Hierarch
Saint John, Bishop of the Goths
May 19 Old CalendarJune 1 New Calendar
Life
He was a bishop in Georgia, but when the local Tatar khan began to torture Christians, he withdrew for four years among the Goths in Bessarabia. (The Gothic diocese was established in the time of Constantine the Great.) Having heard of the khan's death, he returned to his service and governed his flock zealously and in a manner pleasing to God. Before his death he said: "In forty days I depart to be judged together with the khan" (that is, through death he goes before the throne of God). And so it was. On the fortieth day he departed this life and went to the Lord. He reposed peacefully in the eighth century.
Before his death he said: "In forty days I depart to be judged together with the khan" (that is, through death he goes before the throne of God).
From the Prologue from Ochrid by St. Nikolai Velimirovich, May 19. Translated by Marcian Sakarya, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Also commemorated on May 19
The full reading for May 19 includes the hymn of praise, a reflection, a contemplation and a homily.
Open May 19 in the reader