He is the patron saint of his birth town Tufara and of Foiano di Val Fortore where he died.

He had a strained relationship with his parents Mainardo and Maria who disapproved of John's strong religious feelings.

He stayed briefly in the town with his brother Benedetto, before giving away all of his possessions to the poor and deciding to live as a hermit in the caves surrounding Baselice.

The name of the monastery refers to its dedication to Mary, mother of Jesus, as well as its location next to the Mazzocca woods and the feudal lord to whom the land had previously belonged.

In a papal bull dated to 3 June 1218, Pope Honorius III directed the bishops of Dragonara and Lucera to investigate John's life and purported miracles.

[7] The monastery founded by John was heavily damaged by the 1456 Central Italy earthquakes, rebuilt, and then destroyed entirely by a fire in 1630.