st. john of damascus (676-749 - Cristo Raul

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The
24 ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS.
has been preserved to us, an abstract of it shall be
given here.
The writer begins by remarking that, as statues are
erected to perpetuate the memory of great men, so
those who have the power of raising a lasting
memorial by their written works are bound to take
this means of handing down to posterity the names of
those who deserve such honour. Who could deserve
such a memorial better than the saint called from his
native city Damascenus ? For he was no mean star
in the ecclesiastical firmament, shining with steady
ray in the dark night of heresy, what time the tyrant,
"leonine in name and leonine in disposition" (for so,
after his manner, he plays on the name of the
Emperor, Leo the Isaurian), was fulfilling the pro
phetic words of Amos :
lion hath roared, who
will not fear ? Such a champion of the faith, who
fled not from the roaring lion, should not be suffered
to have his record only in rude and scattered accounts,
written in the language of the unbeliever. He was a
citizen moreover of no mean city. Damascus was
famed for its beautiful gardens, famed for its rushing
streams. Its streets had been trodden by St. Paul,
when first he became a Christian. It had given birth
to many a noble scion (Damascius, the philosopher,
Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, and others),
but to none more worthy than John. Like fragrant
flowers in the midst of thorns, such had been his
forefathers amid the infidel conquerors of Damascus.
Like Joseph or Daniel, their virtues had won for them
the respect of their unbelieving rulers. They had
been stewards in high trust even among
the Saracens.