Garden of lights brookside gardens

Does anyone know of a reliable source? I tried some single source Ethiopian beans from a roaster with very good reviews and it was flat and kinda sour unlike some delicious beans from Ethiopia that I've tried before. The beans were very light colored too. I think I prefer a darker roast and have had Guatemalan beans before that I loved.

Hello all. I appreciate any assistance. I had obtained scipio and spent the runestones to max his specialties before they released the assistant generals. I coin a little, but not heavily, so multiple copies of some of the premium ground generals is probably not something that I can count on. I already have 1 Elise. 1 Ludwig 2 turene 2 scipio 5 Trajan I have not ascended any ground generals yet. I am currently using Trajan as primary and scipio as assistant. I have not yet spent many runestones on Trajan, and I have not ascended him. Just been trying to figure out my best way to go before spending all those stones and bloods of ares. My question: best scipio combo for a light coiner?

I don't even know where to start.
We both go to the same university, where we met, and were together for four months total. In the beginning I always had a lot of fun around him and his friends, but I knew that we probably weren't going to end up working out, especially because of the long distance over summer.
The term 'himbo' perfectly describes this man: his lack of general knowledge is astounding. The first time I met him, he didn't know what the word homophobic meant, he didn't know Montana is a state, and he didn't know what paprika was. Throughout our relationship more of these shocking discoveries came to light: he didn't know what a hate crime was, and has almost zero basic historical education. My personal favorite was that he could not name the seven continents. He guessed first The United States, then Alaska, and then corrected Alaska to Argentina. He did end up figuring out Antartica, props to him, but I feel understanding his absolute stupidity is necessary for the story.
At college, anytime I brought him around my friends, he was horrible. Inexplicably horrible. He was on his phone the whole time, did not engage in group conversation, and at times, was actively rude towards my friends. I ignored the red flag, and talked to him about the problem, hoping he would change his behavior (he said he would), but in the few times that he came around my friends I felt incredibly embarrassed by him. His excuse was always that they aren't 'his type of people' and even went to far as to call them obnoxious.
Fast forward to summer, he comes to visit my family for the first, and stays for a week. He treated my family the same way he treated my friends, paying them no mind, and thinking only about himself. Throughout his stay, he cried 3 separate times, in a seemingly manipulative way, managing to end every day on a tense and sour tone. Almost like he wanted to be miserable, and make me miserable. This trip my parents also generously got us Universal tickets, and he did not even thank them, even after I reminded him to. On top of this, he left his stuff scattered around my house, and generally made a mess, which doesn't necessarily bother me, but it was definitely disrespectful.
The next time he visited for just a weekend, but it is where the story gets really interesting. He brought into my house chocolate square edibles, and left them in his bag on the ground. The day prior, I talked to him about the importance of closing my bedroom door (where he was staying) to keep the dogs out, but I was not aware of the weed at this time. Come Sunday, my four girlfriends are at my house hanging out with both of us, and he is acting the same way towards my friends that he always did. Then I noticed my dog acting really weird. My mom wasn't home at the time, so first I called her to get home ASAP, about 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes I was with my extremely sick dog and 7 year old sister on the couch hoping that my dog didn't die before my mom could take her to the vet. My boyfriend walked right past me, and didn't come to sit with me, despite my obvious concern and need for help, until I called him over. He stood behind me, pet the dog twice, and then went into my room to call his friend and watch Fortnite youtube edits.
When my mom got home, she took the dog to the vet, where they first ran a drug panel. It tested positive for THC, caffeine, and Benzos. Remember when I said he left his stuff everywhere- he left packets of RunGum (caffeinated gum for running), and chewed up pieces around my house that my dog got into. The dog also obviously got into his edibles. He still won't admit to the benzos. Before my mom called me to tell me about what showed up on the tests, or give any update, my boyfriend was frantic. He was yelling "NO!", and "FUCK!" to himself. I didn't really know what to make of it, but looking back, it's clear he knew that whatever happened was his fault, yet he didn't speak up to tell me despite the fact that my dog would have definitely died without the wonders of modern medicine and $5,000 in vet bills. By the time my mom calls me with an update about the drug panel, my boyfriend is crying hysterically, making it really hard to get any pertinent information out of him regarding the drugs.
