1049: Lazaros of Galesion and the ascetic Ioannes of Sardis

The ascetic Ioannes of Sardis had putrid saliva dribbling out of his mouth, constantly soaking his tunic, where there were festering maggots. When Lazaros was told about his state by the monk Gerasimos, he sent him a cloth to wipe his mouth, but Ioannes sent it back, asking for Lazaros' prayers instead. Lazaros then sent him some leather which kept him dry. Lazaros would send visitors to see him, as he lay like a new Job on a stone couch, his legs down to his feet having putrefied and infested with maggots while a sore on his shoulder exuded an unbearable stench. During a violent rainstorm he refused to be moved out of his cell when the monk Gerasimos asked him, and remained bed-ridden for three years, but for six months before his death (just after Lazaros himself), he experienced periods of ecstasy during which he would lie unconscious

People involved

• Gerasimos 101 Γεράσιμον Gerasimos, monk at Theotokos on Mount Galesion
• Ioannes 304 Ἰωάννης Ioannes of Sardis, ascetic at Theotokos on Mount Galesion
• Lazaros 104 Λάζαρος Lazaros of Mount Galesion