A. At Rome, whilst he attended Paul in his firft Imprisonment.

Q. In what Language were they wrote, and to whom were they infcribed ?

A. In the Greek Language, and dedicated to Theophilus, a Perfon of great Honour and Diftinction, and one of his principal Converts.

LESSON IV.

The Life of St. John the Evangelift.

Saint

Aint John the Evangelift, was by Birth a Galilean, the Son of Zebedee and Salome; and the younger Brother of St. James the Great, under whom he exercifed the Trade or Profeffion of a Fisherman. He was called to be a Difciple and an Apostle of our bleffed. Saviour, before he was thirty Years of Age. He and his Brother James, who was likewife called to the Dignity of the Apoftolate at the fame Time, were afterwards ftiled Boanerges, or Sons of Thunder. St. John, in particular, is faid to be the Difciple whom JESUS loved; his peculiar Favourite, who lay his Head in his Mafter's Bofom, at the: Adminiftration of his laft Supper; and to whofe peculiar Care and Conduct our LOR D entrufted his Mother the bleffed Virgin, at the Approach of his Crucifixion. St. John, accord

accordingly, in Purfuance of the Truft repofed in him, fhew'd her all the Testimonies of the profoundest Veneration and Refpect; and after the Death of her Husband fofeph, gave her all the Accommodations his Houle afforded. He contracted a more intimate Acquaintance with St. Peter than any other of the Apostles, and was the first that gave him Notice of our Saviour's Appearance after his Refurrection. He likewife entertained him at his Houfe in Ferufalem till the Death of the bleffed Virgin, which happened, according to Eufebius, in the Year of our LORD forty-eight. Some Time after, he took his Journey into fta,. that being his peculiar Province by Allotment. He founded the Churches of Smyrna, Thyatira, Pergamus, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, &c.; his principal Place of Refidence, however, was Ephefus, whereof he was Bifhop; though St. Paul had planted a Church there long before, and constituted Timothy Bishop thereof. Soon after he had , fetled Affairs to his Satisfaction in Afia Minor, 'tis fuppofed that he removed from thence more Eastwards, and preached the Gospel amongst the Parthians, to whom, as fome imagine, his firft Epistle was antiently infcribed. After fome Years thus employ'd in his Apoftolical Function, the Perfecution of the cruel Domitian came on, wherein fo eminent a Minifter of Chrift's Gofpel as St. John, could not fail of being

a Suf

a Sufferer. He was accordingly reprefented to the Emperor, as a profefs'd Atheift, and a publick Subverter of the established Religion of the Empire. Whereupon, by. his Imperial Orders, the Proconful of Afia fent him bound to Rome, where he met with the most barbarous and inhuman Treatment. He was cat into a Cauldron of boiling or burning Oy!, but was as miraculously delivered by Divine Providence, from that feemingly inevitable Ruin, as Shadrach, Mefbach, and Abednego had been long before, from the Flames of a Fiery Furnace. The ftupid and obdurate Domitian, regardlefs of the Miracle, ftill perfecuted this holy Man, and banifhed him into the Ifle of Patmas in the Archipelago, where he instructed the Inhabitants for many Years together, in the Grounds and Principles of the Chriftian Religion; and where, towards the latter End of his Reign, he wrote his Apocalypfe or Revelations. Soon after the Emperor's Death, Cocceius Nerva, his Succeffor, by a fpecial Edict, recall'd him and feveral others from their State of Exile. Whereupon he returned to Afia, and fixed his Refidence again at Ephelus. Timothy the former Bishop of that Place being martyr'd, for preaching against the Lewdness and Idolatry of thofe Pagan Festivals which were then obferved amongst them, St. John took upon him (in Conjunction with fome other eminent Divines) the Government or Bishoprick of that

Diocese,

.

Diocese, and erected feveral Oratories or Churches within its Jurifdiction. At the Requeft of the Afian Bishops he wrote his Gofpel there, about the Year of our LORD 96, when he was near 100 Years old. He lived till the Beginning of the Reign of the Emperor Trajan, and was, according to St. Chryfoftom, about 120 Years of Age when he died. Some are of Opinion, that he died a Martyr ; others, that he never died at all; but was tranflated, as Enoch and Elias were of old. Befides his Gospel and Revelations, he wrote three Epiftles, one already taken Notice of to be antiently infcrib'd to the Parthians; a fecond to a Lady of great Honour and Quality, a Convert to the Chriftian Faith, and stiled the Elect Lady; and a third to Gaius, a very hofpitable Man, and peculiarly indulgent to all indigent Chriftians.

The CATECHISM.

QOF what Parentage and Country was St. John the Evangelist?

A. A Native of Galilee; the Son of Zebedee and Salome, and the younger Brother of St. James the Great.

Q. What Profeffion did he follow ?

A. The laborious Employment of a Fish

erman.

Q. When was he called by Chrift to be his Difciple?

A. At that Time when JEsUs Jaw him and his Brother mending their Nets in the Sea of Galilee.

Q. What Name or Title did he give them after their Admiffion to that Office?

A. 7 hat of Boanerges, or Sons of Thunder. Q. Was Saint John more intimately acquainted with our Bleffed Saviour than the reft of the Apostles.

A. Yes; he is faid to be theDifciple whom JESUS loved; to be his peculiar Favourite, who lay his Head in his Master's Bofom at the Pafchal Supper.

Q. What further Teftimony did our Saviour fhew of the extraordinary Trust and Confidence which he repofed in him?

A. He recommended his Mother, the bleffed Virgin, to his Care and Protection. Q. How did he execute that Truft?

A. He fhewed her all the Teftimonies of the profoundest Refpect, and after the Death of her Husband Jofeph, maintain'd her in bis own Houfe.

Q. Who was his favourite Companion?
A. St. Peter.

Q. What Teftimonies did he give him of his peculiar Love and Friendship?

A. He gave him Notice, before any of the Apoftles, of our Saviour's Refurrection, and entertain'd him in a very hofpitable Manner in his Houfe, till the Death of the Virgin Mary.

Q. When did the Mother of our bleffed Saviour die ?

A. About the Year of our Lord 48.

Q. Where did St. John preach after our Saviour's Afcenfion ?

A. In