May 7, 2018

Holy Confessor John of Psychaita (+ c. 825)

St. John of Psychaita (Feast Day - May 7)

Verses

Bearing relations with the monastery of the soul Father,
You are rightly called Psychaitis blessed one.

Blessed John from a young age imitated the conduct of John the Baptist and the Prophet Elijah, spending his life in hard work and asceticism by entering the Lavra of Psychaita at the Bosporus of Constantinople and becoming a monk. He was bravely victorious in the battles against the demons, he cleansed his soul with the flow of his tears, and he expiated God with his all night standing and vigils. Therefore he received from God the grace to work miracles, to expel demons from the possessed, and to heal the sick in both soul and body.

By his tears he also dried up the rivers of the heresy of the iconoclasts. With reverence he venerated and honored the icons of the Master Christ and all the saints. He converted iconoclasts from their mindset which he disparaged. For this reason the renowned one endured bitter exile and prison bravely. Because he thoroughly embraced the traditions of the Fathers, he despised the edicts of the emperor, whom he called a heretic. Having therefore contested bravely and struggled in equal measure with the struggles of the saints, together with them he received the crown.