John the Almsgiver
| John the Almsgiver | |
|---|---|
 John the Alms Giver - Venice |
|
| Born | around 556 ( Amathous , Cyprus ) |
| Deceased | January 23, 619 ( Cyprus ) |
| Holiday | January 23rd November 12th (Orthodox Church) |
| Patron saint | from Limassol |
| Attributes | handing out alms
with bag with blanket |
John the Almsgiver also Johannes Elemosynarius or John the Merciful (* around 556 in Amathous , Cyprus , † around 619 in Cyprus), Greek and Latin Johannes Eleemosynarius , was Patriarch of Alexandria from 610–619 . He is venerated as a saint by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
Live and act
John the Almsgiver was born around 556 to Efkosmia or Kosmia and Epiphanius, the governor of Cyprus. From a young age, pity appeared to him , the Lord's daughter. This experience impressed him so much that he now always took care of the poor. He married early but soon lost his wife and children. Then he began to distribute his fortune to the poor. When the Patriarch of Alexandria Theodor I died in 609, Niketas, the governor of Egypt, asked the Byzantine Emperor Herakleios John to be his successor on behalf of the Alexandrian community . This followed the requests and so he became Patriarch of Alexandria.
First, John made a list of all the needy in the Alexandria church. He sheltered these 7,500 poor people in his palace and distributed food among them, calling them "gentlemen". He wanted to combat simony and heresy through better religious education, so he had many churches built and their number increased from seven to seventy. He was also an opponent of monophysitism . In order to prevent the deception of the common people, he reformed the systems of weights and other measures. Corruption was also a thorn in his side. He built hospitals and even set up the first maternity ward.
When the Sassanid ruler Chosrau II conquered Jerusalem in 614 , John took in the fleeing Christians and provided them with relief supplies and food. In 619 he fled back to his homeland in Cyprus after the Sassanids took possession of Alexandria . A short time later Johannes died. The post of Patriarch of Alexandria remained vacant for almost two years until George I succeeded .
Legends
It is said that he helped a shipwrecked trader three times. The third time he got him a ship with a load of wheat. Good winds brought him to Britain in a short time. Since wheat was scarce there, he made a high profit for his goods.
Because Johannes gave all his fortune for those in need, he only had a shabby blanket. A rich merchant therefore gave him a sumptuous bedspread. After Johannes had used the blanket for one night, he sold it again and distributed the proceeds among the poor. The dealer presented him a second time with an ornate blanket. Johannes did the same as he did with the first one and said to the dealer that no matter how often he gave him a new duvet, he would always sell it again. The depiction of John the almsgiver with blanket in hand was derived from this legend.
Once a man came and asked for alms. The servants thought that he didn't need any alms and reported it to John. But he replied that they should also give alms to him, because it could be the Lord in disguise.
Relics
His body was first brought to Constantinople after his death . After the city was captured by the Ottomans in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II gave it to the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus in 1480 , who brought the relic to Buda . After the battle of Mohács , Queen Maria of Hungary brought it to Pressburg with other valuables in September 1526 and it was first deposited in the castle . From there she later came to St. Martin's Cathedral . In 1632 Archbishop Peter Pázmány had a magnificent silver shrine built for the relic, which was inaugurated on January 23, 1632. A hundred years later, between 1729 and 1732, Prince Archbishop Emmerich Esterházy had a baroque chapel added to St. Martin's Cathedral in Pressburg Relic of the saint should be housed. The Austrian sculptor Georg Raphael Donner designed the interior of the chapel .
A foot of the saint is kept in the Matthias Church in Budapest .
John the Almsgiver was the original patron saint of the hospitalists and was celebrated by the Greeks on November 12th. His Life, written by Leontius of Neapolis in Cyprus , was translated into Latin by Anastasius the Librarian in the ninth century.
Memorial days
In the Catholic Church is celebrated his feast day on January 23rd, in the Orthodox Church on November 12th.
literature
- SCHRÖDL in Kirchenlex., Sv Johannes, the almsgiver; BUTLER, Lives of the Saints; Acta SS., Jan. II, 495 sqq .; DAVIDSON in Dict. Christian. Biog., Sv Joannes (15); MIGNE, PG, XCIII, CXVII; LEQUIEN, Oriens Christ., II, 445; PALAFOX Y MENDOZA, Vida de S. Juan (Madrid, 1762)
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (English)
- Anton Klipp: Pressburg. New views on an old city. Karpatendeutsches Kulturwerk, Karlsruhe 2010, ISBN 978-3-927020-15-3 .
- Otto Wimmer, Hartmann Melzer, Josef Gelmi (edit.): Lexicon of names and saints. Nikol, Hamburg 2002 (first edition by Tyrolia Innsbruck 1956), ISBN 3-933203-63-5 .
Footnotes
- ↑ Otto Bitschnau : The life of God's saints . Benziger, Einsiedeln, 24th edition [after 1881], p. 57.
- ↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia (English; German: 'Katholisches Heiligenlexikon)
- ^ Anton Klipp: Pressburg. New views on an old city. Karpatendeutsches Kulturwerk, Karlsruhe 2010, ISBN 978-3-927020-15-3 , p. 60
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Theodore of Alexandria |
Patriarch of Alexandria 610–616 |
George I. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | John the Almsgiver |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Johannes Eleemosynarius (Greek, Latin) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Patriarch of Alexandria and Saint of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 556 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Amathous , Cyprus |
| DATE OF DEATH | 619 |
| Place of death | Cyprus |