Daybreak

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene, 676-749; born in Damascus, and followed his father in a government position under the Arabs; he resigned, and went to the monastery of St. Sabas; he is famous for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images; for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers, of which he became the last; and for his poetry--he was one of the greatest poets of the Eastern Church Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/4/24 Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37