John the Evangelist, Christ’s beloved, was taken on this day to the
joy of the kingdom of heaven, through God’s visitation. He was the son of
Christ’s maternal aunt, and he particularly loved him, not so much for their kinship
as for the purity of his unblemished virginity. He was chosen by God in
virginity, and he remained forever in undefiled virginity. It is read in
historical accounts that he wanted to marry, and Christ was invited to his
wedding. Then it happened that the wine at the wedding ran out. The savior then
ordered the servants to fill six stone vessels with pure water, and with his
blessing he turned the water into fine wine; this is the first miracle that he
openly worked in his human state. John was so inspired by that miracle that he immediately
left his bride in virginity and ever afterward followed the Lord, and was
deeply loved by him because he had withdrawn himself from fleshly lusts.
Indeed, the savior entrusted his mother to this beloved disciple when he redeemed
mankind by hanging on the cross, so that his pure life might look after the
pure virgin Mary; and she dwelled in the household of her sister’s son. (Aelfric,
“Assumption of John the Evangelist,” in The Old English Catholic Homilies—The
First Series [trans. Roy M. Liuzza; Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 86; Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2024], 73, 75)
