PILGRIMAGE TO THE PLACE OF REPOSE OF SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLY - 20 OF MAY 2023

Dear Sourozh Pilgrims

With the blessing of our ruling hierarch, His Grace Bishop Matthew of Sourozh,

everyone is warmly welcomed to participate in pilgrimage to the tomb of St John of Beverly. 

The pilgrimage will take place on 20th May 2023 (20th May is the saint's feast day).

Pilgrimage will be led by our Sourozh Priest, fr Anatoliy (Vihrov).

On this day we have got permission to celebrate Divine Liturgy in Beverley Minster where St John is entombed.

Program of the Pilgrimage

9.15 am - Hours.

9.30 am - Divine Liturgy,

12.00 am - Festive meal.

For your information:

Today, a majestic minster stands in the small Market Town of Beverley, situated between York and Hull. In the centre of the Minster are the entombed relics of St John of Beverley.

St John was born in Harpham, 18 miles northeast of Beverley, to a noble family in the mid-seventh century. He left home to study at the famous school in Canterbury under the direction of the Holy Abbot Hadrian and the Holy Archbishop Theodore. After completing his studies John returned to his native Yorkshire where he joined the double monastery of Whitby under the holy Abbess Hilda.

In 687, a new period in St John’s life began as he succeeded St Eata as Bishop of Hexham. Having served on the see of Hexham for eighteen years, St John became the Bishop of York in 705, following the repose of Bishop Bosa, another alumnus of the monastery of Whitby. St John stayed in York for the next 13 years of his life.

Over time, the saint's heart was drawn to the solitary life of a hermit. During one of his journeys the saint discovered a spot which captivated him. It was "a wild area rich in woods and waters with a small church in honour of the Apostle John the Evangelist standing here". The site subsequently became known as Beverly meaning "beaver stream" because many beavers lived in a stream nearby. Here St John obtained a small parcel of land, enlarged and decorated the church and converted it into a double monastery.

Thus, in his advanced old age, having served as a bishop for 31 years, St John retired to Beverley where he spent the 3 final years of his life in peace and quiet. The saint reposed on May 7, 721, on the eve of the feast day of St John the Evangelist, his monastery's patron saint, providential beyond a doubt. The veneration of St John began immediately after his death.

St John loved Beverley dearly and down the centuries he was called not St John of York, which would have been logical, but St John of Beverley. He remains the patron saint of the town up to the present day.

Sourozh Pilgrimage department - 07772222117 (Sergey).