St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
First century
Feast: December 27
St. John, the son of Zebedee and brother of St. James the Greater, was called to be an apostle by Jesus in the first year of his public ministry. He became the “beloved disciple” and the only one of the Twelve who did not abandon Jesus in the hour of his passion. He stood faithfully at the foot of the cross, and Christ made him the guardian of his mother. He is traditionally credited as the author of the fourth Gospel, three epistles and the Book of Revelation. According to tradition, he was plunged into boiling oil at the order of the Emperor Domitian but emerged unscathed and was banished to the island of Patmos. He lived to an old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died in Ephesus about the year 100.
-Catholic News Agency
Northwest Catholic - December 2018