John the Russian Day in Greece (27/05)

There is such a great saint of the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches — John of Russia (Ioannis Rossos, as all Greeks, young and old, reverently call him), the only, perhaps, ascetic who received the name of an entire people in his nickname: «Russian» with a capital letter.

A simple soldier of the army of Peter the Great, who was captured by Turkey, spent 13 years there and, despite long torture, refused to convert to Islam. He was martyred for Christ in 1730. His memory and his miraculous relics located on the island of Euboea are honored by all of Hellas, dozens, even hundreds of books have been published about him, thousands and thousands of pilgrims flock to him, and on Euboea, having redone the famous saying, they say: «All roads lead to St. John of Russia».

Ivan the Russian began to be revered in Euboea in the 20s of the 20th century, when Asia Minor Greeks moved to Greece to escape the consequences of a devastating war and brought their shrines with them. So John (Ivan) of Russia became one of the most revered saints in Greece. Every year on May 27, tens of thousands of people come here to venerate the saint.

Ivan Russky was born in Ukraine (then it was part of a single Russian state) in 1690, and in 1711 he was recruited as a soldier. After many battles in which he showed courage and bravery, Ivan was captured by the Turks near Azov and was transported to Constantinople. From Constantinople he was taken to the town of Procopio near Caesarea of Cappodocia in Asia Minor, and he found himself subordinate to a certain Aga, who maintained a Janissary camp.

In captivity, Ivan was demanded to renounce the Orthodox faith in which he was raised. Ivan, although he did not refuse to serve Agha, was firm in his faith and did not agree to convert to Islam. The Turkish nobleman was not used to being refused, and ordered Ivan to be subjected to all kinds of torture. The unfortunate man was beaten with a thick wooden stick, kicked, strangled, and burned with hot iron. He endured beatings and humiliation, but did not abandon his convictions, which aroused involuntary respect among those who tortured him.

The torment continued for many days. At night, the Turks threw the soldier into the barn, where he slept with the animals. After inhuman torture, Ivan prayed passionately and became even more entrenched in the Orthodox faith. The Turks and the entire multinational population of the then Procopio were amazed by the strength of faith and the courage of the Russian soldier. Gradually, the rumor about the unusual prisoner spread throughout all the surrounding villages, where many Orthodox Greeks lived, brutally oppressed by the Turks. Finally, the Turkish Pasha himself became interested in the rebellious.

— Answer, why are you persisting, why don’t you want to convert to our faith? — the Pasha asked menacingly.

— I believe in my God Jesus Christ, — answered the Russian soldier. — I don’t care about torture and torment, they make my faith even stronger!

Pasha was amazed at such insolence and ordered the recalcitrant to continue torturing him. For many years, the prisoner lived in a barn with cattle and endured hunger and torture. On May 27, 1730, at the age of about forty, Ivan the Russian died.

Local Christians begged the Turks for Ivan's body and buried him. According to the custom there, three years later they opened the grave to rebury the bones and were amazed: the body of the deceased was not touched by smoldering.

The Pasha who found out about this was even more angry. One day, at a time of internal crisis in the Ottoman Empire, the Pasha sent by the Sultan decided to punish the rebellious Christians and ordered the relics of Ivan the Russian to be burned. On his orders, the Janissaries threw the remains of a soldier into a fire. When the Turks left, local residents rushed to rake the smoldering coals. But the body of the righteous was not damaged and only turned black from the fire, and the glory of the saint was further strengthened.

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