Christ is risen!
Today the Church celebrates the memory of St. John the Russian and the Holy Martyr Helladius. We also celebrate the transfer of the relics of the holy martyr Therapontus from Cyprus to Constantinople.
St. John was born at the end of the 17th century in the long-suffering Ukraine. Raised by his parents on the threads of the Orthodox Church, he fought in defense of his homeland during the Russo-Turkish War. He was captured, taken to Constantinople, and from there to Prokopi in Asia Minor, where he was brutally tortured into denying his faith in Jesus. John endured all this with remarkable courage.
On May 27, 1730, having previously received the Immaculate Mysteries, as he usually did where he had been secretly imprisoned by the Turks, he surrendered his soul to the Lord.
Later, in a dispute between the Sultan of Egypt and Ibrahim of Egypt, the emissary of the Pasha, Osman wanted to burn the holy relic of St. John of Russia in order thus to take revenge on the Christians. But in fear the ambassadors fled, finding that the holy relic remained incorruptible, supple and fragrant.
The Christians of Asia Minor in 1922 reverently transferred the sacred shroud of Hosea to the locality of Neo Procopio on the island of Evia, where it is enshrined in a shrine and is a pillar of attraction for pilgrims from all parts of the world.
Peace.
Christ is risen! The Lord is truly Risen!
Bishop Grigoriou of Mesaori
Today the Church celebrates the memory of St. John the Russian and the Holy Martyr Helladius. We also celebrate the transfer of the relics of the holy martyr Therapontus from Cyprus to Constantinople.
St. John was born at the end of the 17th century in the long-suffering Ukraine. Raised by his parents on the threads of the Orthodox Church, he fought in defense of his homeland during the Russo-Turkish War. He was captured, taken to Constantinople, and from there to Prokopi in Asia Minor, where he was brutally tortured into denying his faith in Jesus. John endured all this with remarkable courage.
On May 27, 1730, having previously received the Immaculate Mysteries, as he usually did where he had been secretly imprisoned by the Turks, he surrendered his soul to the Lord.
Later, in a dispute between the Sultan of Egypt and Ibrahim of Egypt, the emissary of the Pasha, Osman wanted to burn the holy relic of St. John of Russia in order thus to take revenge on the Christians. But in fear the ambassadors fled, finding that the holy relic remained incorruptible, supple and fragrant.
The Christians of Asia Minor in 1922 reverently transferred the sacred shroud of Hosea to the locality of Neo Procopio on the island of Evia, where it is enshrined in a shrine and is a pillar of attraction for pilgrims from all parts of the world.
Peace.
Christ is risen! The Lord is truly Risen!
Bishop Grigoriou of Mesaori
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