Even after death, Saint Moses conquers the impure passions with his relics, as St. John the Much-Suffering experienced. Shutting himself up in the cave and digging himself up to his shoulders against the relics of the Monk Moses, after many sufferings for the victory of the prodigal passion, he heard the voice of the Lord to pray to the dead man who was opposite him, the Monk Moses Ugrin. When the Long-suffering One fulfilled this, he was delivered from unclean warfare. Likewise, the same Saint John delivered another passionate brother from the same dirty trick, when he gave to the one suffering from passion one bone from the relics of the Monk Moses, in order to apply it to his body, as it is described in the Life of the Monk John the Much-Suffering.

Let us also, having been delivered from all impurity, have the Monk Moses as a leader, instructing by his prayers on the path of salvation, so that with him we may worship the Person in the Trinity of the worshipped God, to Whom be glory now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.

The Life of Our Venerable Father John the Much-Suffering

(July 18)

For the sake of virginity, he suffered a lot and buried himself alive in the ground up to his chest.

With the words of the "teacher of the tongues" "through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), according to the words of the beloved disciple of Jesus John the Virgin, who said: "I, John, am your brother and partaker in tribulation" (Rev. 1:9), and the life of the beloved disciple of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Caves, our Russian virgin John, called the Much-Suffering One, agrees with the same words. He endured many sorrows for the sake of virginity, dedicated to the heavenly Bridegroom. The Long-suffering One himself, already at the point of death, told his entire life for the following reason.

Often one of the brethren came to this monk, who had shut himself up in a dark place in the cave of the Monk Anthony and had spent his whole life there, struggling with the devil's suggestion to carnal lust. And he besought the saint to pray to the Lord for the weakening of his passions. The Monk John said to him: "Be of good courage, brother, and let thy heart be strong, be patient with the Lord and guard His ways, and leave thee not in the hands of our enemies, and shall not deliver thee up as a prey to their teeth." His brother, tempted by passion, answered him: "Believe me, father, if you do not give me relief, then I will never rest and will move from place to place." The Monk John said to him: "Why do you want to give yourself over to be devoured by the enemy, to be like a man who stands near an abyss, to whom the enemy has come and suddenly pushed him down, and there is a heavy fall for such a man, so that he can no longer get up. But if you remain here, in the holy monastery, you will be like a man standing far from the abyss, whom the enemy, although he draws with effort, is unable to push him aside, and so the Lord with your patience will lead you out of the pit of passions and from the darkness of impurity. But listen to me, brother. I will tell you all that has happened to me since my youth." And then he began to tell his whole life in detail, saying this:

"When," he said, "I came to this holy Pechersk monastery and began to work in the order of the holy angelic monastic image, I endured much, tormented by the urge to fornication, and I do not know what I did not suffer for the sake of my salvation. For two days, sometimes three, he spent without food, often and for the whole week he did not eat anything, he starved himself with fierce thirst, he stayed awake all nights and spent three years in such suffering, but even there he did not find peace. I went to the cave where our venerable father Anthony was laid, and dwelt at his grave in prayer day and night. And I heard the voice of the monk to me: "John, you must shut yourself up here in a cave, so that by ignorance and silence the battle may cease, and the Lord will help you through the prayers of His saints." And so, from that hour I shut myself up in this narrow and sorrowful place, where I have now been in my thirtieth year. And only very recently did I find peace, and all those years I struggled with passions and bodily thoughts. And, living a cruel life, at first for several years he depressed his body only by fasting and vigil. Finally, not knowing what to do, and unable to endure the warfare of the flesh, I decided to live naked and put heavy armor on my body, and from that time to this day I have been exhausted by cold and gnawing iron. But when all this was not enough, I did another thing: I dug a deep hole up to my breast. And when the days of the holy Great Lent came, I went into the pit and covered myself with earth, so that only my hands and head were free, and so, oppressed by the earth, I spent the whole of Lent, unable to move a single joint, but even so the carnal desires and the dissolution of the body did not cease. In addition, the enemy of the devil frightened me, wishing to drive me out of there, and I experienced all the power of his deceit: my feet in the pit began to burn out, so that the veins in them twisted, and the bones cracked, the flame reached my womb, and my limbs burned. I did not pay attention to the fierce pain, but rejoiced in my soul that it kept me pure from defilement. I preferred to be burned in that fire for the Lord's sake than to come out of the pit put to shame by demons. And at the same time I saw a terrible and fierce serpent, breathing flames and scorching me with sparks, and wanting to swallow me, and he did this for many days in order to drive me away. And when the light-bearing night of the Resurrection of Christ came, a fierce serpent suddenly fell upon me, and swallowed up my head and hands in its mouth, and the hairs of my head and beard were singed, as thou seest me. And I, being in the throat of that serpent, cried out from the depths of my heart:

