Venerable
John Shova
of Kolitsou (Vatopedi)
A Romanian monk from the Bacău region, born about 1919, who lived at Kolitsou and reposed in 2009; venerated, not formally canonized.
- Reposed
- 200921st century
- Place
- Kellion of St George, Kolitsou, Mount Athos
- Order
- Venerables
Life
John Shova was a Romanian monk and writer, a struggler at the cell of St George at Kolitsou on the Holy Mountain, born around 1919 in the Bacau region. He reposed on 17 February (2 March) 2009. He is venerated by the faithful, without a synodal canonization.
He graduated from two universities in Romania, the Polytechnic and Theology, and at full maturity entered the monastic life at Sihastria Monastery. After eight years of spiritual formation he withdrew for good to Athos with other monks and settled at the cell of St George at Kolitsou as a disciple of the great Moldavian elder, Hieroschemamonk Dionysios Ignat. There he lived in the depths of stillness, prayer and humility, desiring to follow the great Athonite hesychasts. He was known as an ecclesiastical writer, and we owe him much of what is known of the other elders of Kolitsou. A visitor describes him with gentleness and spiritual peace, and a poor cell with a few icons and holy books at the head of his bed.
In an interview of 1984 with Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan he said that he came to monasticism out of love for God, realising that mere theological knowledge without good deeds and life in Christ does not save but condemns. He came to Athos out of love, wishing to praise the God of love unceasingly and to help the spiritual and material renewal of the Romanian settlements there.