Saint John the Divine: Our Patron

John, son of Zebedee, was one of the twelve apostles of Our Lord. Together with his brother James and with Simon Peter, he formed a kind of inner circle of Three among the Twelve, in that those three were privileged to behold the miracle of the Great Catch of Fish (Luke 5:10), the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1:29), the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:37 and Luke 8:51), the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1, Mark 9:2, and Luke 9:28), and the Agony in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:37 and Mark 14:33). He expressed a willingness to undergo martyrdom (Matt. 20:22 and Mark 10:39) -- as did the other apostles (Matt. 26:35 and Mark 14:31) -- and is accordingly called a martyr in intention. However, we have ancient testimony that, although imprisoned and exiled (on Patmos, an island of the coast of modern Turkey) for his testimony to the Gospel, he was eventually released and died a natural death in Ephesus: "a martyr in will but not in deed."

John is credited with the authorship of three epistles and one Gospel, although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death. He is also supposed by many to be the author of the book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, although this identification is less certain.

Whether or not John the Divine (the author of Revelation) was the same individual as John the Apostle and Evangelist (author of the Gospel and Epistles), we hold to the tradition of celebrating a single feast for both on December 27th.

(NOTE: The adjective "divine" in the title of John the Divine is a synonym for seer. In the same way that "water diviners" are led to hidden water by a divining rod (at least in the movies) John was led to hidden wisdom by God. )

Prayer

Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light; That we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The above biography has been adapted from Biographical Sketches of Memorable Christians of the Past