I Hid Myself in the Desert and Tears - Saint John Jacob of Hozeva: Life, Miracles, Prayers

by L.S. Desartovici

Throughout the ages, the examples of the Saints’ lives were the brightest and most fruitful testament to the limitless power of Christ the Lord’s Gospel. And in the present, in a world weary from so much suffering, tears, and images of death, the lives of the Saints have the power to comfort those crushed by weaknesses or a multitude of worries, and to encourage us to continue on the narrow, yet eternally fruitful, path of the Cross. Among the ranks of the most wondrous Saints, who see and pray before the Most Holy Trinity at all times, is Venerable John Jacob the Hozevite—a Romanian by nationality, who fell asleep in the Lord in 1960 and was glorified by God through his holy relics and countless miracles. His life and works that were filled by the grace and love of the Holy Spirit made Saint John one of the most beloved ascetics among not only his words and verses that go to the depth of simple hearts, but also his relics and miracles shine with the glory of Christ the Lord’s Resurrection. As much as it was in our power, we tried to outline a succinct inner portrait of Venerable John Jacob, giving the reader the most significant moments of his earthly itinerary and the achievements of his ascetic striving. In the first part of this book, we cover Saint John’s life, illustrating it with numerous photographs of him as well as images of the places in which he struggled. We obtained the majority of the photographs depicting Saint John Jacob from the Athonite monk Ioan Șova of blessed memory, who was close to Schemamonk Ioanichie Pârâială, Saint John’s disciple. The second part of the present book is composed of testimonies given by people about Saint John’s miracles. In the third part of the book, we included many prayers to Saint John that we hope will comfort the hearts of those who sigh inconsolably and only show their tears to God.

174 pages

Published January 1, 2024