De sancto Johanne Eleemosinario
The Call to Mercy
John the Almsgiver receives a vision of Mercy and commits his life to serving the poor as his masters.
One night, while John the Almsgiver, Patriarch of Alexandria, was deep in prayer, he saw a beautiful young girl standing beside him wearing a crown of olive branches. Struck with wonder, he asked who she was, and she replied, "I am Mercy, who brought the Son of God down from heaven; take me as your bride, and it will go well with you." Realizing that mercy was symbolized by the olive, he became so merciful from that day on that he was called 'Eleymor,' which means 'the Almsgiver.' He always called the poor his masters, which is why the Hospitallers are still expected to refer to the poor as their masters. He once gathered all his servants and told them, "Go through the whole city and write down for me every one of my masters, down to the last one." When they didn't understand, he said, "Those whom you call needy and beggars, I proclaim to be my masters and helpers; for they are the ones who can truly help us and grant us the kingdom of heaven." Wishing to invite people to give alms, he used to tell a story about how some poor people, while warming themselves in the sun, began to talk to each other about those who give alms, praising the good and criticizing the bad. There was a tax collector named Peter, a very wealthy and powerful man, but he was extremely unmerciful to the poor, driving them away with great anger whenever they came to his house. Since no one had ever been known to receive alms at his house, one of them said, "What will you give me if I manage to get alms from him today?"
The Weight of a Single Loaf
A wealthy tax collector is transformed by a vision of judgment where a single act of mercy balances his scales, leading him to total self-renunciation.
They made an agreement with him, and he came to his house and asked for alms. But when he returned home and saw the poor man at his door just as his servant was bringing wheat bread into the house, he couldn't find a stone, so he grabbed a loaf of wheat bread and struck him with it in a rage. The poor man immediately grabbed it, went back to his companions, and told them he had received alms from his hand. Two days later, when he fell ill and was near death, he saw himself standing before judgment. Some Moors were weighing his evil deeds on a scale, while on the other side, some pale, sad figures stood, unable to find anything to put there. Then one of them said, 'We truly have nothing except the one loaf of wheat bread that he gave to Christ two days ago, under duress.' When they placed it on the scale, it seemed to them that it balanced out. They said to him, 'Add to this wheat bread, otherwise the Moors will seize you.' Once he had woken up and was freed, he said, 'Good heavens, if one loaf of wheat bread that I threw in a rage was so helpful, how much more would it be to give away all one's possessions to those in need!' One day, while he was walking along dressed in his finest clothes, a shipwrecked man asked him for some clothing, and he immediately stripped off his expensive garment and gave it to him. The man took it and sold it immediately. But when the tax collector returned and saw the garment hanging there, he was deeply saddened—to the point that he didn't even want to eat—saying, 'I wasn't worthy for the poor man to keep it in his memory.' Then, while he was sleeping, he saw someone shining brighter than the sun, carrying a cross over his head and wearing the very garment he had given to the poor man; the figure asked him, "Why are you weeping, Peter?" After he explained the cause of his sadness, the Lord said, "Do you recognize this?" He replied, "Yes, Lord." The Lord said to him, "I am clothed in this, since you gave it to me, and I give thanks for your good will, for I was suffering from the cold and you covered me." Having come to himself, he began to bless the poor and say, "The Lord lives; I will not die until I become one of them." So, giving away his possessions to the poor, he called for a notary and said, "I want to entrust a secret to you; if you reveal it or if you don't listen to me, I will sell you to the barbarians." Then, giving him ten pounds of gold, he said, "Go to the holy city, buy goods for yourself, sell me to some Christian, and give the proceeds to the poor." When the man refused, he said, "If you don't listen to me, I will sell you to the barbarians." So, leading him as he had said, he sold him to a certain money-changer, dressed in rags as if he were his own slave, and taking the thirty coins, he gave them to the poor. Peter then performed all the menial tasks, becoming despised by everyone, frequently beaten by the other servants, and even called a madman.
The Hidden Saint
Peter's hidden life of humility and service is briefly glimpsed by others, leading to miraculous signs and the repentance of those around him.
