"The Blessed Evangelist John lived at Ephesus down to an extreme old age, and, at length, when he was with difficulty carried to the Church, and was not able to exhort the congregation at length, he was used simply to say at each meeting, My little children, love one another. At last the disciples and brethren were weary with hearing these words continually, and asked him, Master, wherefore ever sayest thou this only? Whereto he replied to them, worthy of John, It is the commandment of the Lord, and if this only be done, it is enough."
From Matins for today’s feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, from the Breviarium Romanum
Dear St. John, Beloved Disciple of the Lord, teach us to love Him who first loved us: to love as He loved us, to lay down our lives for one another, to love not in word or speech but in deed and in truth, and to follow His commandments, which, you have assured us, are not burdensome. Only then can we hope to pass from death into life, the eternal life that is with the Father and that is the light of men, full of grace and truth. Amen.
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
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