Joannicius the Great

Venerable Joannicius the Great was a hermit of Bithynia, known for his severe asceticism and his defence of the veneration of icons. He lived most of his life on Mysian Olympus, near today's Bursa, and fell asleep in 846. He is remembered on 4 November.

His life, preserved in two early hagiographies, written by the monks Peter and Sabbas, from the accounts of his disciple Eustratios, says that he was born in 752 (in other sources 754 or 762), in the village of Marikat in Bithynia, to Myritzikios and Anastaso, a poor family. As a boy he tended the flock and surrounded it with the sign of the cross, and the animals did not scatter while he stood in prayer for whole days. He was handsome and tall. At sixteen or eighteen, or in another account nineteen, he was called into the army, into the elite regiment of the Excubitors. He served there until 792 and distinguished himself above all by courage, saving the emperor Constantine VI (in another version, an officer) from being captured at the Battle of Marcellae.

At that time, under the iconoclast emperor, icons were removed from churches, and those who prayed to them were persecuted. Joannicius let himself be swept along by the spirit of the time and became an iconoclast, but he was healed of the error in a wonderful way: passing through a mountain of Olympus, he was “recognized” by a solitary monk, who called him by name though he did not know him, and counselled him: “Child Joannicius, if you call yourself a Christian, why do you despise the icon of Christ? All your struggles are in vain if you do not have the right faith.” Joannicius fell on his knees, begged forgiveness and began to honour icons. He wished to wash away his sin: he wore himself out with fasting and vigils, but hid his struggle from his comrades. In battle he was brave and saved many lives. Later he left the army and entered the monastery of Antidion, where he learned the Psalms by heart. He wished to go at once into the wilderness, but wise monks held him back, counselling him to learn first humility, obedience and gentleness. He stayed in the monastery two years, and then withdrew to Mysian Olympus, where he remained a hermit for the rest of his life.

According to the hagiographies, he spent his years in solitude, reciting psalms and meditating on the life of the Lord. It is told that he freed the island of Thasos from snakes, that he led Greek captives out of prison right under the eyes of the guards, that he crossed waters as on dry land, that he made himself invisible when he wished, that the poison and fire prepared by enemies did not harm him and that he saved a young nun who wished to leave her convent to marry, taking on himself the torment of her passion and overcoming the temptation by fasting and prayer. He had the gift of prophecy. Under the iconoclast emperor Theophilos he prophesied that the Church would again embrace the veneration of icons, a prophecy which the faithful regard as fulfilled through the empress Theodora, who restored the veneration of icons. He also blessed the young Photios, the future patriarch. Joannicius was also a man of great humility and gentleness, and in body a giant.

He fell asleep in solitude, on 3 or 4 November 846, at the age of ninety-⁠four according to some sources, and was buried at the monastery of Antidion. A short prayer is attributed to him, said sometimes after readings of the Psalms in services: “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my shelter is the Holy Spirit. Holy Trinity, glory to You.”