From our Synod's website and the Treasury of Daily Prayer:John (ca. 675–749) is known as the great compiler and summarizer of the orthodox faith and the last great Greek theologian. Born in Damascus, John gave up an influential position in the Islamic court to devote himself to the Christian faith. Around 716 he entered a monastery outside of Jerusalem and was ordained a priest. When the Byzantine emperor Leo the Isaurian in 726 issued a decree forbidding images (icons), John forcefully resisted. In his Apostolic Discourses he argued for the legitimacy of the veneration of images, which earned him the condemnation of the Iconoclast Council in 754. John also wrote defenses of the orthodox faith against contemporary heresies. In addition, he was a gifted hymnwriter (“Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain”) and contributed to the liturgy of the Byzantine churches. His greatest work was the Fount of Wisdom which was a massive compendium of truth from previous Christian theologians, covering practically every conceivable doctrinal topic. John's summary of the orthodox faith left a lasting stamp on both the Eastern and Western churches.
Two of St. John's hymns occur in LSB, both celebrating the Resurrection: "Come Ye Faithful" 487 and "The Day of Resurrection" 478.
The Treasury offers a beautiful prayer in honor of his commemoration:
O Lord, through Your servant John of Damascus, You proclaimed with power the mysteries of the true faith. Confirm our faith so that we may confess Jesus to be true God and true man, singing the praises of the risen Lord, and so that by the power of the resurrection we may also attain the joys of eternal life... (p. 981)
I have several saying of St. John that I truly treasure:
"It is impossible either to say or fully to understand anything about God beyond what has been divinely proclaimed to us, whether told or revealed, by the sacred declarations of the Old and New Testaments." St. John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, Book I, Chapter 2
And from Book 4 of *The Orthodox Faith* by St. John of Damascus:
"Yes, and most wonderful of all is that all these things were successfully brought about through a cross and suffering and death. The Gospel of the knowledge of God has been preached to the whole world and has put the adversaries to flight not by war and arms and camps. Rather, it was a few unarmed, poor, unlettered, persecuted, tormented, done-to-death men, who, by preaching the One who had died crucified in the flesh, prevailed over the wise and powerful, because the almighty power of the Crucified was with them....
Well done, O Christ, O Wisdom and Power and Word of God, and God almighty! What should we resourceless people give Thee in return for all things? For all things are Thine and Thou askest nothing of us but that we be saved. Even this Thou hast given us, and by Thy ineffable goodness Thou art grateful to those who accept it. Thanks be to Thee who hast given being and grace of well-being and who by Thy ineffable condescension hast brought back to this state those who fell from it!"
And yet again:
"And so for our sake He submits to death and dies and offers Himself to the Father as a sacrifice for us. For we had offended Him and it was necessary for Him to take upon Himself our redemption that we might thus be loosed from the condemnation - for God forbid that the Lord's blood should have been offered to the tyrant!" (Book 3, Chapter 27)
My all time favorite hymn by St. John is "What Earthy Joy":
What earthly joy remains untouched by grief?
What glory stands forever on the earth?
Frail shadows - all, delusive dreams;
Which death will one day sweep away.
But in the light of Your countenance, O Christ,
And in the enjoyment of Your beauty,
Give rest to those whom You have chosen and taken
For You are the Lover of mankind.
8 comments:
Prayer of St. John of Damascus
I stand before the gates of thy Temple, and yet I refrain not from my evil thoughts. But do thou, O Christ my God, who didst justify the publican, and hadst mercy on the Canaanite woman, and opened the gates of Paradise to the thief; open unto me the compassion of thy love toward mankind, and receive me as I approach and touch thee, like the sinful woman and the woman with the issue of blood; for the one, by embracing thy feet received the forgiveness of her sins, and the other by but touching the hem of thy garment was healed. And I, most sinful, dare to partake of thy whole Body. Let me not be consumed but receive me as thou didst receive them, and enlighten the perceptions of my soul, consuming the accusations of my sins; through the intercessions of Her that without stain gave Thee birth, and of the heavenly Powers; for thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.
Thank you, Trent. A prayer of utter humility.
Thank you, Fr. Weedon for making known this great and often forgotten saint among the Lutherans. I am privileged and honored to have him as my patron saint especially when I am allowed to sing so many hymns week in, week out, which he authored for the universal church. I hope that the Lutheran faithful can benefit from becoming acquainted with him and his writings. Speaking of great hymns, I can't believe you didn't include the Canon that he wrote for Pascha!
Thanks again!
Christopher,
He's a favorite of mine. If one were to get in all of his hymns, though, where would be the end? His was a faith that sang!
I don't say something like this very often, nonetheless, this is something the novus ordo got right.
He's a relative latecomer to the Roman calendar, in 1890, just 7 years after being declared a Doctor of the Church. They put his feast on 27 March and if anyone has the slightest clue about the reason for that choice please let me know.
The usual practice is to take the date of death, being the date of birth unto eternal life, as the feast, and his was 4 December and to my knowledge has always been there in the East.
Problem is, another Doctor of the Church, St Peter Chrysologus, had already been given the day so they booted him out to 30 July, the day before he died but St Ignatius of Loyola, Jesuit Number One actually did die on 31 July and already had the gig booked.
The history behind St. John is fascinating. Employed by the Muslim court during the time of Emperor Leo III as Islam spread out of Arabia and Leo's armies suffered numerous defeats, Leo surmised that perhaps the Muslims were right and that using icons in worship was idolatrous and therefore his forces were not prevailing. He consequently banned their use. The Pope in turn excommunicated Leo.
St. John defended icons by virtue of the Incarnation. When God took on human flesh icons could now be permitted because the face of Jesus Christ represented the unseen face of the eternal God. He also argued that books and such were available to those living in the palace but the average person could not read nor were books available to him so icons served a very useful purpose in teaching the faith and as aids to prayer.
St. John's wisom prevailed. The Second Council of Nicea upheld that icons were to be used and honored in the church.
They put his feast on 27 March and if anyone has the slightest clue about the reason for that choice please let me know.
A litte update:
The Church of Rome celebrated his feastday yesterday.
When the name of Saint John of Damascus was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1890, it was assigned to 27 March. This date always falls within Lent, a period during which there are no obligatory Memorials. The feast day was therefore moved in 1969 to the day of the saint's death, 4 December, the day on which his feast day is celebrated also in the Byzantine Rite calendar.
That's what I said. The novus ordo got it right, putting it on his known day of death and booting the guy who was already there. The question was, why 27 March in the first place.
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