John was born in 305 at Assiut, Egypt. His parents were poor and he was trained as a carpenter. After receiving a divine calling, he let and set out for solitude. At the age of 25, he became a monk under the guidance of an elderly hermit and spent a decade, taking guidance and learning from him. John Cassian recounts a tale that the hermit directed John to water a dry stick every day for a year. After this test of obedience, his superior threw the stick away.
Following a divine inspiration, he withdrew to the top of a cliff near Lycopolis, Egypt, where he could avoid all human contacts. There he carved three small cells out of rock; one for sleeping, one for work and the last for praying. Then he walled them up with himself inside, leaving only a small window. He communicated through the window to people who brought him food and water twice a week. Crowds would gather on those two days to hear him preach.
John’s reputation for wisdom and holiness caused him to be chosen as advisor to the Emperor Theodosius the Great. He had the gifts of prophecy, healing and knowledge of the hidden sins of his visitors. He predicted future victories of the Emperor in 388 and 392 and they were proven accurate. Saint John was known and admired by Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Cassia, and Saint Palladius.
He avoided seeing women in particular, to avoid temptation and avoided all people for the last fifty years of his life. Saint Augustine wrote that John was tempted by devils and performed miraculous cures. According to Augustine, he cured a woman of blindness and then appeared to her in a vision to avoid seeing her in person.
John used to pray incessantly and spent the last three days of his life without food or drink or any interactions, but prayer. When he was discovered, he was in his cell on bended knee in prayer – deceased.
Other Saints of the Day:-
1. Saint Rupert of Salzburg
2. Saint Augusta of Treviso
3. Saint Gelasius of Armagh
4. Saint Alexander of Drizipara
5. Saint Matthew of Beauvais
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