ST. JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE - FEAST DAY. The principal feast of this great Apostle, author of the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, is celebrated on December twenty-seventh. Today we commemorate …More
ST. JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE - FEAST DAY.
The principal feast of this great Apostle, author of the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, is celebrated on December twenty-seventh. Today we commemorate the tradition which recounts the unsuccessful attempt to put St. John to death by throwing him into boiling oil. Upon the site of this atrocity, near the Via Latina of Rome, there is a church dedicated under the invocation of St. John. This Apostle of Love, who sat next to our Lord at the institution of the Sacrament of Love, constantly urged his converts to "love one another." We should ask his prayers that our love of God and neighbor may be ardent and sincere. Our Lord foretold the suffering of the Beloved Disciple, making it clear that before a soul may aspire to enter His Kingdom, it must first be ready to share with Him the bitter cup of the Passion. There are no exceptions to this rule, and we, even though we may not be actual martyrs, must be filled with the spirit of martyrdom: the spirit of loving self-sacrifice.
The principal feast of this great Apostle, author of the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse, is celebrated on December twenty-seventh. Today we commemorate the tradition which recounts the unsuccessful attempt to put St. John to death by throwing him into boiling oil. Upon the site of this atrocity, near the Via Latina of Rome, there is a church dedicated under the invocation of St. John. This Apostle of Love, who sat next to our Lord at the institution of the Sacrament of Love, constantly urged his converts to "love one another." We should ask his prayers that our love of God and neighbor may be ardent and sincere. Our Lord foretold the suffering of the Beloved Disciple, making it clear that before a soul may aspire to enter His Kingdom, it must first be ready to share with Him the bitter cup of the Passion. There are no exceptions to this rule, and we, even though we may not be actual martyrs, must be filled with the spirit of martyrdom: the spirit of loving self-sacrifice.