John the Hermit of Rasca

John was a hieroschemamonk, a disciple of Archbishop John the Saint of Rașca, and a hermit for more than thirty years in the Râșcuța valley, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He is named in the Romanian Paterikon and venerated by the faithful, without synodal canonization; the sources available to us give no day of commemoration.

He first struggled in the monastery of his vows, as long as his great teacher and spiritual father lived. After his repose, desiring the ascetic life, he withdrew into the mountain, to the valley of the Râșcuța stream, and lived as a hermit there for more than thirty years. His cell, of wood and earth, stood in a secluded clearing three kilometres above the monastery, called to this day John's Clearing. He had a few disciples, a small prayer chapel and a vegetable garden.

The Paterikon describes him as a known practitioner of the Jesus Prayer and a great intercessor for the Romanian people. It says he advanced so far in asceticism and contemplation of divine things that during prayer his face was lit and he knew things to come. The clearing remained a place of stillness for the monks of Rașca; it is thought that Archbishop John too retired here with his community, for fear of the Turks, when he was abbot at Rașca.

John struggled much, endured many temptations and gave his soul into Christ's arms, being counted among the venerable fathers.