 |
| Metropolitan Chrysostomos before the relics of St. John the Russian |
On 27 May 2020, at the Church of Saint John the Russian in Nea Prokopi of Evia, where the incorrupt and wonderworking relics of Saint John the Russian are located, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Chalkida said the following during the Festal Divine Liturgy, tying together the dual feast celebrated today of the Apodosis of Pascha and Saint John the Russian:
"Venerable John the Russian, through his amazing patience, his earthly struggles, as well as his supernatural miracles, which have been done and are being done through the Saint by our Holy God, is a perpetual confirmer of the truth of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ."
This is similar to what Fr. John Romanides, whose patron saint was Saint John the Russian and who was baptized in his church in Nea Prokopi in 1927, taught about sacred relics, which Saint John the Russian is famous for:
"The purpose of the Church is to make holy relics. It has no other aim. Holy relics include the whole dogmatic structure of the Church."
