John of Karpathos

Venerable John of Karpathos was a monk and Orthodox bishop of the island of Karpathos, around the seventh century, whose writings are in the Philokalia. He is commemorated on 25 August. Little is known of his life. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain said that it is not known when John was active or where he struggled. It is believed that he became bishop of Karpathos. He is known to have given written advice to monks in India, emphasizing the need for restraint and Christian virtue. Some of his writings are in the Philokalia, a collection of writings from the fourth to the fifteenth century.

In the mid-1980s Metropolitan Ambrose of Karpathos and Kasos asked that Saint John of Karpathos be entered in the official list of Orthodox saints, with the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. In 1985 25 August was set as the feast of Saint John of Karpathos. All that is known of his life and history was discovered in the mid-1980s through the efforts of Metropolitan Ambrose, and he was then entered among the saints who struggled in the Dodecanese. All the churches of the island of Karpathos have at least one icon or wall painting of the saint. He has been declared protector and patron of the island.

Several researchers maintain that the figure of John of Karpathos is a merging of two different persons, which raises serious questions about his historicity: the monk John, of unknown time, author of the work "To the Monks of India", and the metropolitan John of Karpathos, who lived in the seventh century.