Saints of the Aquarius Age

SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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Saint John the Evangelist, or as he is also called John of Zebedee, is one of the Twelve Apostles who outlived the remaining Apostles and was the only one to die of natural causes.

Why was he called John of Zebedee? – It so happened… because the brothers James and John in The Gospels were called “sons of Zebedee” after their father Zebedee… According to Mark the Evangelist, John the Holy Apostle and Evangelist and his brother James were sons of Zebedee and Salome – the daughter of Saint Joseph the Betrothed from his first marriage, who, having got widowed took the Virgin Mary as his wife. That is, it turns out that Jesus Christ was John of Zebedee’s maternal relative.

Why was he called The Evangelist? – Although modern theologians and biblical scholars do not have a consensus on the authorship of the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation and the Three Epistles included in the New Testament, they believe that these books were written by unknown authors. However, Fathers of the Church, as well as the traditions of the majority of Christian denominations, considered and still consider the “Beloved Disciple” of Jesus Christ – John the Apostle – to be the author of this immortal heritage.

 

The Zebedee brothers are also called “The Sons of Thunder” in the Gospel of Mark. By the way, there are different opinions why Jesus gave the Zebedee brothers such a nickname. Actually, Jesus called the brothers the Aramaic word “Boanerges”, which is exactly what the interpreters of the New Testament translated as “The Sons of Thunder.” Apparently, this was due to their impetuous nature, which was fully manifested when they wanted to bring down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village. They were outraged by the inhabitants of this village, who closed the gate in front of Jesus when He wanted to stay with them for the night. This attitude towards the Teacher shocked the young men so much that they asked Jesus to allow them to bring down fire from heaven on the ungrateful Samaritans (like the other ten disciples, they also received from Jesus the gift of performing miracles). However, the Teacher forbade it, saying, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Their impulse from the heart shows not only their boundless love for Jesus, but also their youthful maximalism – that is, immaturity of character…

Although there are other versions of such a name appearance. According to some sources, allegedly the Zebedee brothers turned to Jesus with an immodest request to let them sit in the Kingdom of Heaven on the right and left side of Him. According to other sources, allegedly their mother Salome addressed Jesus with this request. Nevertheless, in both cases, the essence is based on the fact that the brothers had a close relationship with Peter the Apostle, with whom they were among the disciples – the closest to Jesus. And in those days, the influence of the polytheism of ancient Greek and Roman mythologies was still strong on the minds of people, in which Zeus was identified with Jupiter and considered to be the main of the Olympian gods, the father of gods and people, mortals and immortals – the Thunderer, who frightened them with dark clouds and lightning. That is, closeness to Jesus was like closeness to the Thunderer, with the only difference… – they were heralds, albeit intimidating heavenly fire, but in its cleansing power… In other words, the Lord gave his beloved disciple John and his brother the honorary name “Sons of Thunder”, indicating thus the fiery and sacrificial nature of their Christian love.

Although, undoubtedly, and above all, they were the “Sons of Thunder” in terms of the strength of their spirit, but more on that later…

 

And the very first meeting of John Zebedee with Jesus took place on the Jordan River, when he, together with his fellow countryman and friend Andrew, went to see the Prophet who had appeared from the wilderness, about whom everyone around talked so much…

It was on the Jordan River that John the Baptist (and John the Evangelist was his first disciple) called the people to repentance, baptized with water and uttered strange and mysterious words, “The One is soon to appear who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” …

We do not know if John was present at the time of Jesus’ baptism, but he may have heard much about it from others. People who came to be baptized entered the river and stood chest-deep in water for a long time, confessing their sins, after which they took a cleansing ceremony. Jesus, as the Gospel says, “Immediately came out of the water” – for He was completely clean from all sin! Moreover, the Prophet John the Baptist, when Jesus passed by, pointed to Him and said the same thing, “Behold the Lamb of God – that is, pure and without sin!” No wonder, when Andrew and John heard this, they immediately followed Jesus.

