Bishop (d. 721)
His life
+ John was born in Harpham, Yorkshire, England. After studying in the monastery at Canterbury under the great monastic teachers Saint Adrian and Saint Theodore, John became a monk at Whitby.
+ Elected bishop of Hexham in 687, he was named archbishop of York in 705.
+ John founded the monastery at Inderawood (which later came to be known as Beverly), which became one the most highly regarded centers of learning in England.
+ He is also the bishop who ordained Saint Bede the Venerable, now honored as a Doctor of the Church, who wrote about the life and miracles of Saint John in his Ecclesiastical History.
+ In 717, John resigned as archbishop and returned to the monastery he founded. He died in 721 and was honored as a saint immediately after his death.
For prayer and reflection
“Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you; consider how their lives ended, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching.”—Hebrews 13:7-9a
Prayer
O God, who wonderfully numbered among your holy shepherds blessed John, a man aflame with divine charity and outstanding for that faith that overcomes the world, grant, we pray, that through his intercession we, too, persevering in faith and charity, may merit to be sharers of his glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Pastors—For a Bishop)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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