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Saint John before the Latin Gate
Saint John before the Latin Gate, who was the only surviving apostle in the year 95, and governed all the churches of Asia, was apprehended at Ephesus, and sent to Rome as a prisoner.
Emperor Domitian did not relent at the sight of the venerable old man, but condemned him to be cast into a caldron of boiling oil. The martyr doubtless, heard with great joy, this barbarous sentence for the most cruel torments seemed to him, light and most agreeable because they would, he hoped, unite him forever to his divine Master and Savior. But God accepted his will and crowned his desire; He conferred on him the honor and merit of Martyrdom, but suspended the operation of the fire. The seething oil was changed to an invigorating bath and the Saint came out more refreshed than when he had entered the caldron.
Domitian saw this miracle without drawing from it the least advantage, but remained hardened in his iniquity. He contented himself, however, by banishing the holy apostle to the island of Patmos. He returned to Ephesus, after the death of Domitian, during the reign of Nerva, who labored to restore the faded luster of the Roman Empire.
This glorious triumph of St. John happened without the gate of Rome, called Latina. A church, which has since always borne this title, was consecrated in the same place in memory of this miracle, under the first Christian emperors.
Text is supplied by the Daily Epistle
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