St. John before the Latin Gate, A.D. 95.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday May 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"This feast is in memory of that day when St. John the Apostle was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, by order of the cruel Emperor Domitian. St. John, who was the only one of the apostles then living, was apprehended at Ephesus, and sent prisoner to Rome, in the year 95. He was ordered by the tyrant to be cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. The holy apostle, no doubt, rejoiced at this barbarous sentence, and exulted at the thought of soon rejoining his beloved Lord and Master. But God accepted his good will, and conferred on him the merit of martyrdom, but suspended the operation of the fire, so that the apostle was miraculously preserved, and came forth not only unhurt, but even more lively and vigorous. The emperor attributed his wonderful escape to magic; and contented himself with banishing the holy apostle into the small island of Patmos. The year following, Domitian was assassinated; and St. John returned to Ephesus. This glorious triumph of St. John happened outside of the gate of Rome which led to Latium, and was on that account called the Latin Gate.
Adore the goodness of God, in the wonderful preservation of his servants under these trials. Beg for the assistance of the same hand in all your troubles. Consider how great is your daily want; and let the fervour of your petitions be proportioned to your necessity. You are not to expect miracles for your deliverance: the ordinary help which God offers to all who duly seek it, is sufficient, if you neglect it not. Learn therefore from this great apostle how to suffer. Labour to keep up your spirits under all oppression; for impatience and immoderate grief are unbecoming a Christian. Sink down no farther under any weight than true humility carries you. Endeavour to suppress all other grief, but for your sins. If you can follow this method, sickness may waste your body, malice may injure your reputation, and misfortunes your estate; but your soul will be purified in this, and arise more lively and vigorous from its oppressions." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
THE ADVANTAGE OF SUFFERINGS. -Nature shrinks from suffering, but faith teaches us that since the reign of sin, suffering enters into the scheme of salvation, and thus becomes, in the order of grace, the health-giving flood wherein the sinner is purified. This it is which God has perhaps wished to make us take to heart in the miracle wrought in the person of St. John on the day of his martyrdom, before the Latin gate what was intended to bring death brought to him life, by curing all his wounds. St. John had reached a venerable old age; Domitian caused him to be transferred from Ephesus to Rome, loaded with fetters; he had him inhumanly scourged, so that his limbs were all lacerated, and then ordered him to be cast into a caldron of boiling oil. But far from succumbing therein, the seething liquid became a balm whereby to cure his wounds, and he issued forth stronger than before. The sight of this miracle effected the conversion of many; the tyrant himself was struck with wonder and banished him to the island of Patmos, where St. John wrote the Apocalypse. This happened in the year of Christ 95.
MORAL REFLECTION. -If nature revolt within us against suffering, let us call to mind those words of the Divine Master: "Thou knowest not now wherefore, but thou shalt know hereafter."-(John xiii. 7.) Pictorial Half hours with the Saints by Abbe LeCanu