Already this situation is not ideal, and his reaction to it made the problem much worse. I don't say this to be rude, I know that people cannot control their emotions but DAMN I have never seen anyone cry as much as this man does. At this point, my parents want him to be gone before they get back from the vet, but I can't get him to leave because of the emotional turmoil he's going through. I ended up getting my aunt to come over and help me calm him down, because I seriously could not do it alone; he was in crisis. Finally he leaves after his two hour breakdown, but of course this experience caused significant issues in our relationship. He proves disrespectful and self-serving at every intersection.
At this point, my whole family and all my friends wants me to break up with him, and they are certain that we will not work out. As a side note, earlier in the weekend, my boyfriend did not help my mom bring in the groceries, and stole the aux from her when she went to bring the groceries in. In my mind, this is worse than the dog. It was intentional. I agree with them, and after a week, I muster up the courage to call him and break up officially, though we had been rocky, and I think he knew it was coming. I said the words 'I want to break up with you' three times, and each time it got ignored. He begged me to at least go on a break for a few weeks. To give us a chance. I conceded, and decided to sit on it. Much to my surprise, the next day at 3pm I receive the following text from him: "Its over. I'm breaking up with you." I responded, "you're texting me this?", and he said (and I quote), "I can pull the trigger unlike you. Neva cared." NEVA CARED????? That's why you cried for hours?
Well a few hours after he sent those messages, he told me he started to really regret his actions. He called his friends, and they all told him he was stupid, and then he told me he cried again for another 2 hours. He called me later that night and begged me to get back together and go back onto the break, to which I obviously declined. I told him I would not be getting back together with him, but that I would talk to him in two weeks.
This is where, once again, the story becomes really funny. Yesterday I received a tag on a TikTok video from his account posted two years ago. The comment was asking if we were still together, but I thought it was really strange because I never met the person, and they were tagging me on a super old video. My boyfriend, of course responded to the comment and said "we are broken up as of now, but we are going to talk in two weeks". This struck me as really fishy. I called my boyfriends best friend about it, and we came to the conclusion that it was my boyfriends own alt account, and he crafted the comments to get my attention, and probably to remind me that he's thinking about it. Extremely manipulative, but also soooooo funny. That was my final straw. I knew I needed to tell my story, because everything that happened was so fucking crazy.
Also, just for fun, he told me the reason he didn't interact with my friends at my house is because they are "reasonably attractive and he knows how he is with girls, and he didn't want to accidentally flirt with them". He also has no female friends, and no desire to have any. He told me he "wasn't dating me for my looks" and that he doesn't want to date anyone "too attractive". This is the tip of the iceberg, but honestly I don't regret any of it, just for the humor of it all.
​
tl;dr
My college boyfriend came to visit me over the summer and ended up accidentally letting my dogs get into his edibles stash, and then cried for hours (not the first time). Then a few days later we decided to take a break, but instead he broke up with me over text the next day saying (quote) "neva cared", only to call me later in the night full of regret. I did not take him back, but since then he has tagged me online using his own alt accounts to get my attention, and called me via his other friends. Should I be flattered?

I went in for my six week check up about three weeks ago, where my surgeon told me I had one pesky stitch on my cuff that wasn’t healing right. This was causing some very light spotting and some on/off minor pain. She sent me on my way after scheduling a follow up and telling me to continue pelvic rest and watch for signs of infection.
Well this past week I’ve had more spotting and slightly more pain, but with added fatigue issues and low appetite. I thought it was from a trip I took last weekend where I walked a lot. Went in for my third postop appointment today and she saw brownish-yellowish discharge on my cuff that was concerning enough to send off to pathology. A bit worrisome, but my healing has been very straightforward so far, so I don’t have many complaints.
I’m in bed waiting for my antibiotics to come in to my pharmacy so I can pick them up. She prescribed Cleocin 300mg for 10 days, 4x a day. Hopefully pathology doesn’t come back with anything worse, but we’ll see! I have a very small chance of needing something stronger to clear it up.
So all told, i didn’t have any typical signs of infection, such as fever or odor. But I did have some brownish discharge, low energy, and low appetite.
Just wanted to share for anyone else curious about postop infections past the 6 week mark. I go back in on June 19 for my fourth check up to see if anything else needs to be done or prescribed.

