God's blessed people, that are come this day to Holy Church to worship God, our Lady, and Saint John the evangelist that is God's own darling. Wherefore all Holy Church this day maketh mention of the special grace that Christ gave him before all other disciples: he gave him grace of virginity, and grace of keeping his mother free, and grace of showing his privacy.
He gave him grace of virginity, that is, of maidenhood, for, as stories telleth and some have in opinion, when he should have wedded Mary Magdalene, Christ called him and bade he should serve him. And he anon left all the world's vanity and served Christ henceforth and kept himself clean maiden until his ending day. In proving of this, as we readeth, when Domitian the emperor of Rome heard that John preached in a country that is called Asia and built many churches, he was wroth therewith and sent after John, and made to put him in a brazen pot full of oil and so boil him therein. But when he had long stood therein, and all men thought he had been all boiled to pieces, then the emperor bad them open the pot. And when the pot was open, John came out of the oil and of the burning of the fire just as whole and sound in each part of his body as he was clean of part of woman's body, of thought, and of deed.
Another said he had full [harde]. When he saw a temple of Jews full of idolatry, he prayed to God for the destruction of it. And therewith anon it fell down into powder. Wherefore Arostodinus, a bishop of the temple, pursued John to the death. Then said John to him: "What wouldst thou that I do for to make thee to believe on Jesus Christ my Lord?" Then said he: "I will make venom and make men to drink it before thee, and when thou seest them dead, drink thou that without harm, and then shall I believe in thy God." Then said John: "Go and do as thou sayest." Then the bishop ordered his poison and got two men that were condemned to death and made them drink of this poison before John, and when they had drunk it, they were dead anon right. Then John took that poison and blessed it and so drank of it, and was never the worse, but seemed the [lylokur] after then he was before. For as clean as he was without venom of lechery, so clean he was of that poison after he had drunk it. But then this bishop said that he might not believe until he saw the men raised again to life that were slain by drinking of that poison. Then John cast off his coat and said: "Have this, and lay it upon the dead bodies and say this: "John, Christ's apostle, sent me so that they should rise up in Christ's name." And when he had done so, they raised again to life. Then this bishop with many others believed in Christ and became followers of John and was after a full holy man. Thus he that hath grace to keep him clean in body and soul, that hath not in him venom of lechery or of other sin, it shall not do him any harm, but in the withstanding of his lust he is a martyr before God and shall be taken as for worthy to be keeper of Christ's mother. \
Thus for the great [clannes] that Christ saw in John before all others, when he should die, he charged John with keeping of his mother. And he, as a good son should do, took her into his keeping, so that when Christ was dead and laid in his tomb, John, with others, helped to bear her into his house and kept her there until Christ was risen again to life. And also when Christ was risen to heaven, he kept her in the same chamber as long as she lived hereafter on earth. Thus had he grace of keeping of Christ's mother free.
He had also grace of knowing of God's privacy. This was first when Christ sat at his supper on Schere Thursday. For great love that he had to Christ, he leaned his head to Christ's breast, and then right as a man leaneth to a well and drinketh his body full of water, just so John drank of the well of wisdom that is Christ's breast and filled his soul full of ghostly wisdom, so that afterwards he passed all others in wisdom. Thus Christ showed him of his privacy before all others.
Also, because he would not cease to preach God's word, the emperor exiled him alone into the isle of Pathmos. But while he was there on his own, God showed him his apocalypse of the world that was to come, and of the Antichrist, and of the world's ending, and of the day of doom. And as he saw it, he wrote it in great confirmation of Holy Church. But after when the emperor was dead, Joh was called again to the city of Ephasim, and there was he bishop. And when he came thither, a widow called Drusyana lay dead on a bier. Then because John saw many weeping for her, John said to her: "Drusyana, rise up and go make me some meat." And she anon rose up and went forth, as though she had risen from sleep.
Another day too, young men and rich, by preaching of John they they sold all their goods and served John. Then on a day, as they came into the city of Pargame, when they saw a thick crowd of civil servants in rich array and the city itself in poor weeds, by temptation of the fiend they forgot their purpose. Then anon by revelation of the privacy of God, John knew their thoughts and said to them: "I see how the devil tempted thou and maketh thou to forsake your purpose that thou were in. Wherefore, go to the wood and bring a burden of sticks, and after go to the sea and bring hither a burden of small stones." And they did so. Then at the prayer of John the sticks turned into gold and the stones into precious jewels, and then John said to them: "Now take this gold and these precious stones and be also rich as ye were before, and know well that ye have lost the kingdom of heaven.
Then it happened that a man brought a dead body to bury. But when the mother of the corpse saw John, she fell down on her knees to him, praying him that he would raise her son back to life, as he raised Drusyana the widow to life. Then John prayed to God and anon he that was dead rose up. Then John said to him: "I bid thee tell these men what thou hast seen and what joy these men have lost." Then he, in the hearing of all men, told of the joy of paradise and of the pains of hell, how strong and how horrible they were, and how high glorious place was ordained for men, and now how sore the angels did weep for love of them, and how much joy the fiends made for those that so turned from perfect living. Then anon these men were sorry in their hearts and repented of their doings, and, weeping, cried to Johyn that he should pray to God for them. Then when John saw them weep for sorrow, he prayed to God for them and gave them penance. And when they had down their penance, anon the gold turned back into sticks and the stones into stones, and they were holy men forever after.
Another revelation John had by showing of God's privacy. For on a day he saw a child that was like to be a good man. Wherefore John brought him to a bishop and bade him keep him well and teach him. Then this child grew into a man and gave himself all to folly, and so fell into a company of theives and was soon after a master of them. Then by revelation of God, John knew that, and anon he went to the bishop and blamed him excessively for the mis-keeping of his child, and bade him tell where he was. Then the bishop with much fear said he was a leader of thieves in such and such a place. Then John, for he was old and might not go well, took a horse and rode thither. And when this thief saw John, he was so ashamed that he fled. Then John rode after crying, and said, "My sweet son, my dear son, abide and speak with this old father." So at the last this man stayed. Then John preached to him so that he left all his folly and was afterwards so holy a man that he was a bishop after. This John had revelation of God's privacy.
In the life of Saint Edward the Confessor that lay at Westminster it is written that Saint John appeared to Saint Edward on a day as he went in procession, and prayed him to give him some goods for Saint John the evangelist's sake, for he loved him much. But because the king had nothing else ready to serve him, he took the ring of his finger and gave it to him. And so Saint John had the ring seven years, and at the seventh year's end Saint John appeared to a knight of the king's beside the sea and bade him bear that ring to the king, and bade he should bethink him well for whose love he gave it away, and said that he greet him well and bade him to make him ready, for he should die soon after, and so did.
Another revelation he had when he was sixty years old and seven. Then came Jesus Christ to him with his disciples and said this to him: "My darling, come now to me, for now it is time for thee to eat with me and my brethren in my feast." Then he rose up anon and would have gone. Then said Christ to him: "Upon Sunday thou shalt come to me." Then by Sunday he was so feeble that he made to carry him to church, and, ever as he might speak, he said to them that carried him: "Children, love each other." Then said one to him: "Father, why say ye so thus oft?" Then said he: "For, if ye love together, it is enough to salvation." Also he bade them that they should be stable in the faith and fervent in the commandments. Then he commanded to make him a grave before the altar, and, when it was made, he lay down in it, and then there came such a light upon him a great while that no man might see him. And when this light was gone, it was full of manna and welleth up as doth sand in a well with water.
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