St. John The Evangelist

After the Resurrection , it seems that John is gone to Samaria to preach with Peter, where he showed great enthusiasm to organize the young Church of Palestine. Fleeing the persecutions of the Romans, he left Palestine , and fled to Ephesus where he performs miracles and baptize many people.

Brought to Rome for presentation to the emperor Domitian , who had sent for, he showed his faith in Jesus Christ was stronger than all earthly powers. Tertullian says he suffered at Rome , at the Latin Door ( Porta Latina ), the torment of boiling oil, which would have enabled her virginity out unscathed. Having just been whipped before, his injuries could have even disappeared despite the hot oil.

The emperor sent him into exile on the island of Patmos , where he wrote the Apocalypse. On Patmos, mountainous island, lush at the time, John received a vision of Christ of the Apocalypse, majestic in appearance, dressed in white, the sword of the Word in the mouth. John kneels and is blessed by the appearance that said, "Now write what you saw this, and what will happen later" . Then he would have grandiose visions revealed what must happen at the end of time: increasing inequity, the coming of the Antichrist, his fight against the faithful and the ultimate struggle to finally lay still hell with the devil and his angels evil. He looked as the upheavals of World, consumption of everything in the divine fire, and the triumph of the Son of man, the resurrection of all the Last Judgement, and finally the descent to earth of the heavenly Jerusalem, holy city and everlasting, which God will dwell with men forever.

After the death of Domitian in the year 96 , Emperor Nerva allowed John to return to Ephesus, to the regret of the inhabitants of Patmos he had converted in large numbers.

Then the tradition keeps it alive for years to Ephesus , a city where he wrote his three Epistles and the Fourth Gospel or Gospel of John (the oldest track is the Papyrus P52 ) in the year 97.

He died at Ephesus in the year 101 , at the age of 98 years. He is buried in Selcuk , near Ephesus , where there was a basilica of St. John in ruins today.

St. John asleep sculpture attributed to Martin Hoffmann, linden wood, about 1515 Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon

Several representations of John the show in his hand a chalice from which emerges the head of a snake , with reference to the theme of John the snake (see the stained glass contemporary church Toulon-sur-Allier ).

Attributed to the Apostle John of many miracles:

• To prove to Aristodemus Ephesians and the superiority of Christianity over the worship of idols (see especially the Golden Legend ): summoned to drink a cup of poison he swallowed the contents of a stroke and is still absolutely no discomfort, while the two designated tasters to test the poison collapse blasted a few seconds (they will then be resurrected by the saint).
• Upon his arrival on the island of Patmos, there was a evil mage named Kynopse, served by numerous demonic minions. The priests of the temple of Apollo asked the latter to get rid of John, who was beginning to make conversions. John, by the mere power of his prayer to Jesus Christ, succeeded in driving the servants of evil mage, showing that the power of the latter was an illusion, and his prayer, the sea swallowed up the magician and prevailed as before Pharaoh launched in pursuit of Moses.
• At a party in devotion to the goddess Artemis , venerated as the inhabitants of Ephesus, John ascended the hill on which stood a large statue of the goddess and began to harangue the crowd pagan. She, furious, tried to stone him, but all the stones struck the statue that was torn to pieces, then the stones turned against those who continued to launch them. At the prayer of John, the earth shook and swallowed the most vindictive, but after that the crowd was begging John and appealed to his mercy, they came out again all the dens of the earth, worshiping the holy baptism and calling.
• John was arrested and taken to the temple of Artemis at an Imperial officer who was accused of evil magic and tried to kill him. Jean began to pray to God, and the temple collapsed without prejudice to any human life.
• During his journey from exile to Patmos , he cured by his prayers the soldiers of his escort were all dysentery, and arriving on the island, and healed by his prayers the son of a notable of the island, reached an "evil spirit", which allowed him to baptize the whole house upon arrival.
• Another day at Ephesus , surrounded by a crowd of followers and people, he blessed the remains of a particularly pious woman named Drusiana, and it revived.
• At the time of his death, he dug a pit and descends in praying to God. As soon as he finished his prayer, he is surrounded by a light so bright that nobody can watch it. Once the light disappeared, we found the pit filled with divine manna. Another version of his death means that he has been buried alive and covered with earth by his servants, but when his disciples came and tried to dig it up, it was gone. All thought that his body had been resurrected and had ascended to heaven, in the words of Jesus Christ meets Peter questioned him on John: "If I want him to stay until I get back what that to you? (John XXI: 22).

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