Are you seeking revenge? Here’s how to do it.

The Saint Day of January 23 is St. John the Merciful, or St.John the Almoner.

“St. John the Merciful” is not a saint name I know—although that wouldn’t be unusual for a Protestant. He was the Patriarch of Alexandria, and was born on Cyprus in the seventh century. Remember those days—before the Christian church split apart? 

“There was a time when a certain citizen insulted George, the Patriarch’s nephew. George asked the saint to avenge the wrong. The saint promised to deal with the offender so that all of Alexandria would marvel at what he had done. This calmed George, and St John began to instruct him, speaking of the necessity for meekness and humility. Then he summoned the man who insulted George. When St John learned that the man lived in a house owned by the church, he declared that he would excuse him from paying rent for an entire year. Alexandria indeed was amazed by such a “revenge,” and George learned from his uncle how to forgive offenses and to bear insults for God’s sake.”

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/11/12/103286-st-john-the-merciful-patriarch-of-alexandria

http://dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=saintfeast&localdate=20140123&id=10167&fd=0

The current Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa is Theodoros II, born Nicholas Horeftakis in Crete in 1954.