The Lord often appeared to him, showing him garments and other things to comfort him, even while the Emperor and everyone else were grieving the loss of such a great man. Some of his neighbors from Constantinople came to visit the holy sites, and while dining as guests of his master, they whispered to each other, "That boy looks so much like Lord Peter the tax collector." As they looked more closely, one of them said, "It really is Lord Peter; I’m going to get up and grab him." Noticing this, he slipped away quietly. Now, the doorkeeper was deaf and mute, and he would open the door for him by a sign; but Peter commanded him to open it not with signs, but with words. The man immediately heard and regained his speech, and answering him, he opened the door. Returning to the house, he told everyone who was amazed at his speaking, "The man who was working in the kitchen has left and fled, but watch out—he might be a servant of God. For when he said to me, 'I tell you, open up,' a flame came out of his mouth that touched my tongue and ears, and I immediately regained my hearing and speech." They all rushed out and ran after him, but they couldn't find him again. Then everyone in that house did penance, because they had treated such a man so vilely.
The Scandal of Vitalis
The monk Vitalis adopts a controversial method of saving prostitutes through prayer and endurance, ultimately proving his holiness through suffering.
A monk named Vitalis, wanting to test Saint John to see if he could be swayed by words and easily led into scandal, went into the city and made a list of all the public prostitutes. He went to them one by one, telling each, "Give me this night, and don't commit fornication." He would enter their house, kneel in a corner, and spend the whole night in prayer for her; then, in the morning, he would leave, instructing each one not to reveal it to anyone. One of them, however, revealed his way of life, and as soon as the old man prayed, she began to be tormented by a demon. Everyone said to her, "God has paid you back for what you deserved, because you lied; for that wicked man comes in only to commit fornication, and for no other reason." But when evening came, the aforementioned Vitalis said to everyone within earshot, "I want to go, because a certain lady is waiting for me." When many accused him, he replied, "Don't I have a body like everyone else, or is God angry only at monks?" Truly, they are human beings just like the rest. Some people said to him, 'Abba, take a woman for yourself and change your clothes, so you don't cause a scandal for others.' But he, pretending to be angry, said, 'I really won't listen to you; get away from me.' If people want to be scandalized, let them be scandalized and go bang their heads against a wall. Has God appointed you to be my judges? Go and mind your own business; you won't be giving an account for me. He shouted these things, and when the complaint was brought to blessed John, God hardened his heart so that he wouldn't believe them. He prayed to God, however, that after his death his work might be revealed to someone, so that it wouldn't be held as a sin against those who were scandalized by him. He led many of those women to conversion and placed most of them in a monastery. One morning, as he was leaving one of them, a man who was on his way to commit fornication with her met him, slapped him, and said, 'How long, you wretch, will you not cleanse yourself of these impurities of yours?' He replied, "Believe me, you'll get such a slap from me that all of Alexandria will gather around." Soon after, the devil appeared in the form of a Moor and struck him, saying, "This is the slap that Abbot Vitalis sends you." He was immediately tormented by the demon to the point that everyone came running at his cries; yet, he repented and was delivered through the abbot's prayer. As the man of God approached death, he left behind this writing: "Do not judge before the time." When the women later confessed what he had been doing, everyone glorified God, especially the blessed John, who said, "I wish I had received the slap that he took."1
The Generosity of the Patriarch
John demonstrates his radical trust in God by repeatedly giving to the same beggar and teaching others to prioritize charity over worldly gain.
A certain poor man, dressed as a pilgrim, came to John and asked him for alms; John called his steward and said, "Give him six coins." The man took them, left, changed his clothes, and returned to the patriarch to ask for alms again. John, however, called the steward and said, "Give him six gold pieces." After he had given them to him and the man had left, the steward said to him, "Father, because of your prayers, that same man has come back today and received money twice by changing his clothes." But blessed John pretended not to know this. The man changed his clothes a third time and came to blessed John again to ask for alms; then the steward nudged blessed John, signaling that it was the same man. Blessed John replied to him, "Go and give him twelve coins, in case it is my Lord Jesus Christ, who wants to test me to see if he can receive more here than I can give." One time, when a nobleman wanted to invest some of the church's money in trade and the patriarch would not agree to it at all, but instead wanted to distribute it to the poor, they both argued intensely and parted ways in anger. When the ninth hour arrived, the patriarch sent word to the nobleman through the archpriest, saying, "Sir, the sun is setting." Hearing this, the man was moved to tears; he went to the patriarch and asked for forgiveness.
