Saint John the
Merciful (also known as John the Almsgiver, John the Almoner, John V of
Alexandria, John Eleymon, and Johannes Eleemon), was a patriarch of Alexandria
about 100 years after the Chalcedonian split in Egypt (610-616 or 619).He is
one of the most known saints who practiced incessantly the virtue of generosity
among the poor but not only. Today he is celebrated as saint not only in the
Orthodox and Catholic Churches, but also in the Coptic and Ethiopian- Eastern
Orthodox Churches -, as well.
A life of mercifulness
The life of Saint John
the Merciful was written by St. Leontius, bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, who is
also the author of the first biography of a saint fool, namely St. Symeon of
Emesa, the Fool for Christ’s sake. The text about St. John is to be found
beginning with col. 1623 in Migne’s Patrologia Graeca, volume 90, with the
title “Vita Sancti Joannis Eleemosynarii” and also in Acta Sanctorum, t. II
(January), p. 501ff.
According to Leontius,
Saint John came from Cyprus, from a town named Amathus, being born c. 550 AD,
as the son of Epiphanius, a patrician and the governor of the island. John was
raised as a true Christian from childhood.
The biographer accentuates that he married almost forced by his parents
and had children. But soon his wife died and his children too, so that John
remained alone, practicing the virtue of almsgiving. On the recommendation of a
friend, the imperial prefect of the capital city of Cyprus, called Nicetas, he
was elected on the free seat of Alexandria. At his time, 100 years after the
4th ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451), the Church in Egypt was split
between the adepts of the local policy (called later „coptic”) and the
„partisans” of the imperial policy. The doctrine about the one of the two
natures in Christ was strongly instrumentalized in both directions, so that the
majority of Egyptians did not accepted the Chalcedonian dogma rather from
political reasons. The Orthodox were named in Egypt as „melkites”, that is, the
partisans of the emperor, and despised for their faith which was “the faith of
the emperor”.
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Painting in the
Polish National
Art Museum, Warsaw |
Saint John came in
Alexandria on the not so popular „melkite” see, vacant since the death in 609
of Theodore, during the capture of the city by Nicetas. In 611 John assumed the
throne, becoming the fifth Chalcedonian bishop of Alexandria to bear that name.
Even unpopular, the Patriarchate possessed a great wealth in money and
commercial (especially shipping) enterprises.
In his youth John had
had a vision of a beautiful maiden with a garland of olives on her head, who
said that she was the Compassion, the eldest daughter of the Great King (=God).
This had evidently made a deep impression on John's mind, and, now that he had
the opportunity of exercising benevolence on a large scale, he soon became
widely known all over the East for his liberality towards the poor. Even from
the beginning of his service he repeated, that „If you desire nobility, seek it
not in blood but in virtues, for this is true nobility”.
Also at the beginning
of his services, he has sent his accountants on the streets of the city with
the mission to make a list with his „lords”, these being the poor people. The
list cuprindea 7500 names and these persons received every day food and other
help from the Church’s income. Of
course, this attitude has brought a reaction: too many people were searching for
the help of the patriarch, so that he decided to remain always on Wednesday and
Friday towards the doors of a church and to listen the problems, even sometimes
he was judging cases of injustice. In the days nobody came, he was sad and used
to say that the humble John hasn’t gain anything and hasn’t brought anything to
God, for his sins.
Saint John was not only liberal with the
resources of his see, but with his own goods. In one incident in his life he
felt remorseful for accepting a richly-embroidered blanket as a gift and was
unable to sleep until he sold it and gave the proceeds to the poor.
Once, while
celebrating the Holy Liturgy, the patriarch remembered the words of Christ,
„Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your
brother has something against you, then leave there your gift before the altar,
and go your way; first be reconciled to
your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24). In that
moment he went to a clergyman who had something against him, leaving the
service opened, fell before the priest’s feet and begged for forgiveness. After
he had made peace with this man did he return to the altar and continued the
Liturgy.
Another famous story
about the patriarch is that he was once on his way to the Church of Saints
Cyrus and he met a needy widow who spoke to him at length about her misfortune.
The escorts became bored by the lengthy complaint, and urged the bishop to
hurry to the church for the service, saying that he could hear the woman's
story afterward. But John replied that: „And how will God listen to me, if I do
not listen to her?” So he remained and heard the widow's complaint to the end.
His generosity did
draw censure at times. Once a servant of him noticed that someone was abusing
the distribution of goods in John's very presence, returning several times in
different guises, but John replied that it might be Christ in disguise. Also
when there was reported, that among the poor there are also wealthy people
receiving alms, John said that Christ may hide under any appearances.
