Today we celebrate the feast of the patron saint of my church, St. John the Evangelist. Whether the Evangelist is the same person as John the Apostle and as the disciple whom Jesus loved, I can't say. Nor can I say whether John who wrote the Gospel and three Epistles is the same person as John who wrote the Book of Revelation. From what I've read and heard, it seems to me that we could be talking about from one to three persons, and I'll leave it there. Perhaps my readers can offer clarification.
Pictured above is the altar and stained glass at St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux. If you click on the picture, you can see the detail in the glass which shows a snake coming out of the goblet in John's hand. According to legend, the emperor
Eucharistic Readings:
Psalm 92 or 92:1-4,11-14;
Exodus 33:18-23; 1 John 1:1-9; John 21:9b-24
Daily Office Readings:
AM: Psalm 97, 98; Proverbs 8:22-30; John 13:20-35
PM: Psalm 145; Isaiah 44:1-8; 1 John 5:1-12
PRAYER
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light; that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Lovely image of your church -- I think Saint John would approve! So full of light....
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tobias, your church is lovely. It would be nice to know if St. John the Apostle and the Evangelist ARE the same person, er...saint!
ReplyDeleteI love my church, too. It is truly bright with three, tall, clear old-glass paned windows on either side. On winter mornings, sometimes the sun shines right down on the prayer books and hymnals in certain pews on the south side, making those pews the least desirable and the last to be occupied, if they are occupied at all. The windows have never been covered, therefore they may never be covered in the future. They've ALWAYS been uncovered.
ReplyDeleteChanging the chandeliers during the restoration several years ago, to provide more suitable lighting, caused a bit of an uproar, although the lighting was not original to the church and dated from the 1920s.
I think in the church[1] my grandmother attended when she was alive and where we had her memorial service (and where my parents were married) they are still complaining about the changes done in the 19th century. Admittedly the oldest parts date to the 13th century or possibly the 11th.
ReplyDeleteYour church looks more welcoming though I think it is Domitian not Diocletian who supposedly tried to poison John.
[1] Not my picture. The painted ceiling was one of the 19th century additions done by C. E. Kempe who is better known for stained glass.
Erp, you're right about the emperor. I took the information from this website, but Diocletian's dates don't match up with John's. I'll correct the post.
ReplyDeleteI'd complain about the painted ceiling in your grandmother's church, too. It's jarring. Sorry if you like it.
Our church had late 19th century decorative painting around the arch which leads to the sanctuary (not in the picture), but they were painted over. Thank goodness! They were not original to the church and did not fit with the style of the architecture at all.
I'm not particularly enamored of the ceiling though it looks a bit better in real life. Personally I prefer the view from the churchyard looking across fields towards the South Downs.
ReplyDeleteDoes fit a bit when they do their Christmas tree festival. Early December they fill the church with about 60 trees decorated by local groups and businesses and raise money for charity.
Neat story and nice photo. Thank you for posting the information.
ReplyDeleteLaura Goff Parham
State of the Art, Inc
Stained Glass Studio
sotaglass.com