Repose of the Blessed John of Ustiug the Fool-for-Christ

John was born in the village of Pukhovo near Ustyug the Great, in the far north of Rus, to Savva and Natalia. From childhood he ate nothing on Wednesdays and Fridays and otherwise only bread and water. After his father's death his mother became a nun and then abbess, but John chose the life of a 'fool for Christ', one who plays the fool in public to hide his own devotion.

He settled by the cathedral of the Dormition in Ustyug, prayed through the night and by day ran about the streets half naked, enduring mockery and beatings. His Life tells that he lay unharmed on the coals of a hot stove in winter. He died on 29 May 1494 and was buried near the cathedral.