John of the Syrian Deserts

Venerable John of the Syrian Deserts, a disciple of Saint Limnaeus (commemorated 22 February), lived in Syria in the fifth century and chose the ascetic struggle of "a shelterless life." He settled on a hill sheltered from the wind on all sides and lived there twenty-⁠five years. He ate only bread and salt and wore his body down under heavy chains. When a nearby ascetic planted an almond tree on the hill so that John could have shade and escape the fierce heat, the saint told him to cut it down, to give his body no respite.

Greek synaxaria add that the venerable Antiochus, Antoninus and Moses imitated him in his asceticism and lived in prayer and fasting on a mountaintop near the city of Rama. John is commemorated on 23 February (new style; 8 March on the old calendar).