Probably, at that time, they themselves did not fully understand why and where they were going – so people move in the darkness towards the light, and it was such a Light that not everyone could see, but only those – pure in heart. So the young men silently followed Jesus, not knowing how to turn to Him, how to call Him…

Then Jesus himself turned to them and asked:

– What do you need?

– Rabbi, where do you live? – Asked Andrew (who, obviously, was older and less timid) … Now Andrew is called The First-Called – because it was he who was the first to be called by Jesus. The word “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”) indicated that the young men had already chosen their mentor.

“Follow me and you will see“, Jesus told them.

He brought Andrew and John to the house, where they talked for a long time, from noon until nightfall.

It must have been an amazing conversation if Andrew immediately ran to his older brother Simon after it and announced, “We have found the Messiah!”

This means that they right away and unconditionally recognized in Jesus that very King – the Liberator from slavery… They were not at all embarrassed that the Messiah met them without a royal retinue, in simple clothes, and brought them to the most ordinary house on the banks of the Jordan.

It is about such people as Andrew and John Zebedee that Jesus Christ later said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God“…

One can easily imagine how eagerly John Zebedee looked forward to a new meeting with the Messiah. It happened… Born in the family of a fisherman, he, as usual, helped his father Zebedee and his older brother to fish in the Sea of Galilee, and on the shore – to dismantle and repair nets… Suddenly, like a bolt from the blue (!), Jesus appeared on the shore. Only now the “rabbi” was not walking alone, but was surrounded by a large crowd of people – everyone was pushing, shouting, trying to touch at least the edge of His clothes, asking Him to work a miracle and heal them…

The fishermen just recently landed on the shore, but bad luck – the nets were empty… and Jesus performed a purely “fishing” miracle for Simon – he showed where to throw the net in order to catch a lot of fish. Moreover, indeed, the catch turned out to be so big that the nets could not stand it, and the astonished Simon called other fishermen to help… Zebedee’s boat was also filled to the brim with fish!

It is not surprising that after such a miracle, Andrew and Simon unquestioningly followed the Teacher, becoming His first disciples. Then Jesus approached John with his brother and uttered these mysterious words: “I will make you fishers of men” … And both brothers of Zebedee, leaving the nets, the catch and all their former lives, also meekly hurried after Him.

 

From this moment on, John of Zebedee will follow his beloved “Rabbi” everywhere for three years. Therefore, he, too, found himself among His chosen twelve disciples, forever choosing for himself a virginal way of life. And perhaps, for him, whose soul was little attached to the ordinary, it was even easier than for others to understand that The Teacher had come in order to show people the way to The Kingdom of Heaven.

John – an exalted and pure youth, who was the youngest of the disciples, younger than all the other eleven apostles, who became “the disciple whom Jesus loved“. It was he, along with Peter and James, who witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter; only them, Jesus made witness His Transfiguration and the Gethsemane prayer; only John and Peter, Jesus sent to the city to prepare for the last Easter meal; only John, Jesus on the Cross instructed to take care of His Mother – Virgin Mary.

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we hardly hear the voice of the young John. Other apostles asked questions, doubted something, committed rash acts and then tried to explain them. Only occasionally did John enter into a conversation – and then, mostly, together with his elder brother James. We will not hear a shocked sigh from the lips of John even on Mount Tabor – Peter will speak for everyone, as usual. John Zebedee was more silent, listening to The Teacher with adoration, but at the same time, he always remembered everything… Then in his Gospel, he told us such details that cannot be found in other testimonies about Jesus.

Actually, a silent, obedient and diligent student is a comfortable attribute of any educational process and the happiness of any teacher! Not always such a student demonstrates exclusively humility and subservience…

By the way, Saint John the Theologian was not submissive and servile… He simply always treated everything that his great Teacher contributed with full attention, deep respect and holy faith! There were no internal contradictions in him with what he heard from Him! There was only constant curiosity, complete trust and quivering delight! There was a passionate attitude towards the Teacher, His knowledge, breadth of outlook, His mind and understanding of the essence of things, His spiritual qualities and values, as well as His life example… By and large, it was just true divine Love!

