Ioannes 244 was a disciple of St Gregory the Decapolite (Gregorios 79) (and possibly a monk in the monastery at Thessalonike); he had a reputation for piety (μαθητὴς ὢν τοῦ ὁσίου, ἀνὴρ ἐπ' εὐλαβείᾳ κοσμούμενος); he gave to Ignatius the Deacon (Ignatios 9, author of the Life of Gregory) an account of his personal experience on one occasion of the miraculous appearance and disappearance of Gregorios 79, and vouched for the truth of his story (σὺν πολλῇ πληροφορίᾳ ἡμᾶς ἐπιστώσατο): Ignatius, Vita Greg. Dec. 24. Formerly a disciple of Gregory the Decapolite (Gregorios 79), he was chosen by Ioseph 12 (Ioseph the Hymnographer) to share a life of seclusion and religious devotion after Ioseph 12's return from captivity in Crete; they lived on the same site as that occupied previously by Gregorios 79 (near the Church of St Antipas, at Constantinople): Theophanes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 8 (συμμεριστὴν τῶν πόνων Ἰωάννην ἔχων τὸν τοῦ θείου Γρηγορίου μαθητήν τε καὶ μιμητὴν), Ioannes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 961C. He is described\n as gifted with words, like Ioseph 12: Ioannes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 961C (πολλὰς γὰρ εἶχε καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐπικαθημένας τῇ γλώσσῃ τὰς χάριτας). He died, worn out with fasting and vigils, and Ioseph 12 then went to live elsewhere: Ioannes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 961C, cf. Theophanes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 9 (after some years - μετὰ χρόνους συχνοὺς - he died and Ioseph 12 went elsewhere). Five years later Ioseph 12 founded a monastery and transferred there the remains of both Gregorios 79 and Ioannes 244: Theophanes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 9, Ioannes, Vita Ioseph. Hymnog. 961C-D. Ioseph 12 probably returned from Crete in 842/843.

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