Venerable (Monastic) 12th century

Venerable John the Long-Suffering of the Kiev Near Caves

died 1160

Also known as John the Much-Suffering

A monk of the Kiev Caves who waged so fierce a war against the lusts of the flesh that he buried himself to the breast in the earth through a whole Lent, and by long endurance overcame the passions and received peace.

Feast Day

July 18

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father John the Long-Suffering of the Kiev Caves, the Recluse

Life

Venerable John the Long-Suffering, also called John the Much-Suffering, was a twelfth-century monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra remembered for a prolonged and severe struggle against the passions of the flesh. From his youth he was tormented by fleshly lust, and according to the tradition recorded in the synaxarion neither hunger, thirst, nor heavy chains could deliver him from it.

Seeking relief, he went into the cave where the relics of Saint Anthony of the Caves rested and prayed fervently. He was directed to become a recluse, weakening the temptation through silence and seclusion, and he settled into the cave from that time. By the accounts of his life, only after thirty years of monastic struggle did he overcome the carnal passions and receive peace.

Contributions & Legacy

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Ascetic Struggle

John's life is centered on his ascetic warfare against the passion of lust. His most famous feat, related in the synaxarion, was carried out in a pit he dug for himself: with the onset of Great Lent he climbed into it and covered himself with earth up to the shoulders, remaining so through the whole of the Lenten season.

By long endurance, the tradition holds, he was at last delivered from the passion that had afflicted him since youth, and is said to have received the assurance that the temptation had been permitted so that he might be purified like gold.

Relics & Shrines

Saint John reposed in the year 1160. His relics rest in the Near Caves (the Caves of Saint Anthony) of the Kiev Caves Lavra, where the synaxarion describes them as incorrupt and where he is venerated among the monastic fathers of those caves.

Miracles & Traditions

Historically Documented: The principal sources for John's life are the synaxarion and the lives of the Kiev Caves monastic fathers, which record his decades-long ascetic struggle and his repose in 1160.

Traditional Accounts: The synaxarion relates that John endured fearsome spiritual trials, including a serpent breathing fire and sparks that sought to swallow him; on the night of Christ's Resurrection it is said to have seized his head in its jaws, whereupon a flash of lightning drove it away. He is invoked by tradition by those struggling against fleshly temptation.

Notes

Patron of those who struggle against fleshly temptation.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints