S. IOANNES APOSTOLVS ANTE PORTAM LATINAM IN FLAMMIS ILLÆSVS

S. IOANNES APOSTOLVS ANTE PORTAM LATINAM IN FLAMMIS ILLÆSVS (95. A.D.)

NFT: https://opensea.io/assets/0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/70850007952586269275279839719145878113431027391457810365503705796323842195457/

http://zazzle.com/ProVaticanus

Torture of St John the Evangelist
1487-1502
Fresco
Strozzi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

The Torture of St John the Evangelist is in the lunette above the scene of St John the Evangelist Resuscitating Drusiana on the left wall of the chapel.

The torture of John the Evangelist takes place in a splendidly decorated courtyard. On orders from Emperor Domitian he was placed in a cauldron of boiling oil near the Porta Latina, but emerged unharmed. One of the soldiers is poking the fire so strenuously that another, in the group on the right, about to throw more wood on it, has to protect his face with his hand, and a third screens himself with his shield. At this moment the emperor has risen from his seat and extended his arm, bringing a stop to the torture.

Maii 6.
S. JOANNIS APOSTOLI
ANTE PORTAM LATINAM.
AD PRIMAS ET SECUNDAS VESPERAS.
Urbem Romuleam quis furor incitat?

Christi discipulus Caesare judice

Damnatus rapitur: nil venerabilis

Frontis canities movet.

In fervens olei conjicitur mare:

Nil aestus nocuit, flamma sed hospiti

Parcit blanda suo; ceu pugil ungitur,

Hinc et fortior exilit.

[120]
Edicto steriles pulsus in insulas

Exul tunc socio perfruitur Deo:

Hic ventura videt, quae calamo notans

Sublustri nebula tegit.

Sic nos Christus amet, sic doceat pati;

Discamusque mori, simus ut et necis

Sacrae participes: non aliis patet

Coelum conditionibus.

Patri maxima laus, maxima Filio,

Amborumque sacro maxima Flamini:

Haec est certa fides, fontibus e tuis

Quam divinitus hausimus.

AD LAUDES.
Jussu tyranni pro fide

Pulsus, Joannes, exulas:

Fertur volatu libero

Mens celsa supra sidera.

Illic revelat se tibi

Qui mortuus vivit Deus,

Agnus salutis hostia,

Et morte devicta leo.

Arcana te vatem docet

Regni sui mysteria:

Pandit cruore Martyrum

Ubique spargendam fidem.

[121]
Da, Christe, nos tecum mori;

Tecum simul da surgere;

Terrena da contemnere;

Amare da coelestia.

Sit laus Patri; laus Filio,

Qui nos, triumphata nece,

Ad astra secum dux vocat:

Compar tibi laus, Spiritus.

In the year 95, Saint John the Evangelist, the only surviving Apostle, who was governing all the churches of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), was apprehended at Ephesus and sent in chains to Rome. The Emperor Domitian did not relent at the sight of the venerable old man, but condemned him to be cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. The martyr doubtless heard, with great joy, this barbarous sentence; the most cruel torments seemed to him light and agreeable because he hoped they would unite him forever to his divine Master and Saviour. But God accepted his will and crowned his desire; He conferred on him the honor and merit of martyrdom while suspending the operation of the fire, just as He had formerly preserved the three children from injury in the Babylonian furnace. The seething oil was changed for him into an invigorating bath, and the Saint came out more refreshed than when he had entered the cauldron.

The glorious triumph of Saint John happened just beyond the gate of Rome called the Latina. A church which ever since has borne this title was consecrated there, in memory of the miracle. Domitian saw this miracle without deriving the least advantage from it, remaining hardened in his iniquity. Nonetheless, he contented himself afterwards with banishing the holy Apostle to the little island of Patmos. Saint John returned to Ephesus during the mild reign of Nerva (96-98), who during his short imperial government lasting one year and four months, merely labored to restore the faded luster of the Roman Empire.

Reflection. Saint John suffered above the other Saints a martyrdom of love, being a martyr and more than a martyr, at the foot of the cross of his divine Master. All Our Lord's sufferings were by love and compassion imprinted in his soul, and thus shared by him. O singular happiness, to have stood under the cross of Christ! O extraordinary privilege, to have suffered martyrdom beside Jesus, and been eye-witness of all He did or endured! If nature revolts within us against suffering, let us call to mind those words of the divine Master to Saint Peter: Now thou knowest not why, but thou shalt know hereafter. (John 13:7)

Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894)

#StJohn #LatinGate #Phoenix

Ago tibi gratias Deo per instrumenta de "Epic Music VN" pro bono rei publicae.

http://patreon.com/ProVaticanus