Saint John the Theologian and Evangelist (Synaxis of the holy dust of the emanation from the tomb of John the Theologian)
Date of celebration: 08/05
The Evangelist John, the beloved disciple of the Lord, “the one who sat on the breast of Jesus”, is the one who wrote the Gospel according to John, but also the three Catholic Epistles, which bear his name.
The memory of John the Apostle is celebrated on September 26. Today’s holiday is connected with the emergence of miraculous powder (dust) from the tomb of the Evangelist, through the miraculous action of the Holy Spirit, which the locals called “earthly mother”.
The Evangelist John, after divine illumination, foresaw that he was going to pass from the present life to the eternal and endless, took his disciples and went out of Ephesus. There at one point he indicated that a grave should be opened. As soon as this was done, he went in alive and slept in peace. This tomb henceforth became a source of healing.
The Synagogue of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist was held in his famous temple, which was located in the place called Ebdomon, in today’s Makrochori of Constantinople. About this temple in Ebdomon, which existed at the end of the 4th century AD, we know about it from Socrates the Scholastic. During the 9th century AD the temple of Theologos was collapsed, perhaps due to earthquakes or weather effects and that is why the emperor Basilios of Macedon raised it from its plinths.
Finally, it is worth mentioning the phrase that the Apostle John constantly said to his disciples: “Children, love one another” (John 13:34), which means, my children, love one another. And when his disciples asked him why he kept telling them the same phrase, he answered “because it is the Lord’s commandment, and when that alone is done, it is enough.”
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