View source for John the Merciful

{{Short description|7th-century Greek Patriarch of Alexandria}}

{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix= [[Saint]]
|name        = John the Merciful
|birth_date  = c. 552
|death_date  = c. 616–620
|feast_day= 12 November (Eastern Orthodox)<br/>23 January (Roman Catholic)<br/>14 [[Paopi]] ot 15 [[Hathor (month)|Hathor]] (Coptic Orthodox)
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br/>[[Catholic Church]]<br/>[[Coptic Orthodox Church]]
|image       = San Giovanni Elemosinario.jpg
|imagesize   = 250px
|caption     = ''Saint John the Merciful''. Church of [[San Giovanni Elemosinario]]
|birth_place = [[Amathus]], [[Cyprus]]
|death_place = [[Cyprus]]
|titles      = [[Patriarch of Alexandria]] (Melkite)
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date= [[Pre-Congregation]]
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes= Bishop vestment<br>[[Mitre|Miter]]<br>[[Crozier|Crosier]]
|patronage= [[Egypt]] 
|major_shrine= [[San Giovanni Elemosinario]], [[Venice]], [[Italy]]
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

'''John V Eleemon''' ({{langx|el|Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἐλεήμων|Iōannēs ho Eleēmōn}}), also known as '''John the Almsgiver''', '''John the Almoner''', '''John the Compassionate''', or '''John the Merciful''', was the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria|Chalcedonian/Melkite Patriarch]] of Alexandria in the early 7th century (from 606 to 616). He was born in Amathus around 560.  Originally appointed by the emperor Heraclius, he later resisted attempts by the emperor to persecute the monophysites.  At the end of his life he was obliged to flee back to Cyprus, where he died around 620.

He was unusual for his time in a number of ways. He was a married man with children, was elected bishop as a layman, and became a saint without being a martyr. He is one of the very few Byzantine era saints to gain a following in the West. He was one of the saints in the [[Golden Legend]].  He became famous as the original patron of the order of [[Knights Hospitaller|St. John of the Hospital, the Hospitallers]], one of the great Western crusading military orders. This order still survives as the Knights of Malta.  In the British Commonwealth, the "St. John's Ambulance Corps" is named after him.<ref>Norman H. Baynes, introduction to the [https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/john-almsgiver.asp Life of St John the Almsgiver].</ref>

He is considered a saint in the [[Catholic Church]], the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]]. He is also the patron saint of [[Casarano]], Italy and of [[Limassol]], Cyprus.

His "life" was written by his contemporary [[Leontios of Neapolis|Leontius bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus]], who seems to have known him personally.

== Early life ==
He was born at [[Amathus]] as the son of Epiphanius, governor of [[Cyprus]], and was of noble descent. In early life he was married and had children, but his wife and children soon died, after which he entered religious life.<ref>[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103286 "St John the Merciful of Alexandria", OCA]</ref>

== Patriarch of Alexandria ==
[[image:Ignoto pittore cretese-veneziano, S. Giovanni l'Elemosiniere, XVII sec. -FG.jpg|thumb|right|John the Merciful, second half of the 17th century, Museo Mandralisca, [[Cefalù]]]]

On the death of the [[Patriarch]] [[Patriarch Theodore I of Alexandria|Theodore]], the Alexandrians besought [[Byzantine Emperor|Emperor]] [[Phocas]] to appoint John his successor, which was accordingly done. One of the first steps he took was to make a list of several thousand needy persons, whom he took under his especial care. He always referred to the poor as his "lords and masters", because of their mighty influence at the Court of the Most High. He assisted people of every class who were in need. 

He was a reformer who attacked [[simony]], and fought heresy by means of improvements in religious education. He also reorganized the system of weights and measures for the sake of the poor, and put a stop to corruption among the officials.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saint January 23 : St. John the Almsgiver the Patriarch of Alexandria and Patron of Knights Hospitaller |url=http://www.catholicnewsworld.com/2020/01/saint-january-23-st-john-almsgiver.html |access-date=2022-10-27 }}</ref> He increased the number of churches in [[Alexandria]] from seven to seventy.

The ministry of [[Vitalis of Gaza]], a monk who worked among the prostitutes of the city, was a noteworthy episode of John's reign. The patriarch was considered to have behaved with wisdom for not punishing this monk who was notorious for visiting the seedy part of town, and his judgment was vindicated only after the death of Vitalis when the story of the monk's mission of mercy became known.<ref>Churchill, Leigh, ''The Birth of Europe'', Paternoster Press, pp.176-80, 2001.</ref>

== Anecdotes from the Life by Leontius ==
In his youth John had had a vision of a beautiful maiden with a garland of olives on her head, who said that she was Compassion, the eldest daughter of the Great King. This had evidently made a deep impression on John's mind, and, now that he had the opportunity of exercising benevolence on a large scale, he soon became widely known all over the East for his liberality towards the poor.

