saint
St. John of the Ancient Caves
Eighth-century monk who settled in the ancient lavra of St. Chariton in the Judean desert, a site used continuously by hermits since the third century, and deepened there the tradition of hesychast prayer.
Life
John of the Ancient Caves was a monk of the lavra of St. Chariton in Palestine in the eighth century — the foundation made by Chariton the Confessor (September 28) above the Wadi Kelt at the place called Souka. He is called "of the Ancient Caves" because the cells he occupied had been used by hermits before him going back to the third century, before even Chariton's founding; his settlement was a return to the oldest tradition of Palestinian eremitism.
He had come to the Holy Land from Greece as a young man, was tonsured at Souka under the abbot of his day, and after some years in the community withdrew to the most remote of the lavra's cells. There he lived for several decades, seeing visitors only on Sundays for the gathered Liturgy, and otherwise alone in the silence of the cave above the Wadi.
The synaxarion preserves few biographical details — the discipline of his hiddenness preserved itself even in death — but records his repose around 760. His feast falls on April 19.
Traditions
Feast day
April 19
Topics
Works in library