Venerable John the Much-Suffering of the Kiev Caves

Venerable John the Much-Suffering labored in the Kiev Caves Monastery, in the Near Caves, in the 12th century. For thirty years he waged an intense spiritual struggle against carnal temptation, which afflicted him with particular severity. Seeking to overcome sinful thoughts, he imposed extraordinarily harsh ascetic feats upon himself: wearing chains, wearing down his body with fasting and all-night vigils, and once, for the entire duration of Great Lent, burying himself up to the chest in earth within his cave, remaining so until Pascha. The devil repeatedly terrified the ascetic with visions, including appearing to him as a fiery serpent threatening to devour him. On Paschal night, according to tradition, lightning struck the serpent in answer to the saint's fervent prayer, and the passionate thoughts left him forever. From that time he attained perfect purity and received the gift of healing those who turn to him in prayer for deliverance from carnal temptation. He reposed around 1160. His relics rest in the Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra. He is venerated as a special helper and intercessor in the struggle against fleshly temptation.