04 — Repose and Relics
The end of the confessor’s life and the beginning of his cult: John’s death about 1730, after receiving Holy Communion, and his burial at Prokopion; and the finding of his relics, reported incorrupt about three years later (c. 1733) after the old priest’s dream — the event that turned a locally revered slave into the object of an enduring veneration.
Tradition: Russian Orthodox confessor (venerated across the Greek world; Pan-Orthodox)
These two files carry John from death to cult. The first treats his repose — the date (27 May 1730, Old Style), the reception of Communion at the end, the burial in the church of St George, and the fact that he died a confessor and not a martyr. The second treats the finding of the relics reported incorrupt about 1733 and the veneration that grew at Prokopion, handled under the repository’s attestation-pinning discipline (§3.5): the incorruption is reported as what the tradition attests, flagged, and not asserted as documented physical fact.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Repose (c. 1730) | John’s death about 1730 (27 May, Old Style), after receiving the Holy Mysteries; the burial at Prokopion; that he died a confessor by illness, not a martyr; the dating and its status. |
| The Incorrupt Relics | The finding of the relics reported incorrupt about 1733, following the old priest’s dream; the veneration at Prokopion; the incorruption reported under §3.5 attestation-pinning and flagged. |
See Also
- Refusing Islam — that he died a confessor, not a martyr
- The Cult at Old Prokopion — how the veneration of the relics grew
References
- Orthodox Church in America. “Saint John the Russian and Confessor, Whose Relics Are on the Island of Euboia.” oca.org/saints/lives/1953/05/27. (Death on 27 May 1730 after Communion; the priest’s dream; the finding of the incorrupt relics.)
- Holy Shrine of St. John the Russian, Nea Prokopi (Evia). “A Brief Life of Saint John the Russian.” oir.gr. (The repose, burial, and the finding of the relics about 1733.)