The wonderworking and incorrupt relics of Saint John the Russian were brought from Prokopi in Asia Minor to New Prokopi in Evia in October 1924 by Greek refugees. A beautiful temple was built in New Prokopi to house these relics beginning in 1930 and it was completed in 1951. This is when the Saint came to reside in his new home and he has remained there since. Today it is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Greece, due to the many miracles still performed there to those who hasten to it with faith.
The silver and glass coffin of the Saint never opens unless there is a reason to do so, and this usually takes place when the Saint indicates for it to be done. This is done when the vestments of the Saint are ready to be changed. It happens in the following manner, according to the narration of Father John Vernezous:
"The Saint himself asks us to change his vestments. Then we can also open the coffin. The coffin does not open whenever we want, but when the Saint wants.
How does he notify us about the changing of his vestments? Well, he comes, for example, to a good soul and says to them in their sleep (in different places, in New York, in Australia, in Thessaloniki), 'Come and greet me, I am John from Russia, come to my church and tell the priest the time has come to change my robes.' This is how it happened in 1937, in 1955, and in 1977 when I became a recipient. I got the information from the faithful.
In 2005 the Saint again asked for a change of vestments after 28 years that had passed since 1977.
I have been here for 43 years as a clergyman and three years before as a layman, a total of 46 years and we have seen thousands and millions of believers pass in front of Saint John.
What do we have to testify? What did we see in the changes? The shocking thing as we said is that he informs us himself! Thus he said to a girl:
'Come see my pillow that will be full of tears. We weep for you young people. We pray especially for you to God to support you.'
When in 1977 we opened and saw the pillow it was completely clean, but here next to the eyes it was wet with a big stain from tears.
We saw the whole head of the Saint moving, with His Eminence and the other priests.
The silver and glass coffin of the Saint never opens unless there is a reason to do so, and this usually takes place when the Saint indicates for it to be done. This is done when the vestments of the Saint are ready to be changed. It happens in the following manner, according to the narration of Father John Vernezous:
"The Saint himself asks us to change his vestments. Then we can also open the coffin. The coffin does not open whenever we want, but when the Saint wants.
How does he notify us about the changing of his vestments? Well, he comes, for example, to a good soul and says to them in their sleep (in different places, in New York, in Australia, in Thessaloniki), 'Come and greet me, I am John from Russia, come to my church and tell the priest the time has come to change my robes.' This is how it happened in 1937, in 1955, and in 1977 when I became a recipient. I got the information from the faithful.
In 2005 the Saint again asked for a change of vestments after 28 years that had passed since 1977.
I have been here for 43 years as a clergyman and three years before as a layman, a total of 46 years and we have seen thousands and millions of believers pass in front of Saint John.
What do we have to testify? What did we see in the changes? The shocking thing as we said is that he informs us himself! Thus he said to a girl:
'Come see my pillow that will be full of tears. We weep for you young people. We pray especially for you to God to support you.'
When in 1977 we opened and saw the pillow it was completely clean, but here next to the eyes it was wet with a big stain from tears.
We saw the whole head of the Saint moving, with His Eminence and the other priests.
It was shocking!
We take the coffin and come to two tables and place the Saint there. God Himself has respected, honored, graced and glorified this relic, having bestowed on him the gift of incorruption until the Second Coming."
On Thursday the 18th of April 2024, the relics of the Saint had their vestments changed once again, behind closed doors, privately and unannounced, by the local bishop and priests with prayer and fasting, during the night when pilgrims are no longer allowed to enter. According to Father John Markos, the priest of the church in New Prokopi, Saint John the Russian recently appeared to 35 different people around the world, informing them to tell the priest of his church in New Prokopi that the time had come to once again change his robes. This time he specifically requested that his vestments be white and decorated with roses. Previous times the vestments had been blue. These previous vestments are cut into pieces and distributed to the faithful.
It should be noted that this year, 2024, marks the 100th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of the Saint from Asia Minor to Greece. In honor of this, many events have been planned, especially for May 27th, which is the feast of the Saint. The calendar of events can be seen here.
On Thursday the 18th of April 2024, the relics of the Saint had their vestments changed once again, behind closed doors, privately and unannounced, by the local bishop and priests with prayer and fasting, during the night when pilgrims are no longer allowed to enter. According to Father John Markos, the priest of the church in New Prokopi, Saint John the Russian recently appeared to 35 different people around the world, informing them to tell the priest of his church in New Prokopi that the time had come to once again change his robes. This time he specifically requested that his vestments be white and decorated with roses. Previous times the vestments had been blue. These previous vestments are cut into pieces and distributed to the faithful.
It should be noted that this year, 2024, marks the 100th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of the Saint from Asia Minor to Greece. In honor of this, many events have been planned, especially for May 27th, which is the feast of the Saint. The calendar of events can be seen here.