 

He saw the Almighty because He was very modest!

In The Gospel of John, a mysterious person is often found, “one of the disciples… whom Jesus loved“, “and another disciple whom Jesus loved” … There were many discussions about this, but now almost no one doubts: John the Apostle and Evangelist out of modesty wrote about himself in this way.

It turns out that the one “who wrote this Gospel” was the only one who remained in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was taken into custody and all the other Apostles fled in fear. Three more times the rooster did not crow – as Peter the Apostle denied Jesus, saying that he did not know Him, which he would repent of until the end of his life. In the courtyard of the high priest was that very “another silent disciple of His“… “Jesus was followed by Simon Peter and another disciple; this disciple was known to the high priest and went with Jesus into the court of the high priest. Peter stood outside the door. Then another disciple, who was familiar to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in. Here the doorkeeper servant says to Peter: Are you not one of the disciples of this Man? He said: no“.

Probably John also silently walked among those who escorted Jesus to the place of execution at Golgotha, watched how the Teacher was nailed to the cross and hoisted between two robbers, how the soldiers divided His clothes – he heard every heavy sigh of Jesus – but even then he did not doubt.

Moreover, when Jesus said, pointing with his eyes at the Mother of God, it must have been very quietly, because any word for the one nailed to the cross resounded with terrible pain, “Behold, thy Mother“… Of course, John immediately understood this command. Until the last day of the earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos, he will take care of Her as her own son.

Later, when the resurrected Jesus appeared on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” was the first to recognize his “Rabbi” and said to Peter, “This is the Lord”! During that meal on the shore, when Peter the Apostle was forgiven and heard about his future, he asked Jesus, “What awaits John?”

“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” – sounded mysteriously in response…

Those words were interpreted to mean that Jesus gave John immortality, that His disciple “whom He loved” would never die. However, John himself did not share this opinion, ending his Gospel with these words, “And this word passed among the brethren, that that disciple would not die. Actually, Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?“ This disciple testifies of this, and wrote this; and we know that his testimony is true“.

 

After the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, John, along with others, took an active part in the organization of the Jerusalem Church. It was at this time that he became the right hand of the active, often speaking before the people, Apostle Peter – together they went to the place of preaching, together they stood before the court, together they were imprisoned… Together with Peter, they went to Samaria to lay hands on the new converts. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the Jerusalem Christians respectfully called John “the pillar of the Church.”

A few years after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, Matthew the Apostle wrote the first Gospel. This text was rewritten and distributed by many, but the authorship of its first translation from Hebrew into Greek is attributed to John Zebedee.

By the way, during these years in Jerusalem, by order of King Herod Agrippa, his older brother, James the Apostle, was executed, being convicted on the false testimony of a perjurer.

According to tradition, James of Zebedee calmly listened to the verdict and continued to testify about Jesus. His courage so impressed the perjurer that he already repented of his act at the trial, although this did not help the defendant. Moreover, when the Apostle was taken to the execution, the accuser fell at his feet and began to beg to forgive him. James embraced him and said, “Peace be with you, my son; peace and forgiveness to you“.

The accuser announced that he also believed in Jesus and, no wonder, thus he was executed along with the Apostle. He did not even have time to accept the rite of baptism, but he received “baptism with blood” – and there were many such Christians in the first centuries…

 

Now if going back to Jesus’ request concerning the Virgin Mary… No one was surprised that it was John of Zebedee who was walking in front of the unusual funeral procession with a white lily in his hand. No one was surprised that the faces of all those present were not sad but joyful and bright, as if they had gathered for a holiday.

Jerusalem Christians knew why: on their last earthly journey, or rather, to heaven, to eternal life, they were seeing off Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, and the lily in the hand of Zebedee’s John was not an ordinary flower, but a message from the Garden of Eden.

According to legend, the Mother of God was walking in the garden when the Archangel Gabriel appeared before Her and announced that the time had come to meet her Son. In confirmation that they were waiting for Her in the heavenly chambers, he presented a lily from the Garden of Eden. Therefore, Mary ordered that on the day of Her birth into Heaven John of Zebedee would be the one carrying that lily…

 

After The Dormition of the Mother of God, John of Zebedee left Jerusalem.

When the Disciples of Christ were just getting ready to go with missionary sermons to different parts of the world and drew lots to determine their sphere of labor for the Savior, it fell to John the Apostle to preach in Asia Minor.

An interesting detail was preserved in the Greek version of The Life of John the Apostle… Having learned that Asia Minor had been meant for him, John accepted the news with a heavy heart, as he experienced a strong fear of sea voyages. Falling on his knees before the Apostles, he confessed his cowardice to them. The Apostles asked James, the first bishop of Jerusalem, to pray for the forgiveness of John, after which everyone parted in peace. It so happened then that John did not have to leave Jerusalem, because he was entrusted with an equally important mission – taking care of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Now it was time for him to fulfill his mission. Taking along with him his disciple Prochorus, John the Apostle boarded a ship, and they went to the shores of Asia Minor.

During the sea voyage, serious trials awaited them, which John, who had the gift of clairvoyance, foresaw in advance. He directly told Prochorus that misfortune awaited them at sea. Therefore, it happened: not far from the southern coast of Asia Minor, the ship was caught in a storm and sank. The passengers managed to escape on boards and reach the shore near Seleucia. Only one of them remained in the depths of the sea – it was John!

Prochorus shed many tears about John the Apostle who had disappeared into the sea. However, he did not lose hope and continued to pray for his salvation. All this time, Prochorus did not leave the coast, slowly moving from Seleucia to the west and stopping for the night in coastal villages. One morning, a huge wave carried an exhausted man on the board to the shore. It was John, who spent almost two weeks at sea, but by the will of God remained alive.

Prochorus ran to the nearest village, brought bread and water. When John gained a little strength, they set off together and walked through all of Asia Minor.

 

Eventually, John the Apostle and Prochorus settled in the western port city of Ephesus – in the same city in which in 356 BC, on the night of the birth of Alexander the Great, Herostratus burned down one of the Seven Wonders of the World – The Temple of Artemis. By the way, it was Alexander the Great who allocated funds for the restoration of the latest version of the Temple (it is so touchingly described in “The Seven Wonders of the World” – the work by Antipater of Sidon)…

Ephesus struck them with its grandeur and comfort. From the first minutes, it was clear that it was a great city, well designed and rich. One of the most famous buildings of Ephesus – the facade of the library of Celsus, was a true treasure of ancient architecture. It was the second largest ancient library in the world after Alexandria, which, alas, were not destined to survive to this day…

In Ephesus, shortly before the appearance of John with Prochorus, Paul the Apostle lived, and, therefore, by that time a Christian community already existed there.

 

So, according to The Life, in Ephesus, John and Prochorus were hired as workers to the owner of public baths named Romana. John was supposed to heat the stove, and Prokhor – to carry water. In this house, they had to endure a lot from the evil temper of Romana, but through prayer, John performed the miracle of resurrecting the young man Domnus from the dead and his father Dioscorides, the city elder, who died of grief. After that, both the father and son, and Romana herself, believed in Jesus and were baptized.

Another case is described, how on the feast of the goddess Diana (or Artemis of Ephesus), revered in Ephesus, John the Apostle admonished the pagans. When the people gathered in the Temple, he stood near the statue of Artemis and began to say that people should not worship idols. The Ephesians became furious, began to throw stones at John, but not even one hit him – everyone flew off the statue and hit the throwers themselves… Then John the Apostle raised his hands to heaven and began to pray. Soon such unbearable heat set in that most of those gathered in the square in front of the Temple hurried home.

Some researchers believe that the Apostles quite soon moved from Ephesus to Rome, from where, during the persecution of Nero, John the Apostle was exiled to the island of Patmos.

Others – and they still make the majority – adhere to the version that John the Apostle was sent into exile on Patmos much later, during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which means that until that moment he lived peacefully in Ephesus for almost thirty years.

However, it is known for certain about the atmosphere of manic suspicion in the Roman Empire during the years of the reign of Domitian (the same one who “becoming emperor, at first loved, in seclusion, to catch flies and pierce them with sticks … “) – a new enemy of Christians. Spies and scammers were everywhere, prisons could not accommodate “suspicious persons”, and everyone was afraid of everyone and denounced each other… John the Apostle was also arrested after a denunciation and brought to Rome for trial, and during the trial he was beaten and tortured. According to legend, he was sentenced to death through poisoning, but he drank the poison… and remained safe and sound! Then he came out unharmed from a cauldron with boiling oil… Of course, then everyone immediately remembered the legend of his immortality…

That is why he was sentenced to “eternal exile” on the remote desert island of Patmos. Together with John the Apostle, Prochorus, who was devoted to him, voluntarily went into exile.

By that time, all the other closest Disciples of Jesus Christ had already completed their earthly journey. Peter and Paul the Apostles were executed in Rome; Andrew suffered on the cross in the Greek city of Patras; Thomas – in distant India. Only John the Apostle survived, and many thought that death would never really touch him.

 

Although John the Apostle did not like sea travel, he again had to sail on a ship – this time to the Greek island of Patmos, which at that time was a Roman colony.

The journey was again not without incident. The son of one of the wealthy passengers accidentally fell into the sea – and was taken out of the water through the prayers of John the Apostle. During the voyage, he even performed the miracle of turning salt water into fresh water when they ran out of all supplies.

How can one not recall here that only in The Gospel of John it is told about the miracle in Cana of Galilee, when Jesus Christ turned water into wine at a wedding feast?

Everyone who sailed with John the Apostle on the ship loved him so much and believed in the holiness of the Elder that they offered to land them with Prochorus in any place they wanted. Nevertheless, John ordered them to be taken to Patmos, anticipating that something more than a simple exile awaited him…

At that time, the small rocky island of Patmos – the northernmost island of the Greek Dodecanese archipelago – was sparsely populated and even more enlightened: it was unlikely that anyone there had heard of Christianity before.

John was sent to a large quarry, where he, along with the rest of the prisoners, cut stone. The Apostle lived in an ordinary cave, slept on a stone floor – though at that time he was already a very old man!

The ruler of the island soon became aware of the unusual convict. The Life tells how in the house of Miron, the father-in-law of the ruler, the Apostle performed miracles of healing, as a result of which Miron, his wife, children, and then the ruler himself were baptized and converted to Christianity.

 

It is known that by the end of John the Apostle’s exile, most of the inhabitants of the island already believed in Jesus Christ.

Once, when John was in his cave, he heard a voice addressed to him from heaven. The Apostle immediately recognized Him and readily said, “Here I am, Lord?” John was ordered to spend another ten days in the cave, after which many secrets would be revealed to him. Thus, on Sunday, John the Apostle heard “a loud voice, like a trumpet“, which announced, “I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last …” A great and terrible vision opened before him, and the Angel of God appeared, explaining everything that had been shown. The Apostle called his disciple to write down what he would dictate, and, according to legend, Prochorus wrote from dictation for two days … and another six hours. However, time as if stopped for them…

This is how The Book of Revelation, or The Apocalypse of John the Evangelist appeared, where for the first time the secrets of the future fate of humankind and the end of the world were revealed to people. That is why John the Apostle and Evangelist is also called The Clairvoyant or The Seer.

The Apocalypse is a special, mystical book that cannot be retold. It is full of mysterious symbols and images – in such a language the Lord spoke with the Prophets and patriarchs in ancient times. These symbols can be interpreted in different ways, but each time only a small part of the Great Mystery that God announced to humankind through The Apocalypse will be revealed.

For example, the image of the harlot of Babylon, sitting on a seven-headed snake, was read by many as Rome, located on seven hills. Although we already understand that not only Rome was meant…

John the Apostle saw in the middle of the Throne and around the Throne “four animals with many eyes in front and behind. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal was like a calf, and the third animal had a face like a man, and the fourth animal was like an eagle flying…”

Subsequently, these images became symbols of the four Evangelists: the lion – a symbol of Mark, the calf – of Luke, the one with the face of a man – of Matthew, and the eagle – John himself (as a symbol of his high feelings and thoughts).

 

We are accustomed to perceive The Apocalypse as a terrible tale of a great universal catastrophe before the end of the world, and to speak of apocalyptic moods, meaning the darkest forebodings. This is a favorite Hollywood story about what the end of our civilization will be. And the four horsemen of The Apocalypse (plague, war, famine and death) still rush over the earth – although in a different incarnation than it was depicted by Albrecht Dürer, Arnold Böcklin, Bent Notke, Viktor Vasnetsov and other artists…

Yes, all this is true, but Christians perceived and perceive The Apocalypse of John the Evangelist also as a great revelation about the long-awaited victory of Good over Evil!

This book gave hope and inspiration, “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a numerous people, as it were the sound of many waters, as it were the voice of mighty thunders, saying: Alleluia! For the Lord God Almighty has reigned!“

Here, for example, is a “short retelling” of The Apocalypse by the 2nd century apologist Melito, Bishop of Sardis,

“In the same way, in the last time there will be a flood of fire, and the earth with its mountains will be burned, people will be burned along with the idols that they made, and with the statues that they worshiped, and the sea will be burned with its islands, but the righteous will be saved from anger, how the righteous were saved in the ark from the waters of The Flood!“

 

In 96, conspirators killed the emperor Domitian in his bedroom, despite all his protection, dictated by the manic persecution syndrome… Immediately after the death of Domitian, the senators ordered that his monuments be removed from Rome and all inscriptions bearing his name be knocked down from public buildings. Nerva ascended to the throne, and prisoners under the previous ruler began to be returned from prisons and exile. John the Apostle and Prochorus also returned to Ephesus, where the Christians greeted them with joy. At this time, the bishop of the Ephesian Church was Timothy, the favorite disciple of Paul, who had great reverence for the one “whom Jesus loved“.

In Ephesus, John the Apostle settled in the same house where he had lived before his exile, and lived in it until his death. It was during this period that he would write another great work – The Gospel of John.

The further The Gospel events went into the past, the more conjectures arose regarding the Person of Jesus Christ. There were many all kinds of heresies, and the most stable of them subsequently became the subject of discussion at local and ecumenical councils.

The Ephesian Christians persuaded John the Apostle to present the Christian teaching as he received it from the Teacher, and to tell the whole truth about Jesus himself. According to legend, John imposed a strict fast on everyone, and he himself went to the mountain with Prochorus. Around the fourth day, a strong bolt of lightning suddenly struck, and John the Apostle started dictating the first lines to Prochorus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...”

 

The Gospel of John is truly unique! On the one hand, it contains the deepest mysteries over which great theological minds have been struggling for two millennia. The Word was God… On the other hand, The Gospel of John, more than the other three – from Matthew, Mark and Luke, in some ways can be compared with modern reporting. If you want to know which of The Disciples asked Jesus this or that questions or other details, then first you should turn to The Gospel of John – it was written by an undoubted eyewitness of events, who was given to understand the language of heavenly revelations and contemplate spiritual visions.

Many researchers write that at the time of writing, John the Apostle was well aware of other Gospels, and he consciously sought to fill in the missing details. With every line of his Gospel, John the Apostle proves that Jesus is God and the Son of Man, that is, the God-man, and not just one of the Prophets or great Teachers of morality.

He commanded all Christians to love the Lord and one another and thereby fulfill the law of Jesus. Saint John is also called The Apostle of Love, for he constantly taught that without love a person could not approach God and please Him. In his three Epistles, John the Apostle preached love for God and neighbor, himself being an example of boundless healing love for those around him, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is torment. He who fears is imperfect in love. Let us love Him, because He first loved us. Whoever says, “I love God,“ but hates his brother, is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And we have such a commandment from Him, that he who loves God loves his brother, too“!

Towards the end of his life, John kept repeating: “My children, love one another!” Someone asked why he repeated the same thing, and John the Apostle replied, “This is the commandment of the Lord, and it contains all His teaching“!

 

Feeling the approach of death, John the Apostle, accompanied by his seven disciples, went outside the city and ordered to dig a cruciform grave according to his height, and he himself, stepping aside, began to pray. When the grave was ready, he lay down in it, as in a bed, spread his arms and ordered the disciples to cover him with earth.

The disciples first covered him with earth up to his knees, then up to his neck, and when they saw that The Holy Elder was no longer breathing, they covered his face with a handkerchief and, having kissed him, covered with earth.

According to historians, the Apostle ended his earthly days approximately 68 years after The Crucifixion of Christ, that is, approximately in the year 100 AD.

 

Ephesian Christians, having learned about such an unusual burial of Saint John, the next morning came and dug up the grave. They must have wanted to bury him in a better, more honorable place, but only the grave… turned out to be empty!

One of the interpretations of what happened: the Lord took John the Apostle in the body out of this world, as once in The Old Testament Enoch and Elijah the Prophet, and at the right time he will return to earth…

 

Thus, John the Evangelist left us another great mystery – the mystery of his death.

For many centuries, memorial services have been served over the grave of the Holy Apostle, and it was noticed that on May 8 a clearly distinguishable coating appeared on the ground, something like fine dust. Believers began to collect it and receive healing from many diseases.

The cave on Patmos, where Saint John received The Revelation, has survived to this day, and a monastery was founded next to it in honor of the Apostle. The pilgrims are shown a crevice through which “a loud voice, like a trumpet” was heard, and in front of the entrance to the cave the words are written, “This place, which makes an indelible impression, is the house of God and the gates of Heaven“.

Among the numerous icons of John the Apostle, there is one, ancient, which was called “John the Evangelist in Silence”. On it, the Apostle raised his finger to his lips and seemed to say, “Shh, hush… “! After all, about the most recent mysteries, the Angel, who appeared in The Revelation, ordered him to be silent…

 

Saint John – the Apostle and Evangelist was like this… Strong-willed …, a reliable support for everyone… He was distinguished by an inquisitive mind, a high thirst for knowledge, an excellent memory and tremendous energy. But most of all, he differed from all others in the sublimity of nature, dreaminess, that is, he was “not of this world“, whose soul hovered somewhere far away, closer to heaven, and did not want to belong to the earthly delights… His inner life was filled with symbols and secret signs, and he was the one who heard the Call from above…

The most important is that Saint John the Evangelist has become a symbol of Service and fidelity to the given word!

 

Saint John the Evangelist is considered the Patron Saint of fishermen, wanderers, schoolchildren and students, workers in the information sphere and book publishing… Moreover, according to legend, once John the Apostle miraculously turned a simple shepherd of geese into a skillful painter, and therefore people revered this Saint as the Patron of artists and icon painters.

 

People turn to Saint John the Evangelist with requests to:

  • • help truly love God and neighbors;
  • • enlighten those who have fallen into sects and schism;
  • • protect against accidents on the water;
  • • give inspiration in creative work – to assist in journalism, writing and painting;
  • • establish understanding and love between spouses;
  • • get rid of quarrels and misunderstandings with loved ones;
  • • cure diseases;
  • • childless women ask help to find maternal happiness;
  • • help with admission to educational institutions, with passing exams, with the defense of academic degrees, with obtaining scientific titles;
  • • protect in a long journey;
  • • protect from attacks by evil spirits and bad people;
  • • get rid from bad thoughts.

 

In the Orthodox Church the memory of John the Apostle is celebrated on May 8 (21), June 30 (July 13) – on the day of the Council of the Twelve Apostles; on September 26 (October 9) – the day of the repose of John the Evangelist; and in the Catholic and other Western Churches – on December 27.