Virtue Over Kinship
John teaches his nephew that true kinship is found in virtue rather than blood, and he demonstrates this by showing mercy to an enemy.
When a certain nephew of his... —having heard of a grave injury from a certain shopkeeper, and being unable to find any comfort while lamentably complaining to the patriarch about it—the patriarch replied, 'And how did anyone dare to contradict you and open his mouth against you?' "Believe me, my son, I will do something about him today that will make all of Alexandria marvel." Hearing this, the man took comfort, thinking that the patriarch would have him severely beaten. Seeing that he was comforted, John kissed his chest and said, "My son, if you are truly a nephew of my humility, prepare yourself to be whipped and to suffer insults from everyone." It is true. For kinship is recognized not by flesh and blood, but by the virtue of the mind. He immediately sent for that man and freed him from every tax and tribute; all who heard of it marveled, and they understood that this was what he had meant when he said, "I will do something about him today that will make all of Alexandria marvel."
The Unfinished Monument
John prepares for death by keeping his monument unfinished and repeatedly selling a luxurious coverlet to provide for the poor.
The patriarch learned that it was the custom, as soon as an emperor was crowned, for the builders of monuments to immediately bring him four or five small samples of marble in different colors and, approaching the emperor, ask: "From what kind of marble or metal does your majesty command that your monument be made?" Following this custom, he ordered a monument to be made for himself, yet he kept it unfinished until his death and appointed men to approach him whenever he was standing with the clergy during a solemn feast and say to him: "Lord, your monument is unfinished; command that it be completed, for you do not know at what hour the thief may come." A certain rich man, seeing that blessed John had only poor rags on his bed because he had given all the others away to the poor, bought a very expensive coverlet and gave it to him. When he had this over him that night, he couldn't sleep, thinking that three hundred... ...of his masters could have been covered for that much money. All night long he lamented, saying: 'How many have gone to sleep tonight without supper, how many are soaked by the rain in the marketplace, how many are shivering with cold and chattering their teeth; yet you, while devouring big fish and resting in your bedroom with all your comforts, are keeping yourself warm under a coverlet worth thirty-six coins. Humble John will not be clothed in this again.' At daybreak, he immediately had it sold and gave the money to the poor. When the rich man heard this, he bought the same coverlet a second time and gave it to blessed John, asking him not to sell it again but to keep it for himself. But John, upon receiving it, ordered it to be sold again and the money given to his masters, the poor. When the rich man heard this, he went off again, bought it back, and brought it to blessed John, saying to him with a smile: 'We shall see who runs out first: you, by selling, or I, by buying.' And so he gently 'harvested' the rich man, saying that someone may indeed strip the rich in this way with the intention of giving to the poor, and it is no sin. Such a person gains two things: first, because he saves their souls, and second, because he will receive no small reward for this.
The Gospel of Poverty
John encourages others to follow the Gospel's call to total poverty, even enduring insults with patience to demonstrate his commitment.
To encourage people to give alms, the blessed John would tell the story of Saint Serapion, who had given his own cloak to a poor man. Later, meeting another person suffering from the cold, he gave him his tunic as well. He was sitting there naked, holding only his Gospel book, when someone asked him, "Abba, who stripped you?" Pointing to the Gospel book, he replied, "He is the one who stripped me." On another occasion, seeing a different poor man, he sold that same Gospel book and gave the money to him. When he was asked where his Gospel book was, he replied, "The Gospel commands: 'Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor.' So, I had myself, and I sold myself, just as it commanded." When blessed John ordered five coins to be given to a man asking for alms, the man became indignant that he hadn't received more and immediately began to insult him. He flew into a rage and began to heap abuse on him to his face. When his servants heard this, they wanted to rush at the man and beat him severely, but blessed John stopped them entirely, saying, "Let him be, brothers, let him be, so that he may curse me." For look, I have spent sixty years blaspheming Christ through my own actions, so shouldn't I endure one insult from this man? He then ordered a money bag to be brought and placed before him, so the man could take as much as he wanted.
