St. John Damascene

Their story

John was born around 675 in Damascus, Syria, into a Christian family that served as officials at the court of the Muslim caliph. John followed his father into government service. Later he left that life behind and became a monk at the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem, where he was ordained a priest and devoted himself to prayer, study and writing. During John’s lifetime, the Byzantine emperor began a campaign known as iconoclasm, ordering religious images to be destroyed. John wrote powerful defenses of sacred images. He explained that Christians do not worship pictures; the honor given to an image passes to the person it represents. And because the invisible God became visible in Jesus Christ, it is right to depict him. Because he lived outside the emperor’s territory, John could write freely, and his arguments helped the Church affirm the veneration of icons at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. John also wrote a clear summary of Christian doctrine, The Fount of Knowledge, as well as hymns still sung in the Eastern Churches and beautiful sermons on the Assumption of Mary. He died around 749 and was named a Doctor of the Church in 1890.