St John Damascene: a warrior for Christ Incarnate

“Make me brave to speak my mood,

O my Jesus, as I would!

Or teach me, which I rather seek,

What to do and what to speak.

— ANACREONTIC HYMN — St. John Damascene

When I stood under the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time, a new level of understanding about the creation of the world and the final judgement sank into my heart.

A couple of hours later, I felt the same as I stood before the Pietà in St. Peter’s, contemplating Christ’s passion and death. When we create art, we share in the creative aspect of the Divine nature, making it possible to turn the tools we have in the material world into instruments of praise and veneration of God’s goodness, love, and providence. We place images of saints in our churches to remember that holiness is a gift from God, shown to us through the lives of those He set apart. As our beloved pastor Fr. William constantly says "what God was not ashamed to create, we should not be ashamed to use for the greater good".

I always knew art was a way to connect with the Divine. What I didn’t know was how much we owe the preservation of the veneration of sacred images in the Catholic Church to St. John Damascene, a Doctor and Father of the Church whose feast we celebrate today.

His story takes us back to 7th-century Damascus, the modern-day capital of Syria. He was born into an Arab Christian family a few decades after the rise of Islam, when the city was under Muslim rule. At thirty, he entered the Monastery of St. Sabas. His magnificent eloquence and great mind made him quickly known, and he was sent to preach in temples of the Holy City, making the understanding of our doctrine accessible to many. Such talent and intellect weren’t used for his own praise, but for the glory of God — his spiritual and poetic writings embracing Christ and The Virgin Mary, while also confronting major heresies of his time.

Standing for the truth of the Incarnation that brought us Jesus, who is fully human and fully God, he fought against heresies like Monophysitism, Nestorianism, and Monothelitism, which argue against either Christ’s divine or human nature. But the greatest challenge he faced was iconoclasm, the rejection and destruction of sacred images. We may take for granted the opportunity to venerate sacred images today, at least in the Catholic Church, but in St. John’s time it was a reason for persecution and condemnation.

The crisis began when the Byzantine Emperor Leo III, in the 8th century, declared that the veneration of images was idolatry and a sin against God. He issued a decree banning it and ordered all icons removed from churches and from public and private places. Many resisted, including the Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Germanus, and St. John Damascene. For St. John, this wasn’t just a matter of practicality or preservation of cultural practices — it was about defending the truth of the Incarnation. Rejecting images is contrary to our belief that “the Word was made flesh”, leading to replacement of the body of the Church by exclusively one’s immaterial contemplation of God. As Christmas approaches, the mystery of Incarnation becomes especially meaningful. Even today, many modern heresies come from separating the material and spiritual worlds, forsaking how it's all part of a greater reality: the communion of everything that ever was, is, and will ever be.

The Emperor did not tolerate St. John’s opposition. St. John’s writings kept growing in influence, using Sacred Scripture and Catholic Tradition to prove the lawfulness of the veneration of images. To try to fight his enemy, Leo III arranged for a forged letter, supposedly written by St. John, asking the Emperor to attack Damascus. He showed the letter to the caliph, who punished St. John by having his hand cut off. What these earthly leaders could not anticipate was how the Blessed Virgin Mary would answer St. John’s prayers for her intercession before her Son, and how God would grant the grace of having his hand miraculously restored so his work would be carried on.

“Conscious of my own unworthiness, I ought perhaps to have kept an unbroken silence; but at the sight of the Church tossed by a violent storm, the words break of their own accord from my lips, for I fear God more than any earthly emperor.”

After living an active and faithful life, Saint John died December 4th, 749. He is considered the last Church Father and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1890. His writings were widely used in the Second Council of Nicea in 787, and his bravery to defend the truth and preserve the purity of our faith is still an astonishing example for us today.

It’s possible to think at first that the story of a monk who lived in the Byzantine Empire thirteen centuries ago is very distant to relate to. But next time you enter a church, take time to appreciate all its artwork, and thank God for the courage of St. John Damascene to stand against the iconoclasts. Thank God for the Church Fathers, men of faith and intellect, raised by our good Lord to establish in the early days of our Church — through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit — what we believe in. Let’s take with us his example and reflect to ourselves: how am I using the gifts God gave me to serve and glorify His Holy Name?

May St. John Damascene intercede for our use of reason.

St. John Damascene, pray for us!