St John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople.

Commemorated September 2 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

St John is also commemorated on August 30th.

He was a goldsmith at first, then, by God's providence and for his great virtues, was ordained priest.

As a young man, St John was once walking with an old monk from Palestine, Eusebius. Suddenly, a voice came to Eusebius from some invisible source: 'Father, don't walk on the right of great John!' This, the voice of God, was predicting the high service to which John was soon to be called.

After blessed Eutychius' death, John was chosen as Patriarch of Constantinople. He was most unwilling to accept, but was overawed by a heavenly vision and thus gave his consent.

He was a great faster, a man of prayer and a wonderworker right up to his death, entering into rest in 595. After his death, his only possessions were found to be a wooden spoon, a linen shirt and an old cassock. His writings on repentance and confession are well-known.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK