On Monday, August 10, 2026, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the memory of Saint John the New from Romania at the Holy Monastery of Chozeba.
On this day, the Church, and specifically the Church of Jerusalem, honors the memory of Saint John, who left his homeland and traveled to the Holy Land, where he lived in the monasteries of the Jordan desert with holiness and strict asceticism, prayer, and fasting.
The Saint received pilgrims from Romania and Greece for confession and spiritual guidance, while simultaneously writing letters and spiritual writings, most of which were translated into the Greek language.
He was ordained a priest by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and spent most of his life at the Holy Monastery of Chozeba, where he passed away. According to Church tradition, God granted him the gift of foresight, and his holy relics are preserved incorrupt at the Monastery of his repentance. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem included him in its Menologion in 2016.
A vigil was held in his honor, presided over by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Mr. Theophilos. The Most Reverend was addressed by the Abbot and restorer of the Monastery, Archimandrite Fr. Konstantinos.
Serving alongside the Patriarch were the Elder Grand Chancellor, Archbishop Konstantinis Mr. Aristarchos; the Abbot and restorer of the Holy Monastery, Archimandrite Fr. Konstantinos; the Chozebite Archimandrite Fr. Chrysogonos; the visiting Archimandrite Fr. Panteleimon from the Church of Poland; and the Hierodeacon Prodromos.
A choir of experienced chanters, whom Fr. Konstantinos had invited, sang in the Byzantine style, while the service was attended by praying faithful who managed to overcome the access difficulties imposed by the Israeli army.
After the completion of the service, in the early morning hours, a meal was served in honor of the Patriarch and his delegation, with Mr. Theophilos blessing the small but vibrant monastic brotherhood of the Monastery.
Read the Patriarch's speech:
“Wonderful is God among His Saints”
Most Reverend Father and Lord,
Today, marking a decade since the official inclusion of our Holy and Theophoric Father, John the New of Chozeba, into the hagiographical records of our Holy Church, we stand here, filled with spiritual joy and exultation!
This very same Saint John, who shone in the desert of Chozeba like a fragrant lily of asceticism, commenting in his poems (Contemplative verses on Saint Nicodemus, Holy Anne's Skete, Chozeba 1955) on the official recognition of the holiness of Saint Nicodemus of Athos, indelibly etched the eternal truth of Orthodoxy:
“The canonization... is a sign that the Grace of the Holy Spirit has not departed from our Church...
In these years of spiritual paralysis and general indifference, our Holy Orthodox Church (however persecuted and deprived as it may be) does not cease to pour out its Grace upon the pious and those adorned with good works. To them, our Holy Church grants the crown of holiness, counting them among Her firstborn children...”
Borrowing the words that Saint John the New of Chozeba himself wrote in the aforementioned poem regarding Saint Nicodemus, we turn them reverently today toward His All-Holy Person:
“Now the whole race of Christians rejoices and the Holy Church dances, honoring her ascetic, the chosen one of Monasticism... The fact that the Holy Light descends upon our Church and the Saints flourish in the spiritual garden of Orthodoxy means that God is with us and the truth of our Holy Faith shines brighter than the sun toward the victory [of Christians]. Let us glorify God, for the line of Saints and Holy Fathers has never been broken, those who walk the narrow path of the Cross and lift up to heaven the offering of their ascetic struggles!”
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem