Saint Ioan of Suceava
The twenty-fourth of June is the feast day of another of the great (relatively) recent Orthodox witnesses among the Muslims, Saint Ioan the New of Suceava. The fate of this Black Sea martyr was tied up, intriguingly, with both Venetian greed and Islâmic pride during an age after the Crusades had wound down and the Black Death was nearly on Europe’s doorstep. He is primarily venerated in Romania and Moldova.
Saint Ioan [Gk. Ἰωάννης, Eng. John] was born around the year 1300 in the city of Trebizond in the Pontus, on the northern coast of Anatolia; however, his hagiography also states that his ancestral hometown (‘родного города’) was Belgorod-on-the-Dneister, also called by its Gagauz name of Akerman and its Romanian name of Cetatea Albă, which was at that time a part of the Principality of Moldavia. It seems reasonable, then, to assume that his parentage was what we would now call Romanian. Trebizond was, naturally, a shipping city, and Ioan’s father made his living trading on the sea. He taught his son in his mercantile profession, in which Ioan soon joined him. Ioan was, however, firm in his Orthodox faith and merciful to the poor.
At one time, when he was on business, he had to sail on a ship bound from Cetatea Albă, which was at that time under the control of the Muslim Tatars. During his voyage, Saint Ioan became involved in discussions with the captain, a Venetian merchant named Reiz, and these discussions sometimes ranged into matters of faith. Saint Ioan’s religious learning was profound and motivated by deep love, and he often came off the better in these discussions with Reiz. As a result, the Venetian’s heart grew poisoned by jealousy, and he harboured a grudge against Ioan, deciding at last to take his revenge on him.
Upon landing in Cetatea Albă on the return voyage, the Venetian announced to the Tatar burgomaster of the city that Ioan intended to renounce the Orthodox faith. The burgomaster, who was excited by this news, invited Ioan to a lavish feast, at which the burgomaster and his attendants began to blaspheme and encourage Ioan to do the same. But, as our Saviour said in the Gospel of Saint Mark: ‘But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.’ And so, Saint Ioan, remembering this verse, prayed in the depths of his heart, calling upon the Lord’s name for help. And thus he found the divinely-given courage and understanding to reject the claims of the wicked men, and firmly confess himself to be a Christian.
Outraged, the burgomaster ordered Ioan to be beaten. His tormentors took rods and beat him so severely that the flesh was torn from his bones all over his body, and even his bones were shattered. The holy martyr of God did not cry out or curse, but instead thanked God for finding him worthy to shed blood for Him and to wash away his sins. The Tatars then bound Saint Ioan in heavy iron chains and dragged him off to prison, where the burgomaster called him the next day. Saint Ioan, despite his wounds, had a bright and cheerful expression upon his face. Again he was told to renounce faith in Christ, and again Saint Ioan fearlessly refused, and denounced the burgomaster as an instrument of the Evil One. Saint Ioan was again beaten with rods and sharp canes, such that his wounds were opened afresh and even his internal organs could be seen.
The people who were assembled there could not bear to see this torture visited upon the martyr, and they began to raise their voices indignantly against the burgomaster’s inhumanity in so viciously tormenting a defenceless prisoner. But the burgomaster’s heart was hardened. He ordered the beatings to cease, but then he had the martyr lashed by his ankles to the tail of a wild horse, who was then set loose to drag him through the streets of Cetatea Albă. The horse dragged him through the Jewish quarter, where the residents mocked him and jeered at him and threw stones at him. Finally one of the people there grabbed a knife, overtook the horse when it had paused, and severed the head of the saint.
The body and the head of the greatmartyr lay in the street for the rest of the day, and none of the city’s Christians dared to come and claim his remains. But when night fell, a pillar of light shone brightly over his body, and a great multitude of burning lamps were seen to hang over him. Three men robed in light were seen singing the Psalter and burning a censer over the saint’s body. One of the Jews, believing that the Christians had come to claim their own, took a bow and aimed an arrow at the three men, but he was rendered motionless by the unseen power of the Almighty.
