Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/527

 JOHN

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JOHN

of Christ " for "Mother of God ". The Scriptures are discussed in the fourth book. In assigning twenty- two books to the Old Testament Canon he is treating of the Hebrew, and not the Christian, Canon, as he finds it in a work of Epiphanius, "De ponderibus et mensuris". His treatment in this book of the Real Presence is especially satisfactory. The nineteenth chapter contains a powerful plea for the veneration of images.

The treatise, "Against the Jacobites", was written at the request of Peter, Metropolitan of Damascus, who imposed on him the task of reconciling to the Faith the Jacobite bishop. It is a strong polemic against the Jacobites, as the Monophysites in Syria were called. He also wrote against the Manichjeans and Monothelites. The "Booklet Concerning Right Judgment " is little more than a profession of Faith, confirmed by arguments setting forth the mysteries of the Faith, especially the Trinity and the Incarna- tion. Though John of Damascus wrote voluminously on the Scriptures, as in the case of so much of his writing, his work bears little of the stamp of origi- nality. His "Select Passages" (Loci Selecti), as he himself admits, are taken largely from the homilies of St. John Chrysostom and appended as commentaries to texts from the Epistles of St. Paul. The commen- tary on the Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians is taken from Cyril of Alexandria. The "Sacred Parallels" (Sacra par- allela) is a kind of topical concordance, treating prin- cipally of God, man, virtues, and vices.

Under the general title of " Homilies" he wrote four- teen discourses. The sermon on the Transfiguration, which Lequien asserts was deli\-ered in the church on Mt. Thabor, is of more than usual excellence. It is characterized by dramatic eloquence, vivid descrip- tion, and a wealth of imagery-. In it he discourses on his favourite topic, the twofold nature of Christ, quotes the classic text of Scripture in testimony of the primacy of Peter, and witnesses the Catholic doctrine of sacramental Penance. In his sermon on Holy Sat- urday he descants on the Easter duty and on the Real Presence. The Annunciation is the text of a sermon, now extant only in a Latin version of an Arabic text, in which he attributes various present blessings to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. The second of his three sermons on the Assumption is especially notable for its detailed accoimt of the translation of the body of the Bles.sed Virgin into heaven, an account, he avers, that is based on the most reliable and ancient tradition. Both Liddledale and Neale regard John of Damascus as the prince of Greek hj-mnodists. His hjTnns are contained in the " Carmina " of the Lequien edition. The "canons" on the Nativity, Epiphany, and Pentecost are written in iambic trimeters. Three of his hymns have become widely known and admired in their English version — "Tho.se eternal bowers", "Come, ye faithful rai.se the strain", and " Tis the Day of Resurrection". The most famous of the "canons" is that on Easter. It is a song of triumph and thanksgiving — the "Te Deum" of the Greek Church. It is a traditional opinion, lately contro- verted, that John Damascene composed the "Octo- echos", which contains the liturgical hymns used by the Greek Church in its Siuiday services. Gerbet, in his " History of Sacred Music ", credits him with doing for the East what Gregory the Great accomplished for the West — substitution of notes and other musical characters for the letters of the alphaliet to indicate musical quantities. It is certain he adapted choral music to the purposes of the Liturgj'.

Among the several works that are dubiously at- tributed to John Damascene the most important is tlie romance entitled " Barlaamand Josaphat ". Through- out the Middle Ages it enjoyed the widest popularity in all languages. It is not regarded as authentic by Lequien, and the discovery of a Syriac version of the

