According to his brief handwritten life, it is not clear who he is or where he came from in Rostov. Right Reverend Filaret suggests that John was a noble family and an educated man (he knew Latin). But according to the circumstances of the time of Tsar John IV the Terrible, it is very likely that he fled Moscow from the horrors in order to serve the Lord in silence and obscurity. In Rostov, Blessed John took upon himself the feat of foolishness, enduring hardship and tribulation. He had no permanent home and only occasionally rested at the home of his confessor, the priest of the All-Holy Church, or at the home of an elderly widow. He had "hair on his head is great," which is why he was called the Hairy One. 
Living in humility, patience, and unceasing prayer, he spiritually nurtured many people, including St. Irinarch, the recluse of Rostov (commemorated January 13/26). Blessed John died after long labors, having endured many sorrows, at a very old age on September 3, 1580 (1582), and, according to his will, was buried behind the altar of St. Peter's Church. Vlasia.
The burial of Blessed John was marked, according to legend, by a terrible storm, lightning and thunder, which made a depressing impression on everyone. Pious people have been coming to his grave since the time of the blessed one's burial and taking the earth; many have received healing by faith and therefore have been called St. Peter. St. John the Merciful, identifying him with St. John the Merciful. John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, whose memory is November 12/25. Among those who were healed was Metropolitan Kirill of Rostov, who lost an arm and a leg in old age, and therefore left the administration of the diocese. After fervent prayer over the tomb of Blessed John, the elderly saint, carried to the church in his arms, received sudden relief from his illness, so that he could already go to the bishop's house himself, and subsequently not only performed divine services, but also managed the diocese again during the captivity of his famous successor Filaret Nikitich Romanov (Patriarch of All Russia).
Instead of the former wooden Vlasiev Church, a stone church was built over the grave of Blessed John in honor of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God with a chapel of St. mch. Vlasia.
The memory of Blessed John Vlasaty, the fool for Christ's sake, the Wonderworker of Rostov, is celebrated on the day of his death on September 3/16 and again on November 12/25 in memory of the Holy Patriarch of Alexandria John the Merciful, whose name he bore.