JOHN, Apostle and Evangelist

Feast observed on Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Gracetide

Also known as the “Beloved Disciple”, John is believed to have been the youngest individual called by Christ to membership in the apostolic band. John and his brother, the apostle James, were fishermen by trade, like their father Zebedee. On the Cross, Jesus entrusted his mother to John's care. We know that John was a pillar of the church in Jerusalem, and that he later moved to Ephesus where he served as a leading Christian authority (presumably the city’s bishop), until his public ministry was cut short. During the reign of the tyrannical Roman emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96), John was exiled to the nearby island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Traditions about the latter years of John’s life vary. Some state he died in exile on Patmos, while others convey that, upon the emperor's death, John returned to Ephesus to resume his episcopacy and to write his Gospel. According to tradition, John was assisted by a man named Prochoros (the seated/transcribing figure in many icons of John) in writing his Gospel text. John was nearly one hundred years old when he died, sometime between the years 96 and 100 A.D.

Prayer of the Day
Merciful Father, you have revealed the mysteries of the Word made flesh through John the apostle and evangelist. Let the brightness of you light shine upon the Church, so that all your people may walk in the light of your truth in this life, and in the world to come attain to everlasting life. We make our prayer through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 7: 1-2, 10-12, 17
Old Testament Reading: Hosea 14: 1-9
New Testament Reading: 1 John 1:1 – 2:2
Gospel Reading: John 21: 20-25

Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer
It is indeed right and salutary
that we should at all times and in all places
offer thanks and praise to you,
O Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
as we celebrate the memory of Saint John the Evangelist.

For the Lord bestowed upon him a lasting place
and privilege among his own.
As he hung upon the cross Christ willed that his beloved disciple
should be a son to his own Mother.

The love with which Christ loved him
transformed him from fisherman to disciple
and gave to him a more than moral insight
to perceive and proclaim the uncreated Godhead of Christ the Word.

And so, with your blessed apostle,
and all the heavenly hosts,
we join with the citizens of heaven,
in this, the ageless hymn of your glory.