With the coming of dawn, the apparition of the three men disappeared, but the shooter continued to stand affixed where he was. The people came and questioned him about what had happened; and he told them about the vision he had seen and God’s punishment upon him, and so he was freed from his invisible bonds. Only after this did the burgomaster give his permission to the Christians to bury the greatmartyr’s remains, which was at a local church. This happened around the year 1330.
As for the captain Reiz, he repented of his sins and went to the martyr’s tomb to ask his forgiveness and to take his body back with him to Venice where he might be venerated by fellow-Christians. However, Saint Ioan appeared to the priest of the church where he was buried, and thus the plan to remove him was prevented – but he was translated into the altar, from which the relics worked many great life-saving wonders. Seventy years later, Metropolitan Joseph of Moldavia, learning of the wonderworking relics of the saint, asked of the Prince Alexandru ‘cel Bun’ Mușat that they be transferred to Suceava, which was at that time the capital of the Principality of Moldavia. Alexandru sent an embassy of noblemen, clergy and soldiers to Cetatea Albă to claim the relics and take them back to Suceava. As the relics approached the city in their procession, the overjoyed populace of the city all turned out to greet the holy martyr, who was laid with great honour in the Mirăuți Basilica of Saint George. This happened on the second of June of 1402, which is also kept as a commemoration of the great saint. The wondrous healings continued at the saint’s tomb, and he has since been considered the patron saint of the Moldovan people.
In 1589, the relics of Saint Ioan were transferred to the new Metropolitan Cathedral on the orders of Bogdan ‘cel Orb’, the son of Saint Ştefan. The people prayed to Saint Ioan during an invasion of Moldavia by the Tatars following the Magnate Disputes in 1622, when the city of Suceava was under threat. The Metropolitan Anastasius of Crimea held an all-night vigil and urged the faithful to pray for God’s mercy upon their city. He led the relics in procession around the Church three times, and were on their way to hide them in the castle, but the oxen leading the cart with the saint’s relics refused to budge. However, when morning came, a torrential downpour began, flooding the Suceava River and rendering it impassible to the invading Tatars, who retreated in confusion. The saint’s intercessions spared the city.
In 1686, the Polish Army under John III Sobieski, during one of its expeditions against the Ottomans, invaded Moldavia in an attempt to gain a Black Sea port. They plundered Suceava in the process, robbing the churches of many of their holy objects including the relics of Saint Ioan and Metropolitan Saint Dosoftei of Suceava. These were brought back to Sobieski’s capital at Zhovkva, where they stayed for ninety-seven years. There they continued to work wonders, both for the Orthodox and for the Catholics who prayed for the saint’s intercession.
They were restored, with great joy among the saint’s native people, to Moldavia on the thirteenth of September, 1783, thanks to the tireless labours of Bishop Dosoftei of Rădăuți. Upon their return, the relics were taken all over Moldavia for nearly three months, during which time many people came out to greet their saint in a spirit of love. At last the relics were translated again to Suceava and interred at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Among the many and inexhaustible miracles ascribed to Saint Ioan, one in particular stands out: in 1898 a certain noblewoman stole a particle from the saint’s finger to carry back with her; however, her carriage would not budge until she had repented her theft and returned the relic to its rightful place. The holy saint continues to work wonders for the people of Moldova, showing particular favour to the blind, to the deaf and to the paralysed. There were accounts of wondrous healings attributed to him as late as the 1960s, related to us in the Paterikon of Archimandrite Joannicius (Belan). The feast-day of Saint Ioan is kept on the second of June among the Greeks, and on the twenty-fourth of June among the Romanians and Moldovans. Holy new martyr Ioan, fearless confessor of the true faith, pray unto Christ our God for us that our souls may be saved!
Apolytikion of Saint Ioan of Suceava, Tone 4:
Your life on earth was well-governed, O sufferer,
With almsgiving and with tears and prayers unceasing,
And again embarking upon travails worthy of man,
You rebuked the unbelief of the Tatars.
In this way you give strength to Christ’s Church
And all Christians praise you,
O Ioan, the everlastingly-remembered!
Mirăuți Basilica of Saint George, Suceava, Romania
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