Today, March 27, is the memorial of Saint John of Egypt.
John was born in the year 305. At 25, he became a monk guided by an elderly hermit. When the latter died, John went on a spiritual journey to some holy places.
He eventually lived—permanently—on the top of a cliff near Lycopolis, Egypt. He wanted to avoid human contact. From that gigantic rock, John carved three small cells for working, for praying, and for sleeping. He walled himself inside, with a little window that let him speak to people who gave him food and water. People looked forward to his preaching.
For 50 years, John ate only dried fruit and vegetables, not even eating bread and any cooked food. In those 50 years, too, he avoided physical contact with people, women especially, to avoid temptation. St. Augustine wrote that John cured a blind woman without ever meeting her in person—John simply appeared to her in a vision.
John spent the last three days of his life doing nothing but pray. He refused food and water. Those who discovered John’s body saw that he was in a prayer position when he expired.