We are Blessed to have a portion of the Holy Relics of Saint John at our Church

“What can you, humble John, do or say when you come to face those cruel and pitiless exactors of taxes and tributes? To which will you have the strength to make your defence? To the demons of falsehood, to those of slander, to those of unmercifulness, to those of avarice, to those of malice, to those of hatred, to those of perjury?’ And with new doubts rising in his mind he would say: ‘Oh God, do Thou rebuke them, for the whole strength of man is of no avail against them; do Thou, Lord, give us as guides the holy angels who protect and pilot us. For great is the fury of the demons against us, great is the fear, great the trembling, great the peril of the voyage through this sea of air. For if, when travelling from city to city on this earth, we require a guide to lead us lest we fall into crevasses, or into the haunts of wild beasts, or into impassable rivers, or into pathless and inaccessible mountains, or into the hands of brigands, or into some boundless and waterless desert and be lost, how many strong guides and divine guardians do we not need when we start on this long journey which is everlasting, I mean the exodus from the body and the journey up to Heaven?”

“My humble opinion is that it suffices for our Salvation to meditate continually and seriously about death and to think earnestly upon the fact that nobody will pity us in that hour nor will anyone travel with us out of this life except our good deeds. And when the Angels come hastening down, in what a tumult will a Soul then be if it is found unready! How it will beg that it may be allowed a further short span of life, only to hear the words: “What about the time you have lived, have you spent it well?”

While on his way to visit the Earthly king, he dreamed of a resplendent man who said to him: “The King of Kings summons you.”

The Will of Saint John the Merciful – “I thank You, my Lord and God, for You made me worthy to give back the gifts which You gave me. I thank You, for You also heard my Prayer and my work now that I am dying is none other than “a third coin”, which I order to be given to my poor brothers. When by the Grace of God I became Bishop of Alexandria, I found in the treasury of my Bishopric about 8,000 liters of gold. With the greatly gracious offerings of good-loving men, I established to gather [and distribute] an uncountable amount. All of which, which I knew, is a gift of Christ the King of All, which I returned with assiduity and care towards God, to whom they also belong. To Him I also now commend my Soul.”