Shepherd of the Flock
John exercises his pastoral authority to keep his people in the church and maintains a spirit of prayer even in his final moments.
AR. When the people left the church after the Gospel was read and began to waste time outside with idle talk, the patriarch once followed them out after the Gospel and sat down in their midst. As almost everyone was surprised by this, he said to them, "My children, where the sheep are, there the shepherds must be; so either come back inside and I'll come in with you, or stay here and I'll stay with you." He did this once or twice, and in this way, he taught the people to remain in the church. When a young man had abducted a nun, and the clergy were criticizing him before blessed John and saying he should be excommunicated because he had destroyed two souls—his own and hers—blessed John restrained them, saying, "Not so, my sons, not so." I tell you that you are committing two sins yourselves: first, you are acting against the Lord's command, for He says, "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged." Second, because you do not know for certain whether they are still sinning today and have not repented. Often, however, when blessed John was in prayer and caught up in an ecstasy of mind, he was heard arguing with God in these words: "So, good Jesus, let's see who wins—me by scattering, or You by providing." When he was seized by a fever and saw that he was approaching death, he said, "I give You thanks, God, because You have heard my misery as I begged for Your goodness, so that nothing would be found on me as I die except one small coin." "I order this to be given to the poor." His venerable body was then placed in the tomb where the bodies of two bishops had been buried, and those bodies miraculously gave way to blessed John, leaving the middle space empty.
The Mercy of the Grave
Even after death, John miraculously intercedes for a woman, erasing her sin and confirming his ongoing role as a mediator of God's mercy.
A few days before he died, a woman who had committed a most shameful sin and was too afraid to confess it to anyone came to Saint John. He told her to at least write it down—since she knew how to write—and bring it to him sealed, so that he could pray for her. She agreed, carefully wrote down the sin, sealed it, and handed it to Saint John. But a few days later, Saint John fell ill and rested in the Lord. When the woman heard he had died, she felt disgraced and confused, believing that he had entrusted the writing to someone else and that it had fallen into other hands. So she went to the tomb of Saint John and, weeping bitterly, cried out, "Alas! In trying to avoid shame, I have become a shame to everyone." As she wept bitterly and begged Saint John to show her where he had put her writing, Saint John suddenly appeared from the tomb in his pontifical vestments, flanked by the two bishops who were buried with him. He said to the woman, "Why do you disturb us so much? Why won't you let me and these saints who are with me rest?" "Look, our vestments are all soaked with your tears." He handed her the writing, still sealed as it had been before, and said, "Look at this seal, open your writing, and read it." When she opened it, she found her sin completely erased, and in its place was written: "Because of John, my servant, your sin is forgiven." She gave immense thanks to God, and Saint John returned to the tomb with the other bishops. He flourished around the year of our Lord 605, in the time of the Emperor Phocas.
Read the original Latin
Johannes Eleemosinarius patriarcha Alexandrinus quadam nocte in oratione persistens vidit quandam puellam pulcherrimam sibi assistentem et coronam olivarum in capite bajulantem, quam ille videns nimium stupefactus, quae esset, inquisivit; et illa: ego sum misericordia, quae Dei filium de coelo adduxi: me sponsam accipe et bene tibi erit. Intelligens ergo per olivam misericordiam designari, ab illa die factus est sic misericors, ut eleymor, id est eleemosinarius vocaretur. Pauperes autem suos dominos semper appellabat et inde hospitalarii habentur etiam, ut pauperes dominos suos vocent. Omnes igitur suos famulos convocavit iisque dixit: euntes per tolam civitatem conscribite mihi usque ad unum omnes dominos meos. Illis vero non intelligentibus dixit: quos vos egénos et mendicos vocatis, istos ego dominos et auxiliatores praedico, Isti enim nobis vere auxiliari et coeleste regnum donare poterunt. Volens homines ad eleemosinam invitare narrare consuevit, quod pauperibus semel se ad solem calefacientibus coeperunt invicem de eleemosinatoribus conferre et bonos collaudare et malos vituperare. Erat autem quidam telonearius nomine Petrus, dives valde et praepotens, sed nimis pauperibus immisericors, quia ad domum suam accedentes cum indignatione nimia repellebat. Cum ergo nullus illorum inventus fuisset, qui in domo sua eleemosinam recepisset, unus illorum dixit: quid vultis mihi dare, si ego hodie ab eo eleemosinam accipiam?
Et facientibus cum eo pactum domum ejus venit et eleemosinam postulavit. At ille domum revertens et pauperem prae foribus videns, cum mancipium ejus panes siliginis in domum deferret, ille lapidem non inveniens panem siliginis arripuit et cum furore inde eum percussit, quem protinus arripiens pauper ad socios rediit et, quod de manu cleemosinam accepit, indicavit, Post duos dies infirmatus ad mortem vidit se ante judicium stare et Mauros quosdam super stateram ejus mala appendere, ex altera autem parte staterae quidam dealbati tristes stabant, eo quod nihil, quod ibi apponerent, invenire valebant. Tunc unus eorum dixit: vere nihil habemus, nisi unum panem siliginis, quem ante duos dies Christo dedit coactus; quem dum super stateram ponerent, aequalitas, ut sibi videbatur, facta est. Dixerunt ei: adauge ad siliginem hane, alioquin te Mauri apprehendent. Evigilatus autem et liberatus dicebat: papae, si una siligo, quam per furorem jactavi, ita profuit, quanto magis omnia sua indigentibus elargiri. Quadam igitur die cum optimis vestibus indutus per viam pergeret, quidam nanfragus ab eo vestimentum aliquod postulabat, continuo ille pretioso vestimento se exspoliavit et illi dedit. Quod ille accipiens statim vendidit. Gum antem telonearius rediret et vestimentum suspensum videret, contristatus est valde, adeo ut nec cibum sumere vellet dicens: quoniam non fui dignus, ut mei memoriam haberet egenus.
Et ecce dum dormiret, vidit quemdam super solem fulgentem et super caput crucem ferentem et habentem, indutum vestimentum, quod dederat egeno, et dicebat sibi: quid ploras Petre? Qui cum causam suae tristitiae sibi dixisset, ille ait: cognoscis hoc? Et ille: etiam domine. Et dominus ad eum: illo ego vestior, ex quo mihi dedisti, et gratias ago bonae voluntati tuae, quoniam frigore affligebar et cooperuisti me, In se ergo reversus coepit egenos beatificare ac dicere: vivit dominus, non moriar, donec fiam unus ex iis. Dans ergo pauperibus, quae habebat, et accersito notario dixit ei: secretum volo tibl committere, quod si propalaveris aut si me non audiveris, barbaris vendam te, dansque ei decem libras auri dixit ei: vade in sanctam civitatem et merces tibi eme et me alicui christiano vende et pauperibus prelium tribue. lllo antem recusante dixit ei: si me non audieris, ego barbaris vendam te. Ducens ergo eum, ut dixerat, cuidam argentario vestibus sordidis indutum tamquam suum servum vendidit et XXX numismata inde accipiens pauperibus erogavit. Petrus ergo omnia officia vilia faciebat, ita quod ab omnibus contemnebatur et ab aliis servis frequenter percutiebatur et etiam jam amens appellabatur.
Dominus autem frequenter sibi apparebat et vestimenta et alia ostendens ipsum consolabatur, verum imperatore et universis de amissione tanti viri dolentibus. Quidam vicini ejus a Constantinopoli ad visitandum loca sancta venerunt et a domino ipsius invitati cum pranderent, sibi ad invicem in aure dixerunt: quam similis est puer iste domino Petro teloneario, et curiose respicientibus unus dixit: vere dominus Petrus est, surgam et tenebo eum. Quod ille advertens latenter fugit. Erat autem ostiarius surdus et mutus, qui per signum ostium ei aperiebat, cui Petrus nt sibi aperiret, non signis, sed verbis imperavit. Et ille continuo audiens et loquelam recipiens sibique respondens ei aperuit et domum regrediens cunctis de ejus loquela mirantibus dixit: ille qui coquinam faciebat, exiit et fugit, sed videte ne Dei sit servus; cum enim mihi dixit, tibi dico: aperi, mox ex ore ejus flamma exiit, quae linguam et aures meas tetigit, et continuo auditum et loquelam recepi. Et exsilientes universi et concurrentes post eum ipsum amplius invenire non potuerunt. Tunc omnes de domo illa poenitentiam egerunt, eo quod talem virum sic viliter tractaverunt.
Monachus quidam, Vitalis nomine, volens sanctum Johannem tentare, si posset sibi verbis persuaderi et ad scandalum facile inclinari, ingrediens ergo civitatem omnes publicas meretrices conscripsit. Intrabat ergo ad illas per ordinem dicens cuilibet: dona mihi noctem istam et noli fornicari. Ipse autem domum ejus intrans in angulo flexis genibus tota nocte in oratione stabat et pro illa orabat et postea mane exibat praecipiens cuilibet, ne alicui revelaret. Una autem vitam ejus manifestavit, quae statim orante sene a daemone vexari coepit. Cui omnes dicebant: reddidit tibi Deus, quod merebaris, quoniam mentita es; ut fornicelur enim, ingreditur pessimus iste et non propter aliud. Vespere autem facto dicebat praedictus Vitalis cunctis andientibus: volo ire, quia talis domina exspectat me. Multis vero illun criminantibus respondebat: numquid ego non habeo corpus, ut omnes, aut monachis solum iratus est Deus? Vere et ipsi sunt homines ut caeteri.
Dicebant autem quidam: accipe tibi mulierem unam, abba, et muta habitum, ut non scandalises alios. Ille autem fingens se iratum dicebat: vere non audiam vos, ite a me. Qui vult scandalisari, scandalisetur et collidat frontem in parietem. Numquid judices constituti estis super me a Deo? Ite et vobis euram habete, vos pro me non reddetis rationem. Haec autem cum clamore dicebat cumque ad beatum Johannem querimonia deferretur, eor ejus Deus induravit, ne his fidem adhiberet, Deprecabatur autem Deum, ut post mortem suam opus suum alicui revelaret, ut non imputfaretur in peccatum his, qui de eo scandalisabantur. Multas igitur de praedictis mulieribus ad conversionem perduxit et in monasterio plurimas collocavit. Quodam mane dum ab una illarum egrederetur, obviavit ei quidam ingrediens ad fornicandum cum ea dansque ei alapam dixit: usque quo pessime non emendas te ab his tuis immunditiis.
Et ille: crede mihi, accipies a me talem alapam, ut tota Alexandria congregetur. Et ecce postmodum dyabolus in specie Mauri sibi alapam dedit dicens: haec est alapa, quam mittit tibi abbas Vitalis, et statim vexatur a daemone, ita quod ad voces ejus omnes eurrebant, sed tamen poenitens per ejus orationem liberatus est, Vir autem Dei morti appropinquans hanc scripturam reliquit: nolite ante tempus judicare; mulieribus autem confitentibus, quae faciebat, omnes glorificabant Deum et praecipue beatus Johannes dicens: quoniam alapam, quam ille accepit, accepissem et ego.
Quidam pauper in habitu peregrini ad Johannem venit et ab eo eleemosinam postulabat, at ille vocato dispensatore dixit: da ei sex numismata. Quae ille accipiens et abiens habitum mutavit et iterum ad patriarcham rediens ab eo eleemosinam postulavit. Ille autem dispensatore vocato dixit: da ei sex aureos. Quos cum sibi dedisset et ille abiisset, dixit ei dispensator: per orationes tuas, pater, iste idem hodie mutato habitu bis accepit. Beatus autem Johannes quasi hoc se nescire dissimulavit. Iterum ille tertio habitum mutans ad beatum Johannem venit et eleemosinam postulavit, Tunc dispensator beatum Johannem tetigit innuens, quod ille esset. Cui beatus Johannes respondit: vade et da ei duodecim numismata: ne forte sit dominus meus Jesus Christus, qui tentare me velit, utrum possit hic plus accipere quam ego dare.
Quadam vice cum patricius quandam pecuniam ecclesiae in mercationibus ponere vellet et patriarcha nullatenus consentiret, sed pauperibus eam dispensare vellet, ambo plurimum contendentes irati ab invicem recesserunt. Adveniente hora nona mandat patriarcha per archipresbiterum patricio dicens: domine, sol ad occasum est. Quod ille audiens lacrimis infusus ad eum venit et veniam postulavit,
Cum quidam suus nepos a. quodam tabernario gravem injuriam audivisset et ex hoc patriarchae lamentabiliter conquerens nullatenus consolari posset, patriarcha respondit: et quomodo est ausus tibi aliquis contradicere et os suum contra te aperire? Crede, fili, meae parvitati, quoniam faciam in eo hodie talem rem, ut tota Alexandria miretur. Quod audiens ille consolationem recepit putans, quia eum faceret graviter verberari. Videns Johannes, quod consolationem recepisset, pectus ejus osculatus est dicens: fili, si vere nepos meae humilitatis exsistis, praepara te et flagellari et convicia pati ab omnibus. Vera. enim cognatio non ex carne et sanguine, sed ex virtute mentis agnoscitur. Confestim igitur pro illo homine misit et ab omni pensione et tributo liberum esse fecit et omnes audientes mirati sunt et intellexerunt, hoc esse quod dixerat: faciam in eum talem rem, ut tota Alexandria miretur.
Audiens patriarcha, consuetudinem esse, quod mox ut imperator coronatus est, confestim monumentorum aedificatores sumunt quattuor vel quinque minutias marmoris pusillas diversi coloris et ingredientes ad imperatorem dicunt: de quali marmore vel metallo jubet imperium tuum sibi monumentum fieri, imitatus hoc monumentum sibi fieri praecepit, sed tamen usque ad obitum suum illud imperfectum manere fecit ordinavitque aliquos, qui ad eum, cum in celebri festivitate cum clero consisteret, accederent sibique dicerent: domine, monumentum tuum imperfectum est, praecipe ut consummetur, eo quod nescias, qua hora fur veniat.
Dives quidam cum vidisset beatum Johannem in stratu suo viles pannos habere, eo quod caeteros pauperibus erogasset, quoddam valde pretiosum cooperimentum emit et beato Johanni tradidit. Qui cum istud nocte super se haberet, tota nocte dormire non potuit cogifans, quod trecenti. domini sui de tanto pretio cooperiri possent. Tota insuper nocte lamentabatur et dicebat: quanti incoenati, quanti in foro pluviis madefacti, quanti prae frigore dentibus stridentes hodie dormierunt, tu vero grandes pisces devorans et in thalamo requiescens cum omnibus malis tuis insuper te coopertorio triginta sex numismatum calefacis, humilis Johannes alia vice hoc non vestietur. Statimque facto mane illud vendi fecit et pretium pauperibus erogavit, quod audiens ille dives ipsum coopertorium secundo emit et beato Johanni tradidit, rogans, ut ipsum de caetero non venderet, sed super ipsum teneret. At ille istud accipiens jussit iterum vendi et dominis suis pretium erogari. Quod ille dives audiens iterum abiit et ipsum redemit et beato Johanni detulit eique gratulabundus dixit: videbimus, quis deficiet, aut tu vendendo aut ego redimendo. Et sic suaviter quasi divitem vindemiabat dicens, quod possit aliquis intentione donandi pauperibus divites taliter exspoliare, nec peccat.
Duo enim lucratur talis, unum, quia animas illorum salvat, alterum quoniam ex hoc mercedem non modicam accipiet.
Volens beatus Johannes homines ad eleemosinam provocare narrare consuevit de sancto Serapione, qui cum amictum suum pauperi tribuisset et alteri obvians, qui frigus patiebatnr, tunicam similiter tribuisset et evangelium tenens nudus sederet, interrogavit eum quidam dicens: abba quis te exspoliavit? Et demonstrans evangelium ipsum dixit: ille me exspoliavit. Alias autem alium pauperem videns, evangelium ipsum vendidit et pauperi pretium dedit, Qui cum interrogaretur, ubi ipsum evangelium haberet, respondit: evangelium praecipit dicens: vade et vende omnia, quae habes, et da pauperibus; se ipsum ergo habebam ct se ipsum vendidi, ut mandabat.
