St John the Russian
St John the Russian of Capadoccia Saint John the Russian was born around 1690-1693, during the reign of Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725) . When John was a brave young boy he served as a soldier in the war against the Ottoman Empire in the years 1711-1718. During his military service, he frequently used the religious teachings that he received from his family as being a strict Orthodox Christian. As the war continued intensively near the Castle of Azov, the Ottoman army captured him as a prisoner. He was sent, just like the other prisoners to Istanbul. At that time, Omer Esat (Eset) who served as Janissary Agha in the Ottoman army took with him as his slave to his hometown, Prokopion (now Ürgüp) near Caesarea of Cappadocia. Turkey was filled with a multitude of Muscovite slaves who groaned under the harsh Muslim yoke. Sadly, the majority of these loathsome wretches, to lighten their burden, denied the Faith of Christ and embraced Islam. Possessing that knowledge whi...