Saint John the Russian – Antiqued Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Antiqued Lithograph of Saint John the Russian

Saint John the Russian was born in 1690 AD in a village of what is now known as Little Russia. He served in the army during the reign of Tsar Peter the Great in Russia. He participated in the war he waged against the Turks in 1711 and was captured by the Tatars.

The Tatars sold him to an Ottoman officer, an İpparcho, who was from Prokopi in Asia Minor. The agha took him to his village. Many of his fellow captives succumbed to the threats of the Ottomans and converted to Islam.

However, Saint John, with patience and wisdom, endured the slavery, mistreatment by his master, and the insults of the Ottomans, remaining faithful to Jesus Christ.

The Lord, seeing his faith and hearing his confession, softened the heart of the agha, and over time, he became fond of John. This was due to the great humility and gentleness of the saint. The agha had assigned John to tend the animals in the stable. John preferred to live and sleep there, despite his master’s suggestions that he stay in a room outside the stable.

Saint John the Russian lived with fasting, self-restraint, and prayer. As he approached the end of his life, he became seriously ill but continued to live in the stable, enduring physical deprivation.

Sensing his end was near, Saint John requested to receive the Holy Mysteries. As soon as Saint John the Russian received the body and blood of the Lord, he surrendered his soul. It was the year 1730 AD. His holy relics are kept in New Prokopi, Evia. The Church honors his memory on May 27th.

Antiqued Lithograph: Characteristics

This particular image was created using the lithography technique, which is taught in the iconography workshops of Mount Athos and is also used by several monks to create exceptional works of art. In this case, the monk used a lithographed copy of Byzantine art and crafted the work following the traditional method of artificial aging. The lithography technique in iconography is essentially a printing technique.

Origin: Mount Athos