Ivan Russian Day in Greece

The Church of Ivan the Russian in ProcopionThere is such a great saint of the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches - John the Russian (Ioannis Roussos, as all Greeks call him with reverence from small to great), the only, perhaps, ascetic, who received the nickname of the name of the whole people: "Russian" with a capital letter. A simple soldier of the army of Peter the Great, who was captured in Turkey, spent 13 years there and, despite long tortures, refused to convert to Islam. He was martyred for Christ in 1730. His memory and his miraculous relics are on the island. Euboea, honors the whole of Greece, dozens, hundreds of books have been published about him, thousands and thousands of pilgrims flock to him, and on Euboea, after reworking a famous saying, they say: "All roads lead to St. John the Russian."

Ivan the Russian began to be venerated on Euboea only from the 20s of the twentieth century, when Asia Minor Greeks migrated to Greece, fleeing from the consequences of the devastating war, and brought their shrines with them. Thus Ivan the Russian became one of the most revered saints of Greece. Every year on May 26-27, tens of thousands of people come here to venerate St. Ivan the Russian.

Ivan Russky was born in Ukraine (then part of the united Russian state) in 1690. As a teenager, he was recruited as a soldier in 1711. After many battles, in which he showed courage and courage, Ivan was captured by the Turks near Azov and transported to Constantinople. From Constantinople he was taken to the town of Procopion near Caesarea of Cappodocia in Asia Minor, and he was subordinated to a certain Agha, who maintained a camp of Janissaries.

In captivity from Ivan demanded to renounce the Orthodox faith in which he was brought up. Ivan, although he did not refuse to serve the age, was firm in his faith and did not agree to convert to Islam. The Turkish nobleman was not used to being refused, and ordered Ivan to be subjected to all kinds of torture. The unfortunate was beaten with a thick wooden stick, kicked, strangled, burned with red-hot iron. He suffered beatings and humiliation, but he did not abandon his convictions, which caused involuntary respect from those who tortured him.

The torment continued for many days. At night, the Turks threw the soldier into a stable, where he slept with the animals. After inhuman tortures, Ivan prayed passionately and became even stronger in the Orthodox faith. The Turks and the entire multinational population of Procopio were astonished by the strength of faith and courage of the Russian soldier. Gradually, the rumor of an unusual prisoner spread to all the surrounding villages, where many Orthodox Greeks lived, brutally oppressed by the Turks. Finally, the Turkish pasha himself became interested in the rebellious.

- Tell me why you persist, why do you not want to convert to our faith? - Pasha asked threateningly.

“I believe in my God Jesus Christ,” replied the Russian soldier. I don’t care about torture and torture, it makes my faith even stronger!

Pasha was astonished by such audacity and ordered to continue the torture of the recalcitrant. For many years the prisoner lived in a stable with cattle and endured hunger and torture, and on May 27, 1730, at the age of about forty, Ivan Russky died.

Local Christians begged the Turks for Ivan’s body and buried him. According to local custom, after three years they opened the grave to rebury the bones, and were amazed: the body of the deceased was not touched by corruption.

The Pasha who knew about this became even more angry. One day, at a time of internal crisis in the Ottoman Empire, the Pasha sent by the Sultan decided to punish the rebellious Christians and ordered the relics of Ivan the Russian to be burned. On his orders, the Janissaries threw the remains of the soldier into the fire. When the Turks left, the locals rushed to clear the smoldering coals. But the body of the righteous was not damaged and only blackened by the fire, and the glory of the saint was further strengthened.