Just had one of my favourite type of dreams, namely the above sort.
It resulted from a 'where do i live, have lived dream' and lasted only shortly but seemed fun.
It took the form of a group of X-Men style clad furred beings confronting some establishment (hotel) on "what happened to this place" to which the people working there (seemingly recognizing them) being all 'don't wanna say anything in fear of my superiors' with a superior deliberately hidden from camera coming out somewhere and telling them it is none of their business and the old leader of the group then telling them they'll make it their business 'again'.
Cut (flashback) to a messy basement showing the same group waking up from an implied long sleep badly in need of a haircut. (there was an implied feeling here that there was a gummy bears tv-show influence with someone 'asking' the question where their friends are likely now and the in-dream feeling having that person be a grown up Sunny from gummy bears)
We cut to a nearby inner city basketball court next to a small park with a guy in a white version of a Spawn-cape and white bodysuit but visible face (strong implication of this guy looking like Cavin from gummy bears but i think in-dream his face was always hidden by sunlight/turned away), crouching on a basket pole, next cut showing him using Onmyōji style paper seals to fight, by capturing beings, namely an animated tree in the sequence, with a net made of light coming from said seals as the seals imbed themselves around in the ground around it.
He talks with one of the group (implied to be the leader) saying that -insert name here- (implied to be the groups resident old guy, and giving a feeling of Hudson from gargoylez) "Had said that your group was only 50years off from their 'hatching'/'planned emergence' (concept didn't translate well in dream). Though I also get the idea that only 17 years have passed 'since then'
It is here the feeling of this being a remake/sequel to a previous show is solidified as a rapid burst of 'images that fans should remember' plays (but nothing I can remember, and the feeling delivered was 'look at all these villains' to my recollection)
We then cut to a guy in a -cant see shit-level dark basement looking towards a stereotypic sidewalk level arched window (on of those coal-holes) and laments about his being. We transition to a fantasy of his where he colors what looks like a slow pan of wall street building in different colors warping them as he does so and I get the impression of a name: 'Color wizard' with an accompanying idea of 'This guy used to be a joke villain'.
He calms down again and turns around in the basement as we get image of heavily scarred old woman's face a feet feet away asking him 'If he'll avenge hemake them pay for here' (idea here was a bit garbled) to which he answers 'of Course mother' and the accompanying idea is 'Oh no, he is still under the thrall of his mother' with the potential idea of (how is she still alive)
Sudddenly though the scene changes as the basement gets illuminated and we see he is actually lying on a rack (clothed) and the nother-face turns into that of a dominatrix straddling him, pulling his neck via a chain as she arcs upwards from the previous low position as both smile. Color wizard reaches up to her and as he caresses her cheek with his finger tips color and the woman herself start to slough off of her figure at an accelerating pace until she turns into dust-like particulate of color falling on him. He stands up and another woman, looking exactly the same feature wise, but in different, clothes (a dress I think) hands him a cloak as the motion of standing up removes the remains of the previous woman from him (or part gets absorbed).
Cut to color wizard in a police-chief office being asked about the new appearance of the X-Men furries (sorry quickest name I could get) to which he makes a big show of going 'Nope, I don't need this, please ask someone else' and 'I had to endure enough back then, during the ... upheaval, I don't need this' as he leaves the station but the implied feeling and quick shot of his face says 'I'll get my revenge'.
Wake here - (explanation long, but only lasted 3-4 minutes in-dream at most I wanna say)