A shipwrecked merchant was thus helped three times, on the first two occasions apparently without doing him much good; the third time however, John fitted him out with a ship and a cargo of wheat, and by favourable winds he was taken as far as [[Britain in the Middle Ages|Britain]], where, as there was a shortage of wheat, he obtained his own price.<ref>Leontios of Neapolis, ''Vita Sancti Joannis Eleemosynarii'', ''PG'' 93, col. 1623; ''Acta Sanctorum'', t. II (January), p. 501b.</ref> 

Another person, who was not really in need, applied for alms and was detected by the officers of the palace; but John merely said "Give unto him; he may be Our Lord in disguise." He visited the hospitals three times every week, and he freed a great many slaves. John is said to have devoted the entire revenues of his see to the alleviation of those in need. A rich man presented him with a magnificent bed covering; he accepted it for one night, but then sold it, and disposed of the money in alms. The rich man "bought in" the article, and again presented it to John, with the same result. This was repeated several times; but John drily remarked: "We will see who tires first."<ref>Churchill, Leigh, ''The Birth of Europe'', Paternoster Press, p. 174, 2001.</ref> 

Another instance of his piety was that he caused his own grave to be dug, but only partly so, and appointed a servant to come before him on all state occasions and say "My Lord, your tomb is unfinished; pray give orders for its completion, for you know not the hour when death may seize you." When the [[Sassanid dynasty|Sassanids]] sacked [[Jerusalem]] in 614, John sent large supplies of food, wine, and money to the fleeing [[Christians]]. But eventually the Persians [[Sassanid conquest of Egypt|occupied Alexandria]], and John himself in his old age was forced to flee to his native country, where he died.

==Death and veneration==
John died in [[Cyprus]] somewhere between 616 and 620.

From Cyprus his body was moved to [[Constantinople]], then in 1249 to [[Venice]], where there is a church dedicated to him, the [[Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario]], although his relics are preserved in another church, [[San Giovanni in Bragora]], in a separate chapel.

Another relic of him was sent by Sultan [[Bayezid II]] in 1489 to King [[Matthias Corvinus]] of Hungary. It was placed in the private [[Palace Chapel (Buda Castle)|Royal Chapel]] in [[Buda Castle]], which was dedicated to him. Now his body lies in the ''St. John the Merciful Chapel'' in [[St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava|St. Martin's Cathedral]] in [[Bratislava]], [[Slovakia]]. 

A church in [[Cospicua]], Malta, is dedicated to him, and one of the bastions of the [[Santa Margherita Lines]] in the same city is also named after him.<ref>{{cite web|title=St John Almoner Bastion – Sta Margherita Lines |url= http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/filebank/inventory/Knights%20Fortifications/1532.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150713232253/http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/filebank/inventory/Knights%20Fortifications/1532.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 13, 2015 |website= National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands |date=28 June 2013 |access-date=13 July 2015}}</ref>

Despite his Chalcedonianism, John came to be venerated as a saint even by the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frend |first=William |author-link=W. H. C. Frend |url=https://archive.org/details/ancient-christian-writers-no.-51.-cassiodor.-walsh-patrick-gerard-senator-cassio/Frend%2C%20The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Monophysite%20Movement/page/n179 |title=The Rise of the Monophysite Movement |date=1972 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-0227172414 |page=340}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyendorff |first=John |author-link=John Meyendorff |url=https://archive.org/details/imperialunitychr0000meye/page/278 |title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church, AD 450–680 |date=1989 |publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press |isbn=978-0881410556 |page=278}}</ref> [[Ibn Kabar]] gives his feast day as 14 [[Paopi]]. But the Ethiopian [[Synaxarium]], agreeing with the Greek {{transl|grc|[[Menaia]]}}, instead has 15 [[Hathor (month)|Hathor]], which is 11 November.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maspero |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Maspero |url=https://archive.org/details/bwb_KU-773-148/ |title=Histoire des Patriarches D'alexandrie |date=1923 |page=328 |quote={{lang|fr|Calendrier d'Aboul-Barakât (14 Babeh : [[Patrologia Orientalis|P. O.]], X, p. [12]256). Dans les Ménées grecs et dans le Synaxaire éthiopien il est fêté le 11 novembre — 15 hatour ([[Alfred von Gutschmid|Gutschmid]], Verzeichniss, p. 472).}}}}</ref>

== Biography ==
A hagiographical biography was written by his contemporary [[Leontios of Neapolis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Life of St. John the Almsgiver |url=https://origin-rh.web.fordham.edu/Halsall/basis/john-almsgiver.asp |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=Internet History Sourcebooks: Medieval Sourcebook |publisher=Fordham University}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Saints}}
* [[John the New Merciful]]

== References ==
;General
*{{Cite web |url=http://www.patriarchateofalexandria.com/index.php?module=content&cid=001003&id=121&lang=en |title=John V the Merciful (610–621) |publisher=Official web site of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa |access-date=2011-02-07}}
;Specific
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*https://web.archive.org/web/20061019105249/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj68.htm
*{{Catholic|wstitle=St. John the Almsgiver}}
*{{cite web |title=The Life of St. John the Almsgiver |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/john-almsgiver.asp |website=The Internet History Sourcebooks Project |publisher=Fordham University |access-date=3 September 2019}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|
before=[[Patriarch Theodore I of Alexandria|Theodore I]]|
title=[[List of Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Alexandria|Greek Patriarch of Alexandria]]|
years=610&ndash;619|
after=[[Patriarch George I of Alexandria|George I]]|}}
{{S-end}}

{{Patriarchs of Alexandria}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:John The Merciful}}
[[Category:610s deaths]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Cypriot Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Egyptian Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:7th-century patriarchs of Alexandria]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava]]
[[Category:Almoners]]
[[Category:Heraclius]]