VENERABLE JOHN

April 18

From the Prologue

At the time of the Iconoclastic heresy, Emperor Leo the Armenian subjected John to torture along with his teacher Gregory and St. Joseph the Hymnographer. When Gregory departed this life, John became the abbot of the Decapolis Monastery in Constantinople. Having become abbot, he intensified his ascetical efforts for the sake of the kingdom of God. He died peacefully about the year 820 A.D. Following his death, St. Joseph buried him with honors next to the grave of St. Gregory.