Saint Ioannikios the Great Resource Page

Venerable Ioannikios the Great of Olympus (Feast Day - November 4)

Verses

 

The earth received the words of Ioannikios,

Planting the Word of God on the earth.

On the fourth Ioannikios poured forth a sign. 

 

Saint Ioannikios the Great of Olympus (+ 845) 

 

Saint Ioannikios the Great of Olympus (St. Nikolai Velimirovich) 

 

Saint Ioannikios the Great of Olympus as a Model for our Lives

 

November: Day 4: Venerable Ioannikios the Great

 

Venerable Ioannikios the Great in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church 

 

The Chapel of Saint Ioannikios on the Island of Hydra

 

Venerable Ioannikios the Great in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

Venerable Ioannikios is known first of all to the entire faithful of the Church from the troparion composed by him, which is said daily during the Service of Compline (both Small and Great): “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit, O Holy Trinity, glory to You.” His departure from the world, as we saw in his synaxarion, was the result of his avoidance of human glory, a sign of the humility that possessed him, consequently of the presence of the glory of God within his heart, which also became his guide for the spiritual path that he had to follow. According to the Hymnographer, “you possessed humility," and therefore "you walked the path that leads, without return, to the heavenly city. For the Holy Spirit, who had rested in your heart, was your guide.” And this constitutes a paradox: how could a soldier, who fought with such bravery and killed so many enemies in war, have such grace of God in his heart?

November: Day 4: Venerable Ioannikios the Great

 

November: Day 4:
Venerable Ioannikios the Great

(The Sin of Envy)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Venerable Ioannikios, whose memory is celebrated today, lived in the second half of the 9th century A.D. and spent his early years in the royal service in a military rank. He was at first infected with the Iconoclast heresy, but, exposed by a clairvoyant monk who lived on Mount Olympus, he abandoned the heresy and all the vanity of the world, withdrew to this mountain, and here, through unremitting struggle with his passions, tireless labors, vigilance, and prayer, he attained holiness and became famous as a great ascetic and miracle worker. Many people came to the holy ascetic for edification and to ask him for his holy prayers and intercession before God; many spiritual bounties and blessings were poured out from the Saint. At the very beginning of his asceticism, having met two desert monks, the Venerable Ioannikios received from them, together with a prayerful blessing for the feat, a prophetic warning that towards the end of his life he would be tempted by envious people. This actually happened. On the same Olympus mountain, another ascetic by the name of Epiphanios was engaged in monastic exploits. Hearing about the growing glory of the Venerable Ioannikios, Epiphanios envied him and plotted to destroy him. Once, during a drought, when all the vegetation on the mountain had dried up and there were many dry trees around Ioannikios’ cell, Epiphanios set fire to the dry grass at the bottom of the mountain and the entire mountain quickly burst into flames. The Venerable Ioannikios owed his salvation to God alone: not only did he himself not suffer, but his cell miraculously remained unharmed amidst the flames. The meek and gentle Ioannikios, wanting to know the reason for Epiphanios' anger and to ask his forgiveness if he had sinned against him in any way, went to his ill-wisher. What power of malice is generated by envy! Seeing the Venerable Ioannikios, Epiphanios struck him with his staff, which had a sharp tip, wanting to kill him, but again he was put to shame by God, who saves the righteous from the malice of evil people.

The Military Exploits of Saint Ioannikios the Great as a Prelude to Spiritual Warfare

By St. Justin Popovich

At that time, the wicked Leo, the son of Constantine Kopronymos, infected with the iconoclastic heresy, reigned (775-780) over the Romans. This emperor began to collect young men who were distinguished by beauty and courage into his army throughout the empire. When those soldiers went out to gather other soldiers came to the region of Bithynia, they found in a village there that Ioannikios was young, handsome, stout, healthy, and fit for the army, so they took him with them. From that time, Ioannikios began to serve as a soldier, and was feared by his enemies because of his bravery, and loved by his fellow soldiers because of his meekness and calmness; but he was dearest to God, because he diligently fulfilled His holy commandments. However, the devil, envious of such a virtuous life of Ioannikios, seduced him into the iconoclastic heresy. At that time, this heresy created a great commotion in the Church of God through the iconoclast emperors: holy icons were thrown out of the temples of God, and those who venerated them were persecuted. And Ioannikios was so infatuated with that heresy that he did not even want to hear about holy icons. But God, who desires everyone to be saved, saved him from that too in the following way.