Hi hello,
I pulled Bronya early from standard yesterday (yay!) and I am currently trying to build her up. I have Tingyun built, and I have not invested in my Asta. So far I have Carve the Moon Weave the Clouds on Tingyun, and Dance Dance Dance on Bronya. I’ve heard Memories of the Past is great on Bronya, but mine it’s not levelled and currently being held by Asta. So, should I swap the light cones around? Should I invest in a new light cone even if my resources are getting stretched very very thin?
(Tingyun and Bronya are 61/70 with lvl 60 light cones)
For team building: I plan on using her mostly in my Seele team but I also plan on using her where I can, in case that affect which light cone is better.
Thanks guys!

Hi, I have a P365XL that I'm wanting to sell but not sure how much I should ask for. Its lightly used, maybe 200 rounds through no scratches or blemishes etc. I have 2 12 round mags, 4 15 round mags, a brand new Wilson Combat XL grip module, and a manual safety conversion kit. Any idea how much I should ask for all of it/best way I can sell it?

My garden is so sad. And I am also sad. We need rain!!!

Hi, I have a P365XL that I'm wanting to sell but not sure how much I should ask for. Its lightly used, maybe 200 rounds through no scratches or blemishes etc. I have 2 12 round mags, 4 15 round mags, a brand new Wilson Combat XL grip module, and a manual safety conversion kit. Any idea how much I should ask for all of it/best way I can sell it?

16th of August, 2025
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - In June, Poland sparked controversy when the leadership of the two main opposition coalitions were arrested on charges of supporting terrorism and later on charges were added on for taking bribes from a defense manufacturer. Afterwards investigations were also opened into the ruling PiS party, the defense firm Mesko, and the Armament Agency.
​
The headquarters of the KO and The Left coalition were raided in mid-June by Warsaw police leading to the arrest of 71 individuals belonging to both political alliances. The raids were under a pretext of anti-terrorism, after it had come to light that a member of The Left, Jakub Klimek, had financed a 2023 extremist attack against an office of the ruling Law and Justice party. Jakub Klimek was in a standoff with the police at the time after he took his family hostage and refused to turn himself in. The police siege ended after two hours with Klimek’s suicide.
The police have released an official timeline of events, where they claim that four hours before the raids, they got access to evidence in an ongoing trial concering one of the 2023 attack’s perpetrators, which saw additional funds sent to the ’’Fists of Freedom’’ (FOF) far-left terror organization from both KO and The Left after FOF had raided the PiS office. After getting this information, they immediately started communicating with a judge in Warsaw for a warrant, which they received 2 hours later.
In the raids they found evidence of over $754k sent by both coalitions to the members of the FOF and their families, presumably in exchange for them not revealing their parties’ hands in the attack. Documents were also uncovered which confirmed the initial attack was also funded by the parties, but was meant to take place without anyone getting harmed, instead to retrieve documents with proof of the alliances taking a $2.3 mn bribe from the defense firm Mesko in 2023 for purchasing additional Piorun air defense missiles. These documents were being used by PiS as blackmail in exchange for political concessions and support for their legislation.
The documents proving KO and Left relation to the $852 mn purchase of air defense missiles in 2024 were destroyed, but separate documents remained, alluding to a deal made between Mesko and the coalitions for expressing parliamentary and political support for increased arms purchases from the company in exchange for a hefty monetary payment, remained in tact and were analyzed by the police.
22 of the 71 arrested individuals from KO and The Left were charged, either with supporting extremism or taking bribes, or both. The charged individuals are some of the highest-ranking politicians in the coalitions, including Krzysztof Gawkowski, the parliamentary club leader of The Left, and Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski, the current mayor of Warsaw and member of KO.
Investigations were also launched into Mesko, the Armament Agency, and PiS for their supposed blackmail. The investigation into PiS is ongoing, but a Warsaw police department spokesperson stated: “It is very unlikely that we see any arrests here…the most we can expect is a fine no more than three million Zloty (note: around $715k).”
The investigation into Mesko uncovered documents which proved that KO and Left took a bribe from them in 2023 for an additional purchase of Piorun air defense systems. 3 employees of Mesko were charged with bribery.
The third investigation launched in June was into the Armament Agency, which is the main body for military procurement in Poland. This investigation was closed two weeks ago with the police reporting that definitive evidence was gained that showed the employees of the Armament Agency were pressured into the purchase by KO and Left politicians with threats including losing their job.
The Armament Agency reopened the order case with Mesko for revisiting. The deal was originally for 800 Piorun launchers and 2500 missiles costing $842 mn in total between 2024 and 2029, but to date 280 launchers have been delivered along with 900 missiles. The Polish government has already paid $311 mn of the total cost to Mesko and the Armament Agency announced the rest of the deal will be cancelled and Mesko will be fined for $10 mn.
All of this comes as Polish presidential elections are slated to take place in October, and now, as KO and The Left have seen catastrophic collapse in support, both polling at around 10%, PiS has a much greater chance of victory even as they were expected to win even before the entire fiasco. The latest AP poll puts a potential PiS candidate astronomically high at 70%.
The events have been watched closely by Western analysts who are scared of a democratic dictatorship, where one party gains such a large majority that there is not effective opposition to them in the government.

