Saint John Damascene

John was born around 675 in Damascus into a Christian family that served as officials of the Muslim caliphs, and he himself held a post at court. Around 700 he left everything to become a monk at the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem, where he was ordained a priest. When the Byzantine emperor ordered the destruction of icons, John wrote powerful treatises explaining that because God became man in Jesus, it is right to honor images of Christ and the saints. He died around 749, and Pope Leo XIII named him a Doctor of the Church in 1890.

He wrote many hymns still sung in the Eastern Churches, and his summary of the faith, The Fount of Knowledge, was studied for centuries. According to tradition, his cut-off hand was healed by the Virgin Mary, which gave rise to the icon of the "Three-Handed" Mother of God.