يوحنا الرحيم

John the Merciful
Saint John the Merciful. Church of San Giovanni Elemosinario
Patriarch of Alexandria
وُلِد	around 552 Amathus, Cyprus
توفي	616–620 Cyprus

يوحنا الرحيم (John the Merciful ؛ ويُعرف أيضاً بإسم يوحنا المتصدق John the Almsgiver، John the Almoner, يوحنا الخامس من الإسكندرية, John Eleymon, San Ġwann t'Għuxa (Maltese) and Johannes Eleemon) (Patron of Casarano, Italy) was the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria in the early 7th century (from 606 to 616) and a Christian saint.

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 النشأة

He was born at Amathus. He was the son of Epiphanius, governor of Cyprus, and was of noble descent; in early life he was married and had children, but his wife and children soon died, and he entered the religious life.

 بطريرك الإسكندرية

John the Merciful, second half of the 15th century, Warsaw National Museum

On the death of the Patriarch Theodore, the Alexandrians besought Emperor Phocas to appoint John his successor, which was accordingly done. One of the first steps he took was to make a list of several thousand needy persons, whom he took under his especial care. He always referred to the poor as his "lords and masters", because of their mighty influence at the Court of the Most High. He assisted people of every class who were in need.

He was a reformer who attacked simony, and fought heresy by means of improvements in religious education. He also reorganized the system of weights and measures for the sake of the poor, and put a stop to corruption among the officials. He increased the number of churches in Alexandria from seven to seventy.

The ministry of Vitalis of Gaza, a monk who worked among the prostitutes of the city, was a noteworthy episode of John's reign. The patriarch was considered to have behaved with wisdom for not punishing this monk who was notorious for visiting the seedy part of town, and his judgment was vindicated only after the death of Vitalis when the story of the monk's mission of mercy became known.

 وفاته وقبره

He died in Cyprus somewhere between 616 and 620, and his body was moved to Constantinople, then in 1249 to Venice. Another relic of him was sent by Sultan Bayezid II in 1489 to King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. It was placed in the private Royal Chapel in Buda Castle which was dedicated to him. Now his body lies in the St. John the Merciful Chapel in the St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava, Slovakia.

A biography was written by his contemporary Leontios of Neapolis. There is a church dedicated to him in Venice, the Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario, but his relics are preserved in another church, San Giovanni in Bragora in a separate chapel. A church in Cospicua, Malta is also dedicated to him, and one of the bastions of the Santa Margherita Lines in the same city is also named after him.

 انظر أيضاً

• Eastern Orthodox Church
• Roman Catholic Church

 المراجع

General

• "John V the Merciful (610–621)". Official web site of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. Retrieved 2011-02-07.

Specific

 وصلات خارجية

• St John the Merciful of Alexandria Orthodox Icon and Synaxarion (November 12)
• https://web.archive.org/web/20061019105249/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj68.htm
•  هذه المقالة تضم نصاً من مطبوعة هي الآن مشاع: هربرمان, تشارلز, ed. (1913). "St. John the Almsgiver" . الموسوعة الكاثوليكية. Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1=, |coauthors=, and |month= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)

سبقه Theodore I

Greek Patriarch of Alexandria 610–619

تبعه George I