"O Lord God, my Saviour, Thou hast forsaken me forever, be merciful to me, O Lord, since Thou art the only Lover of mankind, save me, a sinner, the only Sinless One, deliver me from the filth of my iniquity, so that I may not be entangled forever in the snares of the evil one. Spare me from being swallowed up by this enemy. For he roars like a lion, though he devour me. Raise up Thy power and come to save me, flash Thy lightning and cast him out, that he may disappear from Thy presence! "When I had finished my prayer, suddenly the Divine light flashed like lightning, and that fierce beast disappeared, and by the grace of God I have not seen him again until now. Then I heard the voice of the Lord to me: "John, John! It was a help to you, then be attentive to yourself, so as not to suffer more bitterly in the age to come." And I bowed down and said, 'Lord, why hast Thou forsaken me in evil torments?' And He answered me, 'Temptations have been brought upon thee according to the strength of thy patience, so that, tempted by fire, thou mayest appear as pure as gold. For God does not allow man to be tempted beyond strength, lest, when he is exhausted, he be mocked by the evil serpent, but He, as a wise master, entrusts great and difficult deeds to strong and strong servants, and insignificant and light ones to the weak and weak; it is the same in the battle of bodily lust, for which you pray for yourself. But pray to the dead man lying opposite you, that he may relieve you from the passion of fornication; for he has done more than Joseph, and is able to help those who suffer greatly from such passion." I, not knowing the name of this dead man, began to call: "Lord, have mercy on me through the prayers of this monk." Later I found out that it was Moses, a native of Ugrin. And an ineffable light descended upon me, in which I dwell even now, needing no light day or night. And all who come to me are worthily satiated with this light and clearly see the consolation that shone upon me on that night of the Resurrection, as the hope of the light to come."

Having thus concluded the confession of his much-suffering life, our venerable father John, turning to the one who was struggling with passion, said: "We, brother, have nailed our minds to the love of the flesh, therefore God allows His passions to come upon us with the righteous judgment of His passions, because we have never brought forth fruits worthy of repentance. But, brother, I say to you: "Pray to this Monk Moses, and he will help you." Then he prayed together with the struggling passion and, taking one bone from the relics of the Monk Moses, gave it to him with the words: "Put it to your body". Having done this, he felt how suddenly the dissolution was extinguished, the desires ceased and all the prodigal passions in his body became dead, and from that time there were no temptations for him. Then together the saint and the one struggling with passion gave praise to God for the fact that those who in their lives glorified Him with purity, He glorifies after death with miracles that grant purity.

The much-suffering hermit, our venerable father John, soon after confessing his many sufferings, on the 18th day of the month of July, gave up his spirit into the hands of the Lord, with Whom he had suffered, so that he might reign with Him.

His holy relics, which pour out inexhaustible healing, like a pillar of strength in the face of enemies, stand unshaken to this day where he himself buried himself up to his chest, first when he asceticized, and then when he learned the time of his repose.

Through the prayers of this much-suffering recluse, our venerable father John (whose honorable body, as having conquered the bodily passion through much suffering, became a pillar of the House of God), may we be led as by the light and overshadowing of the pillar that guided Moses in the wilderness, to that promised heavenly land, flowing with milk and honey, of which not only suckling children and infants are worthy, but, like the Breastplate of Christ, this virgin John, that is, to the earth flowing with grace and glory In the Trinity glorified God, to Whom be glory now and ever, and unto the ages. Amen.

The Life of Our Venerable Father Prokhor the Wonderworker