John of Damascus

Christian monk, priest, hymnographer and apologist (675/6-749) · Academics · Died at 74

John of Damascus is read about 547 times a day, in 66 languages.

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An eighth-century monk who wrote the theological playbook for icon veneration during Islam's early expansion - and whose hymns still sound in Orthodox liturgies worldwide. His defense of images carved a permanent line in Christian practice.

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Photos 2

Ioann Damaskin ikona

Cave of Saint John of Damascus at Mar Saba 2

In their own words 3

John of Damascus

3 statements, newest first

In the relics of the saints the Lord Christ has provided us with saving fountains which in many ways pour out benefactions and gush with fragrant ointment.
In Saint John of Damascus: Writings (The Fathers Of The Church A New Translation Vol. 37), 1958, 1999, Frederic H. Chase, Trans., Own words
Alternate translation: Christ gives us the relics of saints as health-giving springs through which flow blessings and healing. This should not be doubted.
In Relics: The Shroud of Turin, the True Cross, the Blood of Januarius: History, Mysticism, and the Catholic Church, by Joan Carroll Cruz,, Own words
Images are books for the illiterate and silent heralds of the honor of the saints, teaching those who see with a soundless voice and sanctifying the sight.
"Defense against those who attack the holy images," as translated by Andrew Louth, Three Treatises on the Divine Images, (Saint Vladimir’s, Own words

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Family

Father Sarjun ibn Mansur

John of Damascus

Sibling Cosmas of Maiuma

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About this person

Born Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr ibn Sarjūn in Damascus around 675 or 676, he grew into a polymath versed in law, theology, philosophy, and music - earning the byname Chrysorroas, "the golden speaker." He became a Christian monk and priest, eventually settling at Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem. There he mounted a vigorous defense of icons that made him a defining voice in Eastern Orthodoxy, and developed perichoresis as a technical term for how Christ's natures interpenetrate and how the Trinity's persons relate. He composed hymns that survive in both Eastern Christian liturgy and western Lutheran practice. He died at Mar Saba, tradition says on 4 December 749, closing the Patristic period - the Catholic Church calls him "the last of the Greek Fathers" and honors him as Doctor of the Assumption for his writings on Mary.