Why do people feel uncomfortable with pulling into the intersection to yield on a left turn here? It seems whenever there is a light with a flashing yellow left turn (which is flashing for a substantial amount of time, say a minute) cars stay behind the line and do not make an effort to turn or get themselves prepared in the intersection. Some seem to treat as if it’s a red left. Am I missing something?

Just finished the game and I was blown away by the finale. The Ganondorf duels were really amazing and really tested your skill with the blade. Fighting alongside the sages was just as cool. And I loved the fight against the Demon Dragon. Though it was less of a challenge than I wanted it to be, I still experienced some difficulty. And it really got me invested. Fighting alongside Zelda made this fight so much better. And when I was jumping down for the final blow, I screamed "GANON!" at the top of my lungs, knowing that this would be the end.
I knew that Zelda would be reversed to her human form. At first it seemed a bit weird. Yet, considering that the Secret Stones came from the Zonai, the Light and Time power in play channeled through Link who had part of Zelda inside the arm, and that this is a game where stuff like Secret Stones, Zonai Magic, Gloom and other inexplicable magic exists, I really don't mind the lack of explanation for Zelda's transformation. Flying down and trying to catch Zelda was just amazing.
I will do a written in depth review of this game. But I just had to geek out about Tears of the Kingdom its ending. TotK gave me so many memorable moments. So many things to learn, to explore, to encounter etc.
All this is why I play video games. This is the Experience I seek!

18M, 186cm/83kg, fit, going to ride mostly road with occasional light gravel, budget is 1600 euros, looking at new and used (would prefer new because of fitment and size help + so I don't buy something that needs lots of maintenance). Currently considering: Giant TCR Advanced and Cannodale Synapse Aluminum 105. My wants are: disc brakes, wider tires (28–32 mm), aluminum, and comfortable geometry. I would also like to "test out" road cycling so I don't spend lots of money and then end up not liking it. If anyone has any ideas on how I could do that, then please let me know (I don't have any other bikes, only an older BMX). Thank you for the help.

