Saint John the Evangelist May 8 One of the twelve apostles, St. John the Evangelist and Theologian was at the foot of the Cross, determined to remain there through the end. He heard Christ's last request, during which Christ entrusted the care of His mother to John (John 19:26). John was chosen by Christ to accompany Him to Mt. Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration when Jesus was proclaimed by God to be His beloved Son. He cared for the Theotokos (the Mother of God) until her death, burying her in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was among the disciples who discovered the empty tomb of the Theotokos, having been assumed into Heaven forty days after her death. After Mary's death, John took the Word of God to Asia Minor and lived to the age of 105, escaping the Christian persecution that took the lives of his brother evangelists. It is said that St. John the Evangelist converted over 400,000 pagans to Christianity during his lifetime. St. John retreated to the island of Patmos in the Aegian Sea, where he used the tranquility to write the book of Revelation, a prophetic book of the New Testament. This writing was done at the bidding of God, who opened a cave by lightning, in a large rock formation still visible today. Leaving Patmos for Ephesos, John wrote the three epistles in the New Testament, and caused the destruction of a pagan temple through prayer. That place is now the site of a beautiful cathedral. Close Window