John the Merciful

Saint John the Merciful was born around 560 in Amathus on Cyprus, the son of Epiphanius, the island’s governor. Though he began life as a husband and father, the early death of his wife and children turned his heart more fully toward God, and he entered religious life. Chosen as Patriarch of Alexandria in the early seventh century, John became renowned for a shepherd’s tenderness and a reformer’s courage. He drew up a register of thousands of needy people and cared for them as his special charge, calling the poor his “lords and masters,” convinced that service to them reaches the throne of heaven. He fought corruption and simony, strengthened religious education, and even reformed civic practices like weights and measures so the vulnerable would not be cheated. His mercy was practical and fearless: he visited hospitals, ransomed and freed slaves, and poured the revenues of his see into almsgiving. When war and invasion struck, he aided refugees and, in his old age, fled back to Cyprus, where he died around 620. He is venerated across East and West, and is patron of Casarano, Limassol, and Morciano di Leuca. His feast day is November 12.