"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

(10 February)

From the grass called quinoa, by his prayer he created sweet bread, and from ashes salt.

Rich in generosity and merciful, God often allows evil to fall upon the human race, in order to draw it to sound reason and compel it to good deeds. But even if he executes and inflicts wounds, then he certainly has mercy and does not hesitate to heal the wounds, as can be seen from the life of this Monk Prokhor. The following story has been preserved about him.

During the reign of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich in Kiev, a lot of violence was inflicted by the prince on the people. Without guilt he destroyed the houses of the strong and took away the possessions of many. For this reason God allowed the vile to overpower it, and during its reign there were many attacks by the Polovtsians and, in addition, internecine strife, so that there was more than once famine and great poverty in the Russian land.

During these days Blessed Prokhor came from Smolensk to the Pechersk monastery to the hegumen John and received from him the holy angelic image. He began to strive hard in virtue and accustomed himself to great abstinence, so that he deprived himself of the usual bread, but he gathered the grass of quinoa, and, rubbing it with his own hands, made bread for himself and ate it. In the summer time he prepared it for the whole year, and when summer came again, he did the same for the next year, so that for the rest of his life he did not need ordinary bread, and he was called "the swanman" because, apart from the prosphora in the church, he never ate even vegetables in his cell, but only quinoa, and drank nothing, except water.

God, seeing the patience of the saint in such abstinence, created for him that bitterness of bread made of quinoa into sweetness. And there was joy instead of sorrow for him. This blessed one never grieved, but worked for God in joy. He was never afraid of the raids of the enemy, because he lived like a bird, having nothing but quinoa, so that he could not compare with the rich man of the Gospel, who said: "Soul! Much good lies with you for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry!" (Luke 12:19). But he reproached himself for the herb prepared for the year, saying: "Prochorus, this night they will take your soul from you, but what hast you prepared for whom?" Imitating the birds, the monk easily passed to where the quinoa grew, and from there he brought it to the monastery on his shoulders, as on wings. And so he ate unsown food from the unplowed land, like a bird.

During these feats of the saint, a great famine began in the Russian land from constant wars, so that death threatened people. God, wishing to glorify His saint and have mercy on His people, then increased the growth of quinoa more than in other years; and so Blessed Prochorus labored more and more, incessantly gathering this herb, rubbing it with his hands and making bread from it, which he distributed to the poor and perishing from hunger. Some, seeing how he was gathering quinoa, began to gather it also in order to feed themselves in time of famine, but they could not eat because of bitterness. Then all the needy turned to the saint, and he did not refuse anyone his bread from quinoa. And to all the taste of this bread seemed sweet, as if it had been mixed with honey, so that more willingly than bread baked from wheat they took this bread baked from grass by the hands of Blessed Prochorus. But it is also remarkable that this bread, only if given to the blessed with a blessing, seemed bright, pure and tasted sweet; and if anyone took it secretly, he became black as the earth, and bitter as wormwood. One of the brethren took bread from the blessed one secretly, without a blessing, and began to eat. And it was in his hand like earth, and in his mouth bitter beyond measure, so that he could not eat it. This happened several times. He was ashamed to reveal this sin to the blessed one and ask him for bread with a blessing. But, being very hungry, and unable to endure the urge of hunger, seeing death before his eyes, he came to the hegumen John and told him what had happened, asking forgiveness. The hegumen, not believing the story, ordered another brother to secretly take bread from the saint, in order to see the truth, whether this was so. When the bread was brought, it turned out to be the same as the first brother had said: no one could eat it out of bitterness. This bread was still in their hands, when the hegumen again sent to the saint to ask for bread from his blessing. "Leaving him," said the hegumen, "secretly take another bread as well." When these loaves were brought, the bread taken secretly changed before them and became black as earth and bitter as wormwood, like the first loaf; and the bread taken out of his hands seemed pure and was sweet as honey. After this miracle, Prokhor became famous everywhere and, having fed the hungry, benefited many.