The care for the sick
and the enslaved was also among his daily missions. He visited the hospitals
three times every week, and he freed a many slaves, by offering money to the
one who captured them.
External Politics
The political
situation of the Byzantine Empire at the moment wasn’t quite well. The Persian
War affected the eastern regions, including Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor. In
this situation, John came into a conflict with his friend Nicetas, who was
concerned to contribute to Emperor Heraclius’ war effort against the Persians.
John firmly resisted and didn’t want to offer from the church’s wealth, which
was in his vision the sole property of the poor. Finally Nicetas apologized
himself and the Church wasn’t forced to contribute to the war. That doesn’t
mean John didn’t care about the fate of the empire, but he tried to help the
people who needed supplies. When the Sassanid Persians attacked strongly, St.
John extended his mercy to the people of Palestine and Jerusalem (614). He sent
convoys of essential supplies to Palestine and welcomed many refugees to
Alexandria.
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| Painting of Titian |
Relation with the non-Chalcedonians
John usually refused
the controversial discussions. In the patriarchal palace accepted only
commentaries on the Scriptures or other spiritual topics. He hosted sometimes
learned theologians such as St. Sophronius, future patriarch of Jerusalem, and
John Moschus, the author of the Leimonarion (Spiritual Meadow), but in spite of
his strongly orthodox position, he was an example of religious tolerance during
the Christological disputes. He refused to accept the violence in order to
impose the Chalcedonian Orthodoxy. It is true that he used the theological
ability of men such as Sophronius and John Moschus to defend the „imperial”
position, but that was all. As a result of his efforts the number of
Chalcedonian churches in the city increased ten-fold during his reign,
according to his Life.
The religious disputes
were also political ones, so the emperors urged to find a compromise against
the dissolution of the empire. So, in
order to reach reconciliation between the Chalcedonians, who defended the two
natures in Christ and the non-Chalcedonians, who defended the one nature,
Emperor Heraclius (610-641) imposed a mixed formula, known in the history as
„monoenergism” or later as „monothelism”. According to this position, there was
defended the Orthodox position of two natures in Christ, but there was affirmed
the existence of a single work (mono-erga) and a single will (mono-thelos) in
Christ, which in fact was a disguised unorthodox formula, because the human
nature would have been practically inactive in the Person of Christ.
John voiced opposition
to Heraclius' early attempts at promoting monoenergism as a compromise solution
to the schism over Chalcedon, but did not participate in the major controversies
that soon developed, and finished with the conclusions of the sixth ecumenical
Council of Constantinople (680)
Death of St. John
Saint John was forced
to flee Alexandria by the Persian invasion of Egypt in 619, or, after the
Western sources, in 616. HeJohn
boarded a boat to escape from danger, but along the way he fell ill and,
arrived in Cyprus, he reposed at his birthplace, in 620 (or 616). A few years later much of John’s work of
reconciliation with the non-Chalcedonians of Egypt was undone by the violent
persecution instituted by Cyrus
(631–641), who combined both imperial and ecclesiastical authority as dual
prefect and patriarch of Alexandria. During his reign, the Muslims invaded
Egypt, who never came back under the Christian rule.
The celebration of St.
John the Merciful occurs in the Orthodox Churches on 12 November (26 November
in the Churches who respect the old calendar) , although he might have died on
11 November, when he is celebrated in the West. Another day of celebration is
23 January.
The Relics of St. John
The relics of Saint
John were soon reported to be wonderworker. There were soon moved to
Constantinople, then in 1249, during the 4th Crusade, to Venice.
There is a church dedicated to him in Venice, the Church of San Giovanni
Elemosinario, but his relics are preserved in another church, San Giovanni in
Bragora, in a separate chapel.
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| Relics in the Cathedral of Bratislava |
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Column dedicated to the saint
in Casarano, Italy |
Relics of the saint in the church San Giovanni in Bragora from Venice
Apparently a part of
the relics remained after the 4th Crusade further in Constantinople,
because there is reported that another relic of St. John was sent by Sultan
Bayezid II in 1489 to King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. It was placed in the
private Royal Chapel in Buda Castle, dedicated to St. John. Now these relics are to be found in the St.
John the Merciful Chapel, at the St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava,
Slovakia. Some other relics are to be found in some monastery in Athos, as
Dionisiou (his right hand), Vatopedi, Pantokrator, Dochiariou and Karakallou.
Saint John the
Merciful is the Patron saint of the town Casarano, in southern Italy and the
original patron saint of the monastic order of the Hospitallers.
Troparion (Hymn) of the Saint
By endurance you
gained your reward, venerable Father; you persevered in prayer unceasingly; you
loved the poor and provided for them in all things. Blessed John the Merciful,
intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved!
