May 1 / April 18

The Venerable John (820), Disciple of Saint Gregory of Decapolis During the iconoclastic heresy, Emperor Leo the Armenian subjected John to torture, along with his teacher, Gregory, and St. Joseph the Hym- When Gregory departed this life, John became the abbot of the Decapolis Monastery in Constantinople. Having become abbot, he intensified his ascetic labors for the sake of the Kingdom of God. He reposed peacefully in about the year 820. Following his death, St. Joseph buried him with honor next to the grave of St. Gregory.

The Holy New Martyr John the Tailor, of Ioannina (1526).

John was born in Ioannina, once the capitol city of King Pyrrhus. When his impoverished parents died, the young John moved to Constantinople and there continued his occupation, for he was a craftsman. Not long before, the Turks had surrounded Constantinople, and many Chris- tians, out of fear, had denied Christ and embraced the Islamic faith. St. John had his workshop in the midst of these converts to Islam. The more the young John burned with love for Christ the Lord, the more openly he exposed himself as a Christian before these traitors of Christ. He began to argue with them about the Faith and, finally, rebuked them for their be- betrayal of Christ. They dragged John before the judge and falsely accused him, alleging that he had earlier embraced Islam and that he had again reverted to Christianity. After he was tortured and beaten with rods and iron flails, they cast him into prison. The next day was the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, and again they brought him out for further torture. John emerged, singing: “Christ is risen from the dead!” To his torturers, he bravely said: “Do what you want, so as to send me as soon as possible from this transient life to eternal life. I am Christ’s slave; I follow Christ; for Christ, I die that I may live with Him!” After that, John was bound in chains and brought to the place of burning. Upon seeing a large fire prepared for him, John ran and leaped into the flames. His torturers, seeing how he sought death in the fire, removed him from the fire and sentenced him to be beheaded. After they beheaded him, they threw his head and body into the fire. Later on, Christians sifted through the ashes and gathered some of the remains of his honorable and wonderworking relics, which they interred in the Great Church [Hagia Sophia] in Constantinople. Thus St. John of Ioannina died a martyr’s death and received a glorious martyr’s wreath on April 18, 1526.

The Holy Martyrs Victor, Zoticus, Zeno, Acindynus, and Severian of Nicomedia (ca. 303)

All five were martyred during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. They were pagans until they witnessed the sufferings of St. George the Great Martyr. While witnessing the sufferings and bravery of this glorious martyr, as well as the many miracles that were manifested, they embraced the Christian Faith. Soon, they too suffered and were crowned with glory.

• Cosmas, bishop of Chalcedon, and his fellow-ascetic St. Auxentius (815-820).
• Naucratius, abbot, of the Studion (848).
• Hieromartyr Perfectus, priest, at Cordoba (850).
• Basil (Ratishvili) the Georgian, of Iveron Monastery, Mt. Athos (13th c.).
• Euthymius the Enlightener of Karelia (1435), and righteous laymen Anthony and Felix of Karelia.
• Martyr Tunom, Arab emir who confessed Christ on seeing the Holy Fire in Jerusalem (1579).
• New Hieromartyr Alexis Krontenkov, priest, of Ekaterinburg (1930).
• New Hieromartyrs Nicholas (1937) and Basil Derzhavin (1930), priests, and martyred laypeople of the city of Gorodets (Nizhni-Novgorod).
• New Martyr Tamara (Satsi), abbess, of Cheboksara (Chuvashia) (1942).
• (Greek: Martyr Sabbas the Goth, at Buzau in Wallachia [372]. St. Athanasia the Wonderworker, abbess, of Aegina [850]).
• Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Glykophylousa” (“Sweet-kissing”).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Martyr John the New

John the Artisan, of honest craft:
His soul was as bright as a nugget of gold.
Wonderfully illumined by the teaching of Christ,
He prayed to God to crown him with suffering:
“O Victorious Christ, Who wast crucified for me,
From sinful darkness, cleanse me by suffering!
Oh, do not give me the shameful glory of a traitor,
But crown me with the sufferings of Thy martyrs.
Prepare me for suffering by Thy Holy Spirit,
And do Thou grant suffering, directing it to me.
And thou, O Mother of God, of infinite mercy,
Who stood under the Honorable Cross of Thy Son,
Pray for me at the time of my sufferings,
That I may be firm as an impregnable wall.
And you, O holy apostles, have mercy,
That the enemy of the human race may not prevail against me.
Holy martyrs, my rejoicing,
Into your ranks receive me also!
And now torturers, traitors of God—
Yours is the sword and the fire—here is my body!”

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