St John the Hermit & 99 Ascetics Regarding these 99 Holy Ascetics, what little we do know about them comes primarily from a manuscript of Church Services printed in the Great Lavra on Mount Athos by Monk Joseph Kapetanakis Gavala and the copies made of this by an Athonite monk named Daniel. In 1879 the Church Services were published in Herakleion. By tradition what we do know of these Saints is that they most likely lived in the 14th century (though some sources go as far back as the 11th while others go up to the 16th) and were associated with what is now known as the Monastery of Holy Fathers. Narrow is the gate and full of sorrow is the road which leads to life is written on top of the gate of this holy monastery. The story of the 99 Holy Fathers tells that the 99 fathers came from Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey under the leadership of St. John to Azogires. St. John was born and grew up in Egypt. Along with 35 other pious men he went to Cyprus to live in asceticism. There they became known for their abilities to cure sicknesses. The stories of St. John and his men reached the other ascetics on the island, and 39 of these joined the group. After a while all of them went on to Attaleia (Antalya) in the present Turkey, where another 24 ascetics joined them. The ascetic community, now consisting of 99 men, prayed to God to show them a place in which they would be able to live a secluded life. God told them to go to Crete, and so they sailed from Turkey towards Crete. Because of a violent storm they turned around to put into port on the island of Gavdos. When the storm had died down after 24 days, the ascetics set out again. But, according to tradition, when they were about to board the ship, God had made John invisible to their eyes, so by mistake they left without him. On their arrival in Crete the ascetics found that John was not among them. They realized that he must still be on Gavdos, and from the beach they called for him to come. On the island John heard their call. He said a prayer, threw his tunic into the water and sailed - standing on the tunic - to Crete in three hours. In Crete the ascetics now went up into the land, and they settled in the caves of Zoures and Characas near the village of Azogires, a little north of Paleochora. The first place where they settled was under a large plane tree. They wished that the plane tree would always remain green, in summer and in winter, and its branches should form into crosses. Both had actually occurred. Moreover, they said, the tree should not die before it has 99 crosses. St. John also built a church, which eventually came to be known as the Monastery of the Holy Fathers. In the beginning, the holy fathers slept in the cave near the plane tree, while John stayed in the cave above the village. One day, he decided to go north to the remote peninsula Akrotiri near Chania in order to live as a hermit. The holy fathers settled down in the cave in which their leader had stayed. Before John left, they swore when one of them dies, the others should die too. At Akrotiri John survived by eating fruits and vegetables from gardens. To protect against the cold he wore a sheepskin. He knelt so much in prayer that he was not able to walk, and had to move about on his knees. One of the farmers spotted him in a crawling position one day when he was out picking herbs and thought that it was a wild animal that ate his stocks. The farmer took a bow and arrow and shot the supposed animal. John crawled, seriously wounded, back into his cave. The next day the farmer followed the blood traces. In the same moment in which he entered the cave, a bright light began to shine. He saw John dying on the ground, and realized that he had hit a holy man. He asked John to forgive him. John forgave him, but only on the condition that the farmer go to Azogires to tell his 98 brothers that he was dying and they should die with him. The man did so, but when he arrived in Azogires, the 98 holy fathers had died all together the day before. The Patriarchal Seal of their recognition as Saints was accomplished in 1632 by the Cretan Patriarch Cyril Loukaris with 21 Synodical Hierarchs. The following is what we officially know about them: In the most well-governed island of Crete, Devout John the Hermit shone in asceticism; and the 98 lived ascetically with the same zeal and way of life together harmoniously. And the Lord glorified their lives with wonderful miracles.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:51:30 +0000
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