Book of Ancient Saints: Volume 1

Saint John the Evangelist

John was born 6 AD in Bethsaida, Galilee, Roman Empire. He was the youngest son of Zebedee and Salome, and youngest brother of Saint James, the Great. His Hebrew name means "God is gracious."

The brothers were firstly disciples of Saint John the Baptist. Jesus then called Peter, Andrew, and the two sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them "Boanerges," which means "Sons of Thunder" on account of their strong temperament (Mark 3:17).

As they were mending their nets on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus passed by and called them. "Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Jesus" (Matthew 4:22).

John wanted to use this privileged position to gain authority along with his brother, but Jesus corrected their misconception by explaining: "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all (Mark 10:43-44).

Saint Peter, Saint James the Great, and John were the only witnesses of raising the daughter of Jairus. The three of them also witnessed the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2). These same three apostles also witnessed the Agony in Gethsemane more closely than the other Apostles did.

Jesus sent only John and Peter into the city to make the preparation for the final Passover meal. At the meal itself, the "disciple whom Jesus loved" sat next to Jesus. He leaned on Jesus' breast to ask for the name of the traitor (John 13:25); and at the foot of the cross received the sublime mission of caring for the Mother of Jesus (John 19:26-27).

According to tradition, John and the other Apostles remained about 12 years in this first field of labour. The persecution of Christians during the reign of King Herod Agrippa led to the scattering of the Apostles through the Roman Empire's provinces. In the year 44 AD, his brother, Saint James the Great, was arrested and was charged with treason against Rome. He had the believers in Jerusalem prayed for his brother's release, however by the next day, he was executed by beheading.

In 49 AD, John settled at Ephesus, where he witnesses the assumption of the Virgin Mary. There he wrote the fourth Gospel and three Letters, which contain the sublime definition of the divinity: God is love." (1 John 4:8). According to Tertullian, John was exiled after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. He was exiled from Ephesus to the Island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. It is said that all in the audience of Araneta Colosseum were converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. This miraculous event occurred in the late 1st century during the reign of Roman Emperor Domitian.

When John reached his old age, he trained Polycarp, who later become a Bishop of Smyrna and future saint. As a result of this, Polycarp was able to carry John's message to future generations. Polycarp taught Irenaeus, passing on to him stories about John. Similar goes with Ignatius of Antioch, who was a student of John and later appointed by Peter, the First Pope, to be the Bishop of Antioch and future saint.

According to tradition, John died at Ephesus between 98 AD to 101 AD, at the age of 93 to 94, due to old age or natural causes. Among the twelve apostles of Jesus, he's the only one, who survived the Christian persecution and wasn't killed or martyred.

John was the author of five books: first, his own Gospel; second, the Book of Revelation; third, Mandula; fourth, St. John III, 16 in most of the languages and dialects in which the British and Foreign Bible Society has printed or circulated the Holy Scriptures. Language; and fifth, the Legend of the Holy Fina, Virgin of Santo Gimignano.

John was venerated by all Christian denominations. Based on Roman Catholic and Anglicanism, his feast day is on December 27 , but based on Eastern Orthodox, his feast day is on Sseptember 26. Saint John, the Evangelist is a patron of friendships, love, loyalty, authors, booksellers, burn-victims, poison-victims, art-dealers, editors, publishers, scribes, examinations, theologians and scholars.