🕁 The Falling Asleep of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.
All-Night Vigil Feast. A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
1 John 4:12-19; John 19:25-27; 21:24-25.
Read John 19:25-27; 21:24-25
There is an important spiritual significance to the beloved disciple John, being referred to as the son of Mary, the mother of Jesus. At the moment when Jesus is about to die on the Cross, by calling His mother woman, Jesus is actually referring to Eve. Eve is the mother of the human race, but because of the Fall, the entire human race no longer has access to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is through Mary, the new Eve that access is reacquired. However, just as there is a new Eve, there is also a new Adam, Jesus Himself becomes the new Adam of the human race. Thus, the human race is in a sense reborn through Jesus and Mary and John is announced as the offspring of this new Adam and Eve. It is through believing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that members of the human race can once again become children of God and John is being called to become the first of these children. Thus, we as Christians, like John, have a mother who is able to help us in times of need, whose requests the Son of God honors and fulfills.