08 — Repose and Veneration
The end of John’s earthly life and his honor in the Church: the unique tradition that the apostle did not die in the ordinary way but lay down in a grave at Ephesus and “fell asleep,” and that a fine dust or “manna” afterward issued from his tomb; and his liturgical veneration on the two feasts — his repose on September 26 and the “manna” miracle on May 8. These files report the repose-traditions with their apocryphal sources named and flagged, and then set out the feasts and hymnography.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle and Evangelist)
John is, in the Church’s reception, the only one of the Twelve who did not die a martyr’s death, and the traditions of his end are correspondingly unusual: he is said to have outlived the others, to have governed the Asian churches into old age, and to have laid himself down living in his grave. The peculiar account of his “falling asleep” and the dust that rose from his tomb derive from the apocryphal Acts of John, a text orthodox in some parts and heterodox in others; this section reports them as that source’s testimony, names and flags the source, and never certifies the wonder as fact. It then turns to the liturgical John — the two feasts, the titles, and the hymnography by which the Church keeps his memory.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Repose at Ephesus | The tradition of John’s great age and his “falling asleep” at Ephesus; the dust/“manna” from the tomb in the apocryphal Acts of John (the source named and flagged as non-canonical and heterodox in parts); the “tarrying” saying of John 21:22–23. |
| Veneration and the Feasts | The two principal feasts — the repose (September 26) and the “manna” miracle (May 8); John’s titles (“the Theologian,” “the Beloved,” “the Virgin Apostle”); his iconography and place in the Deisis; and his hymnography. |
See Also
- John at Ephesus — the place of his repose
- The Eastern Reception of the Apocalypse — the lectionary in which John is honored
- The Theologian Among the Three — the title in the hymnography
- The Great Feasts — the liturgical calendar context
References
- The Acts of John, in The Apocryphal New Testament, trans. J. K. Elliott. Oxford: Clarendon, 1993 (the repose and “manna” narrative; a non-canonical text, Docetic in parts).
- The Gospel according to John 21:20–23 (the “tarrying” saying).
- The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church (September 26; May 8).
- The Festal Menaion, trans. Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware. London: Faber, 1969.