I think this gear needs to have its siphon % change depending on attack properties. Otherwise making it balanced for when Vyce simultaneously hits every enemy with her projectile will make it really weak for when Luna, Dubu, or Juno hit the maximum* of one target with their primaries.
The simplest way to balance it would be to make the %lifesteal increase depending on the strength of the hit "apply a debuff that steals a % of enemy hp on hit over 2.5s. 3% for light hits, and 5% for medium or heavy hits."
Alternatively, it could divide its lifesteal between affected targets. "Steal 3% per second, divided among debuffed targets. applies debuff for 2s on hit". This would be the worse fix, in my opinion, since it makes lifesteal less predictable and is unnecessarily harsh on melee hits that are harder to hit multiple targets with to begin with.
*Dubu and Juno technically have two hits to their primaries, but 99% of the time both will hit the same player in quick succession if anything.
Anyways, I think changing it to use either of these systems would make it more balanced. A lot of strikers with longer cooldowns or a lack of good AOE hits can't make as good use of the wand as is.
Other ideas and discussion are welcome.
Clarification:
Hit strength based lifesteal:
The first idea may be confusing to those not familiar with the types of hits. All you need to understand, though, is that with this new Siphon Wand, hits that don't knock back players apply a weaker lifesteal debuff. If you want to understand the types of hits, they are generally as follows. Hits that briefly slow you are light hits. Hits that knock you back , but are quickly recovered from, are medium hits. Hits that Knock you back, and leave you in a "hurt" pose for a half second or so are heavy hits.
Lifesteal divided between targets:
Basically, if Estel hits two enemies with her beam attack, it would divide the usual % of lifesteal between them, as opposed to applying the full lifesteal % to both. This would mostly be for balancing Vyce's primary, which can very easily deal light hits to multiple enemies that are sort of clustered together. Most other attacks are harder to hit multiple foes with. Also, some astute readers may realize things get messy with foes having debuff durations that overlap but aren't synchronized. By rephrasing "6% over 2 seconds" to "3% per second, for 2 seconds" you can have the rate per second fluctuate as enemy debuffs overlap, to divide lifesteal per second between them when neccesary.
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We are almost going to hit the 1 year mark. We understand each other and mostly agree on the same things. I have dark skin and often times when I think about my future partner... I've always envisioned him to be a light skin tone and been into interracial marriage. It's not a kink but just something that I always thought of. My partner has dark skin too but he's from a different country and we are different ethnicities. He has an amazing personality and I couldn't wish for anything more but he also isn't a good looking person and doesn't take care of his skincare and overall hygiene because he says that it shouldn't matter. Other than his physical appearance. There are some minor differences that we have We don't really have similar goals in life and he doesn't earn much while living paycheck to paycheck and have different thoughts when it comes to practicing religion. I understand that being in love with someone goes beyond the borders of how they look and instead care for them on how they are as a person but I want to get some thoughts about why I feel this way. I have been feeling this way ever since we started getting serious. It comes of as me being an asshole but sometimes I can't help but think if I should really continue this when I cannot really appreciate his physical appearance.
How do I fix this issue and do I tell him?
TL:DR I don't feel physically attracted to my boyfriend

hey everyone. i had posted here two weeks ago after i was sexually assaulted on a date. first and foremost i want to apologize due to my post being weird, confusing, and concerning. but that’s what i love the most about this sub, is that we’ve all been there and i never feel judged.
a lot has happened. i did not, and still have not relapsed. the day after the assault i found the courage to call my mom. just saying what happened out loud was very uncomfortable for me, not to mention going to the hospital to get the rape kit done and having to tell the story in explicit detail, bag up my clothes and threw up because of all the post-exposure meds. i didn’t sleep for several days. i attempted to go back to work, and at first it was alright, i was able to get through a couple of shifts, but eventually i wasn’t able to feign being strong anymore. i cracked, and asked my boss for some days off so i could try to sleep, relax, feel my emotions and center myself. for those days i left the city to see my close friends in a nearby town. the trip made me feel a million times better. i felt light, the air was clean, we hiked and enjoyed nature and had so much fun. i’m crying just remembering how strong the relief was. like i could breathe again. it went so well that i applied for a job at the same place my friend works, and with her help, got an interview.
but when i came back it all flooded into me again. my first shift back at work, i had a mental breakdown and my manager found me in the back crying so hard i was dry heaving. i told her everything. she hugged me and helped me get on the computer to see how much sick time i have left. i had enough to be able to take a week off, but when i mentioned it to my boss, he told me that because i had already missed several shifts in a row i would need to apply for a leave of absence. it is not paid. whatever, at this point i don’t care. i take the leave of absence. i still haven’t gone back and i don’t think i will.
the interview in the other town had gone well and they recently reached out asking when i was available to start. i told them i needed two weeks. i move on the 10th and start work on the 12th.
it is all incredibly fast paced and sudden, but i am so excited to go and be with my lovely friends in a smaller town where i can enjoy myself, spend time outside, see beautiful scenery, and without triggers everywhere i look. i don’t really know what else to say except i am so excited to see the beautiful things the world has to offer, rather than the dark and the ugly. i’m scared, terrified actually, but i have so much hope.
thank you to this lovely community! <3

