How John the fool of Christ saved a woman from adultery

Nicoletta then took a long sip of coffee and began to tell her story with Crazy John... 

"One evening" she said "perhaps ten or more years ago, I saw a young man wandering aimlessly in our neighborhood. I watched him purposely, because I thought he was a burglar. Suddenly, I noticed Crazy John coming out of his building in a hurry and quickly walking in the direction of the only ground-floor house in the neighborhood, where a four-member family was living as tenants.

The fool sat himself squarely on the steps of the front yard, and began to chant the hymns to the Panaghia out loud. He especially liked to chant  "O Virgin pure...."

Two hours went by, but the fool continued to chant hymns. I went out and told him to stop. Then I noticed the young man walk hurriedly away. The fool got up and went inside the house. I followed him out of curiosity, to see what was going on. I must admit that my mind went to something sinister. I rang the doorbell and a young woman opened the door.

Crazy John was seated at the kitchen table, eating something the young woman had served him.  Next to him stood her five year old son. Turning to the boy, the fool began to tell him that one of God's ten commandments is the one that says "Thou shalt not commit adultery".

--"You know Georgie, adultery is not something that God likes. Adultery opens a gate for Satan, who then enters the home and wreaks havoc. That's when families break up, and sicknesses and pain and hatred come in through the windows and drive out God's blessing that was given with the sacrament of Marriage.  Man and woman - like your daddy and mommy - become one flesh with marriage dear Georgie; one body. With adultery, it's like cutting off your arm."

I have to admit that made me very angry.... 

--"What on earth are you telling that poor child, you ungodly wretch?" I said.  The young woman burst into tears and said between sobs "He's saying it about me; leave him alone - don't scold him...."

But Crazy John quickly got up and left. The young woman then confessed that she had planned to cheat on her husband with a young man she had met in a cafeteria that she had been to with a friend of hers for coffee. She told her that the young man was supposed to meet her at her place, thus taking advantage of her husband's absence, as he was out of town on business, but God protected her and the young man didn't come.

"I narrowly escaped a huge disaster, dear Nicoletta.  I would have broken up my family and my marriage. When Crazy John knocked at the door, I thought it was that young man, and I wouldn't have had the strength to send him away.  Fortunately God saved me from committing a terrible sin...."

--"It was the fool who saved you" I said to her, "because the young man had indeed come this far, but the fool was sitting on your doorstep outside for hours, chanting incessantly, while the young man was pacing outside your door. Didn't you hear him?" I asked her.....

--"I had heard" - the baker interposed - "that John wanted to become a priest, ever since he was a child. But then came the German occupation, followed by the civil war, so he never managed to finish his schooling. He only managed to learn to read and write a little. Thus, while still relatively young, when he went to the Bishop and asked him to ordain him a priest, the Bishop had deterred him, and instead recommended that he first go to school. But now, with all these things that are being said about John, and with everything that I personally know about him, I can safely say that God may not have made him a priest, but He surely anointed him a Bishop in our neighborhood. These last words by Mister Apostoly were drowned in his sobs and his tears....

This excerpt was taken from the book about Crazy John, a modern-day  “Fool of Christ” of Athens, Greece