St. John Damascene (about 675–749), also called John of Damascus, was a Christian official at the court of the Muslim caliph of Damascus who became a monk near Jerusalem and the greatest defender of holy images when a Byzantine emperor ordered them destroyed. His writings on icons, on the faith of the Church and on the Assumption of Mary made him the last of the great Eastern Fathers, and Pope Leo XIII named him a Doctor of the Church in 1890. His feast day is December 4. Below are his story, his famous defense of images in his own words, the prayer of his feast, and a prayer to St. John Damascene.
A short prayer to St. John Damascene, written for this page:
St. John Damascene, you defended the holy images because God became visible in Christ.
Pray that every crucifix, icon and statue may lead us to love the One they show us,
and that we may honor Mary, the Mother of God, as you did. Amen.
Who was St. John Damascene?
John Mansur was born in Damascus, then the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, into a Christian Arab family that had long served as financial officials of the government. He followed his father into the service of the caliph, but about 715–720 he left public life and became a monk at the monastery of St. Sabas (Mar Saba), in the desert between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, where he was ordained a priest. He spent the rest of his life there praying, preaching and writing, and died about 749.
His great work, The Fount of Knowledge, summed up the teaching of the Greek Fathers and was studied for centuries in East and West. He composed hymns still sung in the Eastern Churches, including the Easter canon translated by J. M. Neale as “Come, ye faithful, raise the strain” and “The day of resurrection.” His three sermons on the Dormition are among the most beautiful early writings on the Assumption of Mary. See the Assumption of Mary.
Defender of holy images
In 726 the Byzantine Emperor Leo III began a campaign against sacred images, ordering icons destroyed. Safe from the emperor in Muslim territory, John wrote three treatises defending the veneration of images. His key argument was the Incarnation: because the invisible God became visible in Jesus Christ, He can be depicted. From his first treatise On Holy Images:
Of old, God the incorporeal and uncircumscribed was never depicted. Now, however, when God is seen clothed in flesh, and conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honouring that matter which works my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God.
The Second Council of Nicaea (787) confirmed his teaching. The prayer of his feast in the 1916 missal recalls this work:
O almighty everlasting God, who to promote the veneration of sacred images didst qualify the blessed John with knowledge from above and a wonderful spirit of fortitude, grant us through his prayers and example that we may imitate the virtues of those whose images we venerate and feel the benefit of their patronage. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.
What is St. John Damascene the patron saint of?
St. John Damascene is the patron of icon painters and religious artists, of theology students, and of Christians living in the Middle East.
Feast day
The optional memorial of St. John Damascene, priest and Doctor of the Church, is December 4. Before 1969 his feast was March 27.
Frequently asked questions
Who was St. John Damascene?
A monk and priest of the eighth century near Jerusalem, born in Damascus, who defended holy images and is a Doctor of the Church.
Why are Catholics allowed to venerate images?
Because God became visible in Jesus Christ. Catholics do not worship images but honor the persons they represent, as St. John Damascene explained.
When is St. John Damascene’s feast day?
December 4.
More saints
- Doctors of the Church
- Patron saint of artists
- Assumption of Mary
- Chaplet of the Holy Face
- Sts. Basil and Gregory
- Saint of the day
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- St. John Damascene, On Holy Images, trans. Mary H. Allies (1898), public domain (Project Gutenberg).
- The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916), St. John Damascene (March 27), Collect, public domain (archive.org).