St. John of Damascus

Today the Church celebrates the life and ministry of St. John of Damascus who was born around 676 and died around 750.  John was born into a wealthy Arabic family known as Monsur.  He became a monk and priest around the age of 51 at Mar Saba near Bethlehem.  In 726, the Emperor Leo III outlawed the veneration of icons, and that is when John blossomed. 

In 730 Leo III commanded the destruction of all religious likenesses, and the iconoclasts (Greek for "image smashers") demolished nearly all of the icons in the Empire.

From his monastery, John challenged the Emperor arguing that icons should not be worshiped noting: “I do not worship matter; I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honoring that matter which works for my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God.”

John wrote theological works and hymns and he is recognized as one of the principal hymn writers of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Let us pray:  Confirm our minds, O Lord, in the mysteries of the true faith, set forth with power by your servant John of Damascus; that we, with him, confessing Jesus to be true God and true Man, and singing the praises of the risen Lord, may, by the power of the resurrection, attain to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore.  Amen.

Thank you to all for opening St. Augustine’s for the second year to the World Wide Aids Day.  We had over 100 people gather at St. Augustine’s to pray, to be educated about AIDS and to get tested. 

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550