Excerpt from a eulogy in honor of St. John the Theologian

“An excerpt from a eulogy in honor of St. John the Theologian” is dedicated to revealing the family ties and special position of St. John the Evangelist in relation to the Holy Family. St. Sophronius of Jerusalem examines in detail the origins of the mother of St. John, Solomiya, daughter of Joseph the Betrothed. This connection gives Solomia the honorary title of “sister of God”, and gives John a special closeness to Christ. The passage contains an important and rare fragment concerning the issue of the baptism of the apostles: “Our Lord Jesus Christ with His own hands baptized Peter, and Peter in turn baptized Andrew, James and John; James and John baptized the other Apostles. The Apostles Peter and John baptized the Mother of God together.” *The title of the work in Latin is Enconium Iohannis Theologi. The beginning of which John, son of Thunders, thundered: “In the beginning was the Word.” The son of Zebedee and Solomia, John, shone. As the Holy Fathers speaking in the spirit of God explained, this was the name of his mother. But she also had another destiny, which is better and greater than any destiny. The good fortune of the mother who gave birth to him is that she gained the glory of being considered a “sister of God.” Namely: Solomiya, who gave birth to the great John (the Theologian), was the daughter of Joseph the Betrothed, who was considered the father of the Savior of us all, Christ, as the wise evangelist Luke wrote (Luke 3:23). In fact, he, of course, was not the father of the Savior, because he never had conjugal communion with the truly Virgin Mary and Ever-Virgin Mother of the Lord and did not deprive Her of the grace of pure virginity. Solomiya was the sister of Jacob and Josiah, and Judah, and Simeon, as well as Mary and Anna, and the divine Fathers beautifully call all of them “brothers of God,” only nominally attributing such dignity to them; because, of course, they were born from the one who is considered by people to be the father of Christ and was so named in the Gospels; just as it seems that the Most Pure and All-Immaculate Virgin Mary married Joseph, when in reality She never knew a husband (Luke 1:34). She says: “Child! what have you done to us? Behold, Your father and I sought You with great sorrow” (Luke 2:48). “Zebedee brought Solomia into the middle, as if a new Sarah, so that she would plead with Christ, in the position of His “sister” 1 . On the issue of the baptism of the Apostles On the question: who baptized the Apostles, and if they were not baptized, how did they baptize others. St. Sophronius explains in his commentaries, among other worthy things (comments lost), that our Lord Jesus Christ with his own hands baptized Peter, and Peter in turn baptized Andrew, James and John; James and John baptized the other Apostles. The Mother of God was baptized together by the Apostles Peter and John 2. Sophronii sanitissimi archiepiseopi Hierolymitani, ex Encomio saneti Joannis Theologi…Migne. P.G. 87/3, col. 3364 Fragmentum. De baptismate apostolorum. I bid. col. 3372