The Monk John

Commemorated on February 23

The Monk John, disciple of Saint Limnios (Comm. 22 February), lived in Syria in the V Century, and chose for himself the ascetic deed of "a shelterless life". He settled on an hill, closed off from the wind on all sides, and lived there for 25 years. He nourished himself but with bread and salt, and he exhausted his body under heavy chains. When one of the nearby ascetics planted an almond tree on the hill so that the monk might get under its shade and out of the vicious heat, the saint bid him to cut it down, so as not to give his body any respite.