{"id":11810,"date":"2023-11-06T20:11:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/?p=11810"},"modified":"2023-11-06T20:11:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:11:51","slug":"st-peter-news-november-7-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/st-peter-news-november-7-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Peter News November 7, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

St John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of Alexandria
\nEighth Sunday of Luke<\/h2>\n

Martyrs Galaktion and Episteme of Emmes; Apostles Hermas, Linus, Gaius, Patrobas and Philologos of the Seventy<\/h4>\n

Neilos the Faster of Sinai; Neilos the myrrh-streaming of the Great Lavra on Athos; Martin the wonderworker, bishop of Tours<\/h4>\n
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Who Was St. John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of Alexandria<\/h4>\n
\n\"St.<\/p>\n

St. John the Merciful<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

John was born in Amathus on Cyprus c. 550 to the patrician Epiphanius, a governor of the island. He married and had children, but was a widower when he was called to become patriarch of Alexandria on the recommendation of his friend, the city’s imperial prefect Nicetas. <\/p>\n

John was remarkable for his almsgiving or mercy (??e?\u00b5?s??? in Greek, hence his title ??e?\u00b5??). To someone who was astounded at his generosity he recounted a vision he had seen in his youth in which Compassion appeared to him as a beautiful maiden and told him that she was the eldest daughter of God.<\/p>\n

The patriarchate of Alexandria had at its disposal immense wealth in both money and commercial enterprises, including shipping, and John put it all at the disposal of the poor. He was not only liberal with the resources of his see, but with his own goods.<\/p>\n

In one incident in his life he felt remorseful for accepting a richly-embroidered blanket as a gift and was unable to sleep until he sold it and gave the proceeds to the poor. He also made himself available to anyone who had a petition, grievance, or request.<\/p>\n

His generosity did draw censure at times. In one case one of his aides noticed that someone was abusing the distribution of goods in John’s very presence, returning several times in different guises, but when he mentioned this John replied that it might be Christ in disguise. In another case he came to loggerheads with his friend Nicetas when the latter, concerned to contribute to Emperor Heraclius’ war effort against the Persians, tried to appropriate some of the church’s wealth to that end, an attempt which John firmly resisted and which ended in Nicetas’ apology.<\/p>\n

His care was not limited to his own flock in Alexandria, but extended to the people of Palestine in their sufferings during the Persian invasion and sack of Jerusalem. John sent convoys of essential supplies to Palestine and welcomed many refugees to Alexandria.<\/p>\n

He was forced to flee Alexandria by the Persian invasion of Egypt in 619. Returning to Cyprus, he died soon thereafter.<\/p>\n

Source: The Orthodoxwiki<\/a> website.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Services and Events This Week<\/h2>\n