John the Apostle
Saint John the Apostle is the patron of theologians and writers because the Church credits him with the Fourth Gospel — whose soaring opening, “In the beginning was the Word,” earned him in the East the title “the Theologian” — along with three epistles and the Book of Revelation. Booksellers and publishers claim him for the same reason: he is the apostle of the written Word. He is patron of friendship and loyalty above all because he is “the disciple whom Jesus loved”: he reclined on the Lord’s breast at the Supper, alone among the Twelve he stood faithful at the foot of the Cross, and there Christ gave him his own mother (John 19:26-27). Tradition adds that he alone of the apostles died a natural death, surviving even an attempt to martyr him, the most loyal to the end.
Saint John the Apostle, known as “the beloved disciple,” was the son of Zebedee and brother of James. He was present at the Transfiguration and at the foot of the Cross where Jesus entrusted his mother Mary to John’s care. Tradition attributes to him the Gospel of John, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation.
