“You write to me that fear dominates your mind and that you are feeling down. You are not the only one in sorrow. All people mourn and worry, each to a different degree. In any case, believe in Divine Providence. Your illness and tribulations are not random. God allows them, and His divine Providence toward us, the unworthy and sinners, surpasses our understanding. If the Lord cares for the birds of the air, how could He ever forget you, who were created in His image and likeness?”

Saint John (born Ivan Aleksejevitj Aleksejev) was the soul of the New Valamo Monastery. He acquired many spiritual children outside the Monastery, mainly among Russian émigrés. He was a diligent and consistent correspondent, and his letters to his spiritual children were published in Russian while he was still alive. After his death, they were translated into many languages, through which Fr. John is revealed as an important source of Orthodox piety.

Saint John fell asleep in the Lord on June 5, 1958, and was buried in the cemetery of the New Valamo Monastery. His grave has become a pilgrimage site for people mainly from Finland and Russia.