St. John, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Great, was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry.  He became the "beloved disciple" and the only one of the twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of his Passion.  He stood faithfully at the cross when the Savior made him the guardian of His mother.  His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and at Ephesus.  He founded many churches in Asia Minor.  He wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation is also attributed to him.  Brought to Rome, tradition relates that he was by order of Emperor Dometian cast into a cauldron of boiling oil but came forth unhurt and was banished to the island of Pathmos for a year.  He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died at Ephesus about the year 100. 

St. John is call the Apostle of Charity, a virtue he had learned from his Divine Master, and which he constantly inculcated by work and example.  The "beloved disciple" died at Ephesus where a stately church was erected over his tomb.  It was afterwards converted into a Mohammedan mosque.

God our Father, you have revealed the mysteries of your word through John the Apostle. By prayer and reflection may we come to understand the wisdom he taught. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen