Conversation between St. Iakovos and St. John the Russian

St. Iakovos went to venerate the relics of St. John the Russian which is in Evia. He saw the saint alive.

The two saints, St. Iakovos and St. John the Russian, were talking. St. Iakovos said ot St. John as a compliment: " So many pilgrims arrive to see you, my St. John. You must be really happy?"

St. John the Russian replied: "The people are many, father Iakovos. But the faithful are only a few. The world is full of impiety, immorality and unfaithfulness. For this world to be fixed, there must be a war."

St. Iakovos was upset when he hear these words because he was a refugee from Asia Minor. He had experienced war ever since his childhood.

"No more war," he tells St. John. "No more wards, a lifetime of warfare."

"In 1922, the Asia Minor disaster, the Turks sent us away from our homes."

"Then, the Second World War. Then the civil war in Greece, communists against right wings, they were killing each other."

"Then we had so many disasters in Cyprus, Russia, the whole world. Why war again?"

St. John the Russien replied: "There has to be a war, there has to be a war, there has to be a war. There is no other way to fix humanity."