John Damascene

Saint John of Damascus was born in Damascus around 675 or 676 into a prominent Christian family serving in the city’s administration under the early Umayyad caliphs. Gifted with a wide education in the classical and Christian tradition, he became known as a brilliant thinker, poet, and defender of the faith. Leaving public life, he embraced the monastic calling at the great monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem, and was ordained a priest around 735. In an age of turmoil for the Church, John’s clear teaching helped preserve the beauty and integrity of Christian doctrine. He is especially beloved for his courageous defense of sacred images when iconoclasm threatened their veneration, and for his theological writings that gathered and expressed the faith of the Greek Fathers with luminous clarity. His hymns continue to nourish the prayer of Christians, especially in the East. Honored by the Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church—often called the Doctor of the Assumption—he is also invoked as patron of pharmacists. His feast day is December 4.