Saint John the Almoner

Also known as

• Joannes Eleemosynarius
• Joannes Misericors
• John the Almsgiver

Memorial

• 23 January

Profile

Born to the Cypriot nobility; his father as the governor of Cyprus. Married briefly, and father of one child. Entered the religious life when his wife and child died of disease. Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt in 608. Archbishop. Known as the Almoner because of his generosity to the poor. Helped refugees from Persian assults on the Holy Lands. Forced to leave Alexandria when the Persians threatened to overrun it, he returned to his home on Cyprus. Predicted the date of his own death.

Born

• c.550 at Arnathus, Cyprus

Died

• c.616 at Arnathus, Cyprus of natural causes
• relics in the cathedral at Presburg, Slovakia

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Patronage

• Knights Hospitaller

Representation

• bishop giving alms to a crippled man
• bishop giving alms to the poor

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Catholic Encyclopedia
• Catholic Online
• Emblems of the Saints, by F C Husenbeth and Augustus Jessopp
• Golden Legend, by Jacobus de Voragine
• Life of Our Holy Father, John the Almsgiver
• Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
• New Catholic Dictionary
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
• Supplement to the Life of John the Almsgiver, by Leontius, Bishop of Neapolis

Readings

If we are able to enter the church day and night and implore God to hear our prayers, how careful we should be to hear and grant the petitions of our neighbor in need. - Saint John the Almoner

MLA Citation

• “Saint John the Almoner“. Saints.SQPN.com. 22 January 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <>