and forces me to retreat from the true God, the Creator of both other visible and invisible creatures, and this very sun, which you honor as God, seduced by the power of darkness, and in madness you give to the creature the honor that should be given to God Himself. Do not tempt me to incline towards lies, but, on the contrary, learn from me the mystery of truth, put aside, I ask you, the darkness of wickedness that lies on your soul and be worthy to be a son of light, shining brighter than the sun the dawn of divine baptism. And do not consider the sun visible in the sky to be God, but know that it is a luminary of a fiery nature, appointed by the Creator to serve people and created on the fourth day. Can a creature be God?
Having said this, St. John raised his hands and raised his eyes to heaven, and exclaimed loudly:
-May I not deny You, Christ my Savior, with the beginningless name of Your Father and with the Most Holy Spirit of the glorified God! I will not worship the sun, I will not serve the fire, I will not make a sacrifice to the star, which pagan fables call Venus, the same name as prodigal passion!
These speeches of the martyr inflamed the fierce tormentor with anger,” he immediately ordered the blessed one to be stretched out on the ground and mercilessly beaten with knotted sticks. The servants beat the passion-bearer of Christ so cruelly that many parts of his crushed flesh, together with sticks, rose into the air, and the entire place where they tortured the saint was stained with blood. The valiant sufferer bravely endured this torment, and, raising his intelligent eyes to heaven, said:
“I thank You, Master God, that you have made me worthy to cleanse myself with my blood from my sins, into which, through human weakness, I fell after holy baptism.”
The sons of perdition, hearing the martyr's prayer to God, were filled with more rage and they beat him cruelly until his voice fell silent. When evening came, the governor ordered that the barely breathing martyr be tied with two chains, thrown into prison and guarded until the morning for severe torture. And since the martyr could not walk on his own due to severe wounds, he was dragged away like some kind of corpse and thrown into prison.
The next morning, the bestial torturer, sitting down at the usual place of justice, ordered the holy martyr John to be brought.
The Passion-Bearer of Christ appeared with a bright face and a joyful soul. Looking at the martyr and seeing his bright and joyful face, the wicked judge was very surprised: how, after such fierce torment, his soul was found in him and he was having fun, as if he had not suffered any suffering.
Do you see, John,” he said, “to what dishonor has your disobedience brought you?” You have almost lost a sweet life that is more dear to all people than anything else that exists. However, if you obey my reasonable admonitions, then your health is ready: within a few days your wounded flesh will be healed, for we have very skillful doctors who came from India and Persia; If you want to continue to remain in Christianity, then know that even greater evil awaits you.
The holy martyr answered:
“I don’t care at all about my wounded flesh, O judge!” Since our outer man decays, the inner man is renewed, as the great apostle of the Lord says. I have one concern about enduring to the end the torments inflicted on me by you, about Christ who strengthens me, who said: “He who endures to the end will be saved.” If you have invented any other torments for me, inflict them on me: for the first wounds you inflicted on me were counted as nothing to me.
Shamed by these words of wisdom Saint, the insane tormentor shook with anger, and, letting out a roar, like a beast, he ordered to again stretch out the martyr on the ground and beat him even more cruelly; and for a long time the servants beat the passion-bearer mercilessly, replacing each other, so that the insides of the martyr were wounded; He, whispering with his lips, said a prayer to God. When the warriors, beating the body that clothed the adamantine soul, were exhausted, and people of all ages, who had gathered to watch the torture, began to shout at the nasty judge, condemning his merciless and harsh disposition, then the tormentor ordered to bring a wild and ferocious horse, tie the martyr’s legs tightly to its tail, and one of the soldiers, mounting a horse, drives it through the city streets and drags the sufferer of Christ until the horse is no longer able to run. Thus they dragged the saint throughout the city, and it was sad for pious eyes to see this. When the horseman dragging the saint reached the Jewish dwellings and galloped through their streets, one of the Jews ran into the house, grabbed a naked sword, overtook the dragged saint and cut off his honest head. Thus, the valiant warrior of Jesus Christ ended his suffering feat, betraying his holy soul into the hands of his Lord. The warrior untied his honest body from the horse's tail and threw it in the same place, and it lay with its head cut off without burial or care, and none of the Christians dared to touch it, fearing the wrath of the wicked.
When night fell, one could clearly see a wondrous miracle: many lamps burned brightly over the body of the martyr, and three holy men chanted ineffable sacred chants, and performed incense, and a pillar of fire stood over the honest relics: many saw this miracle. One Jew, whose house was near the place where the long-suffering body lay, thought that Christian priests had come to raise him and give him a normal burial; he took a bow and arrow, approached there and, wanting to shoot one of those visible priests, laid down the arrow, then pulled the bow as hard as he could. When he wanted to shoot an arrow, the arrow with the bowstring stuck to his fingers right hand, and the bow to his left hand, and he could neither shoot the arrow nor free his hands from the bow and arrow; and so this Jew, the fiend of the serpent, suffered all night. At dawn, the wonderful men became invisible, the pillar of fire and the lamps disappeared, and people of all ages, coming to this place, saw the accursed archer in the same position - as he pulled his bow and arrow, he remained bound by the invisible power of God, like iron shackles. Against his will, this Jew was forced to tell in detail both about everything he saw over the body of the martyr, and about the retribution he received from God for his daring attempt at an evil deed. After sufficient publicity about this miracle, his arms straightened and he was freed from punishment. The ruler, having learned about this, was very frightened and ordered the Christians to bury the body of the martyr: the Christians took him and buried him with honor at their church. A few days later, the Fryag, who betrayed the saint to torture, wanted to steal his honest body and take him to his homeland: he had already repented of his malice. One night, having chosen a convenient time, he and his comrades came to the tomb of the martyr, dug up the place, opened the coffin and wanted to take the honest remains. But at that time the warrior of Christ appeared in a dream to the presbyter of that church and said:
- Get up and quickly go to the church, because they want to steal me.
The presbyter immediately got up, hurriedly went to the place, found the coffin dug up and open, and the body of the saint was almost taken away. Having called pious people, he told them about what had happened, and everyone glorified God, who glorifies His saints; Taking the honorable relics of the holy martyr, they brought them into the church and placed them on the altar near the holy altar. The holy relics remained there for more than seventy years, and various miraculous phenomena: sometimes a miraculous light appeared, sometimes a pillar of fire, sometimes an indescribable fragrance emanated from the coffin, healing powers also appeared. The rumor about this reached the pious and Christ-loving great commander Alexander, who ruled Moldovalachia and the seaside at that time - a man who adorned himself with many virtues and loved martyrs; and he greatly desired to have very rich treasures - the honest relics of the holy martyr of Christ John. On the advice of the most sacred Archbishop Joseph, he sent several of his nobles to Belgrade with a sufficient number of troops, and they did not hesitate to bring the relics of the martyr from there. The great governor with all the nobles, the most sacred archbishop with the spiritual rank and all the people walked towards him, joyfully welcoming the arrival of the martyr with candles, censers and fragrant myrrh. The great commander, falling to the saint’s shrine, embraced his long-suffering relics, touched the martyr’s honest hands with his eyes and lips and, shedding joyful and abundant tears, begged the saint to be the guardian of his power. WITH great honor They placed the honorable relics of the martyr in the most holy metropolis, in the capital city of the Moldovan state of Sochava. About the former (then and subsequently) healings that were given and are given from the relics of the martyr to those possessed by various ailments, we leave, the describer notes, to speak to those benefited themselves, and preach about the benefits received. Here it was enough to tell what kind of torment the saint endured. John, how he put to shame the wicked mayor, how he suffered a feat and received a crown from the hand of the hero of Christ. Such was the good acquisition of St. John: he gave little, but gained much, leaving his body as a burden to the treacherous tormentor, - he rushed not to Trebizond, but to the highest Jerusalem, - to the martyr's face as a martyr, to the bosom of Abraham, to the villages of saints, to good refuges, to imperishable palaces, where he appeared to the Trisagion and Most Divine Trinity, to Whom be glory, power, honor, glorification and worship now and forever, amen.