Ioannes 234 was supposedly the fifth successor of St Auxentius as leader of the holy men living on Mt Auxentius, and the immediate successor of Gregorios 74; he inhabited the same cave as had traditionally been occupied by his predecessors since the time of Auxentius; described as the new Abraham and endowed with prophetic insight (τοῦ διορατικοῦ χαρίσματος μετασχών): Vita Steph. Iun. 102. 22-24 (1089D). He was an ascetic and used to sleep on nothing but a mat made of rushes: Vita Steph. Iun. 114. 25-27 (1104C). When Stephen the Younger (Stephanos 2), then aged sixteen (and so in about 731), wanted to become a monk, his parents took him to meet Ioannes 234 on Mt Auxentius; Ioannes 234 recognised the boy's qualities and gave him the tonsure and the dress of a monk: Vita Steph. Iun. 102. 15-103. 4 (1088D-1089C). He employed Stephanos 2 on menial tasks during his monastic training: Vita Steph. Iun. 104. 22-105. 2 (1092A-B). He foretold Stephanos 2's fate and his future role on Mt Auxentius: Vita Steph. Iun. 106. 17-26 (1093A-C). He blessed the mother and sister of Stephanos 2 (Anna 5 and Theodote 2) when they became nuns on Mt Auxentius: Vita Steph. Iun. 107. 11 (1093C). He warned Stephanos 2 about the dangers that were impending (from the iconoclast policies of the emperor Constantine V) and died: Vita Steph. Iun. 107. 20-24 (1093D-1096A). He was succeeded by Stephen (Stephanos 2), who is said to have gone to live in the traditional cave in his thirty first year: Vita Steph. Iun. 107. 25-108. 17 (1096B-C, 1097A-B). This would put the date of the death of Ioannes 234 at about 745. Said to have employed a dog specially trained to deliver messages: Vita Steph. Iun. 105. 24-106. 15 (1092C-1093A). See J. Pargoire, "Mont Saint-Auxence. Etude historique et topographique", ROC 8 (1903), pp. 248-250, 253, 254 (Pargoire thought he was hegoumenos since c. 680).

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