John of Pskov

Holy Venerable John of Pskov, the recluse, struggled in hard times of unrest and war: in 1592 the Swedes besieged Pskov, and from 1608, for seven years, the Poles led by Lisowski made raids; only a week before the venerable one's death, through the intercession of the Pskov-⁠Caves icon of the Mother of God and of the saints of Pskov, the city was delivered from the siege by the troops of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. Of John the chronicle says that "he lived in the wall (the wall of the city) twenty-⁠two years; his food was fish, he ate no bread; he lived in the city as in a desert, in great silence". He fell asleep on 24 October 1616.

The Church commemorates him on 11 July, on a movable day, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Pskov, in the new style.