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Although St.
John the Apostle is more commonly referred to as St. John the
Evangelist, some theologians have strong reservations about the
authenticity of the Fourth Gospel, the three epistles,
and the Book of
Revelations (Apocalypse) that John was supposed to have authored. Most
of the stories about St. John are apocryphal and are not substantiated
biblically, including the assumption
that he was the unnamed "disciple
whom Jesus loved." who placed his head on Jesus' chest at the
Last
Supper, the disciple who first recognized Jesus after the Resurrection,
and the disciple that
Jesus asked to take care of his mother when Christ
was crucified. John was, however, the only
one of the twelve apostles
who escaped martyrdom, living in exile until his nineties on the isle of
Patmos.
St. John was one of the most important saints of the
early church.
Because
of the legends of his
good looks, he was somehow associated with the
Greek god Dionysius who was the god of wine.
St. John's feastday became
the traditional day for the blessing and drinking of wine. In central
Europe it is still a popular practice to bring jugs of wine and cider to
the local church on December
27 to have them blessed. After the
blessing, small portions of the wine and cider are poured into
the
storage barrels. The remaining wine and cider are mixed, flavored with
honey and spices, and called St. John's Wine.
This wine is kept for special occasion such as weddings, funerals, and
long trips. St. John's wine is often warmed before sipping, especially
in the winter.
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