Writer of the famous Ladder. He came from somewhere else to Mount Sinai as a sixteen-year-old boy and stayed there, first as a follower, then as a hermit, and finally as a Sinai abbot until he was eighty years old, when he died around 563. His biographer, the monk Danil, says of him: "He ascended in body to Mount Sinai and in spirit to Mount Heaven." He spent nineteen years in obedience with his spiritual father, Martyrius. Anastasius of Sinai, having once seen young John, prophesied about him that he would be abbot of Sinai. After the death of his priest, Jovan retired to a cave where he spent twenty years in difficult feats. His disciple Moses fell asleep one day in the shade of a large stone. While praying in his cell, Jovan saw that his disciple was in danger, and began to pray to God for him. When Moses later came, he fell on his knees and thanked his spiritual father for saving him from certain death. And he told how in his dream he heard Jovan calling him, so he jumped, and at that moment the stone fell. If he hadn't jumped, the stone would have killed him. At the insistence of the brothers, Jovan was accepted as abbot, and managed the salvation of human souls with zeal and love. He once heard a rebuke from some, as if he was verbose. Without getting angry at all, John kept silent and did not speak a word for a whole year, until his brothers begged him to speak and continue to teach them with his God-given wisdom. Once, six devotees came to the Sinai monastery. At the table, everyone saw a nimble young man in a Jewish suit, who served and commanded and assigned other servants. Suddenly that young man disappeared. And when everyone thought and asked, John said: don't look for him, the prophet Moses will serve in his place. During his silence in the cave, Jovan wrote many useful books, the most famous of which is the Ladder, which is still widely read, in which he describes the method of ascending the soul to God as if by a ladder. Before his death, Jovan appointed his biological brother, Georgi, as abbot. But this one grieved a lot because of parting with Jovan. Then Jovan told him that if he was worthy to be close to God in the next world, he would pray that he, Georgije, would also be taken to heaven that same year. That's how it happens. After ten months, Georgije also fell asleep and settled among the citizens of heaven like his big brother Jovan.

Saint Evula. The holy prophet Joada (Joel). Holy priest-martyr Zacharias, bishop of Corinth. Easter fast.