Cum cuidam eleemosinam petenti dari praecepisset beatus Johannes quinque nummos, indignatus ille, quod majorem sibi eleemosinam non fecisset, continuo ad contumelias ipsius. prorupit ac in ejus faciem conviciari coepit. Quod ejus famuli audientes etiam eum voluerunt irruere et ipsum graviter caedere , quos beatus Johannes omnino prohibuit dicens : sinite, fratres, sinite ut mihi maledicat. Ecce enim habeo sexaginta annos blasphemans per opera mea Christum et unum convicium non portabo ab isto? jussitque sacculum afferri et coram ipso apponi, ut inde tolleret, quantum vellet.
AR. Cum populus lecto evangelio ecclesiam exiret, et foris otiosis verbis vacaret, quadam vice post evangelium patriarcha cum iis ẹxiit et in 9 medio eorum sedere coepit. Omnibus fere de hoc mirantibus dixit ad eos: filii, ubi oves, ibi pastores; aut igitur intrate et ego vobiscum intrabo et ingrediar, ant manete hic et ego pariter manebo. Semel igitar et bis hoc fecit et sic populum stare in ecclesia erudivit.
Cum quidam juvenis sanctimonialem quandam rapuisset et clerici talem juvenem coram beato Johanne exprobrarent, et ipsum excommunieandum esse dicerent, utpote qui duas animas perdiderat, scilicet suam et illius, compescuit eos beatus Johannes dicens: non sie, filii, non sic. Ostendo vobis, quia et vos duo peccata committitis; primo quod contra praeceptum domini facitis, qui ait: nolite judicare ut non judicemini. Secundo, quia nescitis pro certo, si usque hodie peccent et se non poeniteant. Frequenter autem exsisiente beato Johanne in oratione et in exstasi mentis posito talibus verbis cum Deo disputare auditus est. Sic bone Jesu ego dispergendo et tu ministrando videamus, quis vincat. Cum febre correptus se morti appropinquare cerneret dixit: gratias tibi ago Deus, quoniam exaudisti miseriam meam rogantem bonitatem tuam, ne inveniretur morienti mihi nisi unum tremisse. Hoc igitur pauperibus dari jubeo. Positum igitur venerabile corpus ejus in sepulchro, ubi corpora duorum episcoporum fuerunt tumulata, et corpora illa mirabiliter beato Johanni cesserunt et locum medium vacuum reliquerunt.
Ante autem paucos dies quam moreretur, cum quaedam mulier quoddam flagitiosissimum peccatum commisisset et nulli unquam confiteri auderet, dixit ei sanctus Johannes, ut saltem illud scriberet, eo quod scribere sciebat, et sigillatum ei afferret et ipse pro ea oraret; cui illa assensit et peccatum scribens diligenter sigillavit et beato Johanni tradidit. Sed post paucos dies beatus Johannes infirmatus in domino requievit: illa ut audivit illum defunctum, se vituperatam et confusam putavit credens, quod scriptum alicui commisisset et ad manum alterius devenisset. Ad tumulum igitnr sancti Johannis accessit et ibi uberrime flens clamabat dicens: heu putans confusionem vitare confusio omnibus facta sum. Cumque amarissime fleret et beatum Johannem rogaret, ut sibi ostenderet, ubinam scriptum suum dimisisset, ecce beatus Johannes in habitu pontificali de tumulo processit, duobus episeopis, qui secum quiescebant, hinc inde vallatus, dixitque mulieri: cur nos tantum infestas et me et sanctos istos, qui mecum sunt, quiescere non permittis? Ecce stolae nostrae lacrimis tuis emnes madefactae sunt. Porrexitque sibi scriptum suum sigillatam, ut prius fuerat, dicens ei: vide sigillum hoc et aperi scriptum tuum et lege; quod illa aperiens peccatum suum omnino deletum invenit, et ibi taliter scriptum reperit: propter Johannem servum meum deletum est peccatum tuum, sicque illa immensas Deo gratias retulit et beatus Johannes cum aliis episcopis in monumentun rediit. Claruit circa annos domini DC quinto tempore Phocae imperatoris.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'eurrebant' is likely a corruption of 'currebant' (they were running).
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