"Apology of Aristides" shows that what amounts to sixteen printed pages of it was taken directly from Aristides. The panegyric on St. Barbara, while ac- cepted as genuine by Lequien, Ls rejected by many others. The treati.se entitled "Concerning those who have died in the Faith " is rejected as spurious by Suarez, Bellarmine, and Lequien, not only on account of its doctrinal discrepancies, but for its fabulous char- acter as well. The first Cireek edition of any of the works of John Damascene was that of the "E.xact Exposition of the Orthodo.x Faith" brought out at Verona (15.31) under the auspices of John Matthew Gibertus, Bishop of Verona, .\nother CJreek edition of the same work was published at Moldavia (171.5) by John Epnesinus. It was also printed in a Latin edi- tion at Paris (1.507), by .lames Faber. Henry Gravius, O.P.. published a Latin edition at Cologne (1546) which contained the following works: "Dialectic", "Elementary and Dogmatic Instruction, "Concern- ing the two Wills and Operations", and "Concerning Heresy ". A Greek-Latin edition with an introduction by Mark Hopper made its appearance at Basle (1.548). A similar edition, but much more complete was pub- lished at the same place in 1575. .\nother Latin edi- tion, constituting a partial collection of the author's works was brought out at Paris by James Billius (1577) The only complete edition of the Damas- cene's works is that by Michael Lequien, O.P., published at Paris (1717) and Venice (1748). To the reprmt of this edition, P. G., XCIV-XCVI (Paris, 1864), Migne has added a supplement of works at- tributed by some to the authorship of John Dama- scene.

Grundlehner, Joannes Damascenus (Utrecht, 1876); Lang- ES. Joannes von Damaskus (Gotha, 1S79); Lenstrom. De expositione fidei orthodoicE (Upsala, 1839); Lupton, St. John of Damascus (London, 1SS2J: Lequien, Sancti Patris nostri Joannis Damasceni opera omnia quw ejctant in P. <?., XCIV- XCVI (Paris. 1864): Holl. Die Sacra Parallela des Johannes Damascenus in Texte und C^n/ersurAunffen, XVI, n. s. (Leipzig, 1896) i, 1; Ehrhard, Zu den Sacra Parallela und dem Flori- legium des Maximos in Byzant. ZeiLschr. (1901); Ermoni, Saint Jean Damasdne in La Pensee chr.'Hrnne (Paris, 1904); Perrier. Jean Damascene sa vie et ses crnf-: ( Str:i>tiiirg, 1863); Loops, Sludien itber die dem Johannes von 1 in umshus zugeschrie- benen Parallelen (Halle, 1892); Kchm, Harl.vun und Juamph in Abhandlungen dcr k.bayer Akad.d. Wissen.'^' '• I I\! —, XX (Munich, 1893), sect, i; Allies, Treatise on IL' , I f

Sermons on the Assumption, a translation ihoathrn i- - {'■^■i- DEXHEWER, Patrology, tr. Shahan (St. Louis. I'jm^, ,,.,j ^m; Re.voux, De Dialectica Sancti Joannis Damasceni iPari;;, i^ti.i;.

John B. O'Connor.

John Davye, Blessed. See Thomas Johnson,

Blessed.

John de Britto, Blessed, martyr, b. in Lisbon, 1 March, 1647, and was brought up at court, martyred in India 11 Feb., 1693. Entering the Society of Jesus at fifteen, he olitained as his mission-field Madura in Southern India. In September, 1673, he reached Goa. Before taking up his work he spent thirty days in the Exercises of St. Ignatius at Ambalacate near Cranga- nore. De Britto apparently entered the Kshatriyas, a noble caste. His dress was yellow cotton; he ab- stained from every kind of animal food and from wine. Setting out early in 1674, he traversed the Ghauts on foot and reached Colei in the Cauvery Delta, where he perfected himself in the language. He journeyed northward at least as far as Mailras and Vellore, but the Cauvery Delta, Tanjore, Madura, and Marava, be- tween Mailura and the sea, were his chief field. In 1684 he was imprisoned in Marava, and. though freed by the king, he was expelled from the country. In 1688 he was sent to Europe as deputy to the triennial Congregation of Procurators. Resisting urgent at- tempts to keep him in Portugal, and refusing the .Arch- bishopric of Cranganore, he returned in 1691 to the borders of Madura and Marava. Having converted Teriadeven, a Maravese prince, he required him to dis- miss all his wives but one. .\mong them was a niece of the king, who took up her quarrel and began a gen-