Day of the Apostle and Evangelist John among Catholics (Feast of Saint John)

On December 27, all Catholic people honor the memory of the Apostle John John of Zebedee was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus The Savior loved him very much for his boundless devotion and purity John was born into a simple family from Galilee His father Zavedey made his living as a fisherman John and his brother Jacob often helped their father fish It was precisely this business that Christ found them doing Hearing the words of Jesus, John did not doubt for a second that this was the Savior who came into the world to save the people from their sins Jesus called the brothers to follow him and preach to people about salvation, and they immediately left their work and followed the Teacher John followed Jesus almost everywhere, listened to his sermons, and saw the miracles he performed And when the time came for Christ to suffer for human sins, it was John, as his beloved disciple, who entrusted the care of his mother Mary John fulfilled his Teacher's request During Mary’s life, he never left Jerusalem; he took care of her as if he were his own mother When she was gone, he, by fate, went to Asia Minor to preach to people about the great love of God Together with a disciple named Prochorus, who followed him, they founded the famous early Christian community in Ephesus When the persecution of Christian communities began, John was imprisoned and brought to Rome for trial Having been sentenced to death, the apostle was given poison to drink But John, before drinking the poisonous substance, offered a prayer to the Lord and the poison did not harm him at all After this, John showed his enemies another miracle, emerging unharmed from a cauldron in which oil was boiling Those who wanted John dead saw that they were unable to harm him and imprisoned him on the island of Patmos Having served his imprisonment, the apostle returned to Ephesus, where he continued to preach to the people about salvation There he wrote his “Gospel of John” John was the only disciple who fully understood and accepted his Savior and loved him with all his heart For this, the Lord granted him his mercy John was the only one of Christ’s apostles who lived to a ripe old age and did not die a martyr’s death