(from oca.org)
The Holy Great Martyr John the New of Sochi, lived in the fourteenth century in the city of Trebizond. He was a merchant, devout and firm in his Orthodoxy, and generous to the poor.
Once, he happened to be sailing on a ship while pursuing his trading activities. The captain of the ship was not Orthodox, but got into an argument about the Faith with Saint John. Having been vanquished by the saint’s words, the captain resolved to make trouble for him when they got to Belgrade. During the ship’s stay at Belgrade, the captain went to the city ruler, a fire-worshipper, and suggested that on his ship was a studious man who also desired to become a fire-worshipper.
The city ruler invited Saint John to join the fire-worshippers and renounce his faith in Christ.
The saint prayed secretly, calling on the help of Him Who said, “When they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you shall speak, neither do you premeditate; but whatsoever will be given you in that hour, speak that, for it is not you that speaks, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). And the Lord gave him the courage and understanding to counter all the claims of the impious and firmly confess himself a Christian. After this, the saint was so fiercely beaten with rods that his entire body was lacerated, and the flesh came off in pieces. The holy martyr thanked God for being found worthy to shed his blood for Him and thereby wash away his sins.
Afterwards they put him in chains and dragged him away to prison. In the morning the city ruler ordered the saint brought forth again. The martyr came before him with a bright and cheerful face. The intrepid martyr absolutely refused to deny Christ, denouncing the governor as a tool of Satan. Then they beat him again with rods, so that all his insides were laid bare.
The gathering crowd could not bear this horrible spectacle and they began to shout angrily, denouncing the governor for tormenting a defenseless man. The governor, having the beating stopped, gave orders to tie the Great Martyr to the tail of a wild horse to drag him by the legs through the streets of the city. Residents of the Jewish quarter particularly scoffed at the martyr and threw stones at him. Finally, someone took a sword and cut off his head.
Saint John’s body with his severed head lay there until evening, and none of the Christians dared to take him away. By night a luminous pillar was seen over him, and a multitude of burning lamps. Three light-bearing men sang Psalms and censed the body of the saint. One of the Jews, thinking that these were Christians coming to take up the remains of the martyr, grabbed a bow and tried to shoot an arrow at them, but he was restrained by the invisible power of God, and became rigid.
In the morning the vision vanished, but the archer continued to stand motionless. Having told the gathering inhabitants of the city about the vision and what was done to him by the command of God, he was freed from his invisible bonds. Having learned about the occurrence, the ruler gave permission to bury the body of the martyr in the local church. This occurred between the years 1330 and 1340. There is some question about the year of the saint’s martyrdom. Saint Νikόdēmos of the Holy Mountain gives the year as 1642, while others say it was 1492.
The captain who had betrayed Saint John repented of his deed, and decided secretly to convey the relics to his own country, but the saint appeared in a dream to the priest of the church, and prevented this. After seventy years the relics were transferred to Sochi, the capital of the Moldo-Valachian principality, and placed in the cathedral church.
Troparion — Tone 3
Your holy martyr John, O Lord, through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries, and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. Through his intercessions, save our souls!
Kontakion — Tone 2
You appeared as a bright star announcing Christ with your radiance, which is repulsive to this world, O Martyr John; extinguishing the allure of false gods, you enlighten the faithful, always interceding for us all.