John the Barefoot (Rastorguev)

Blessed John the Barefoot (Rastorguev), a fool for Christ of Kyiv, died in 1849 and was buried at the Shchekavytsia cemetery. He was glorified locally in the Kyiv diocese: the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided on his glorification on 19 June 2014, and the service of glorification was held on 29 December 2015 (16 December by the old calendar), when he is also commemorated.

He was known for works of mercy and for his folly for Christ. With the money of wealthy people he founded a shelter for the crippled, beggars and the homeless, where he received and fed about two hundred people a day. His unfailing rule was to go to the evening service on the eve of Sunday without a penny in his pocket. He died in 1849, aged fifty, and was buried at the Shchekavytsia cemetery.

In the atheist era his remains were moved to the Old Believer section of the cemetery, where they rest today. With the blessing of Metropolitan Onuphry, the relics will not be raised. The Synod examined the life, labours and popular veneration of the blessed one, blessed his local glorification within the Kyiv diocese, and approved his icon, troparion, kontakion and prayer. On 29 December 2015, at the Tithe Monastery (Desyatynny) in Kyiv, Metropolitan Onuphry served the Liturgy with the rite of glorification, and the life of the new saint was read by Bishop Damian of Fastiv.