Ascetic life and enclosure
After entering monastic life at twenty-five, John spent approximately a decade in formation under an elderly hermit who served as his spiritual director. Accounts relate that his superior tested his obedience by commanding him to water a dry stick every day for a year — a discipline his superior ended by throwing the stick away once the year had passed.
After his mentor's death, John spent some five years visiting various monasteries before seeking complete solitude. He withdrew to a cliff near Lycopolis — placed by one account in the Thebaid on Mount Bolcha — where he carved three small cells out of the rock: one for sleeping, one for work, and one for prayer. He then walled himself inside, leaving only a small window through which he communicated, received food and water twice weekly, and spoke to the crowds who gathered on those days to hear him.
His asceticism was severe: he never ate until sunset, subsisting for some fifty years on dried fruit and vegetables, refusing bread and never eating anything cooked. By tradition he was tempted by devils but remained steadfast throughout his enclosure.
Clairvoyance and counsel
John became renowned for the gift of prophecy and the discernment of hearts. By tradition this clairvoyance was granted after about thirty years of seclusion. He most famously predicted military victories for the Emperor Theodosius the Great — over the usurpers Maximus and Eugenius, and over the Gauls.
He also foretold events in the lives of those who visited him and offered them spiritual guidance. According to tradition he predicted that the historian Palladius would become a bishop, a prediction fulfilled when Palladius was appointed Bishop of Bithynia.
His teaching emphasized humility — counseling that even one who fulfills every duty should not become overconfident or praise himself — together with pure prayer, mental focus during worship, and vigilance against worldly distractions.
Miracles and traditions
Historically Documented: The accounts preserved of John's life come chiefly from those who visited him in his enclosure, including the historian Palladius, whom John is said to have foretold would become a bishop. His prophecies concerning the Emperor Theodosius the Great's victories were widely reported in his own lifetime.
Traditional Accounts: Tradition holds that John cured a woman of blindness through miraculous intervention, and that he distributed blessed oil to sick pilgrims, anointing them for the healing of various ailments. He is also said to have foretold future events in the lives of his visitors.
Repose
John lived well into his nineties. By tradition he spent the last three days of his life without food, drink, or any conversation, giving himself entirely to prayer. He was discovered in his cell in a posture of prayer. He reposed around 394 or 395.
He is commemorated on June 12 in the Eastern Orthodox calendar and on March 27 in the Western calendar.
