Born to a noble family around AD 675 – John was well educated, and served as a counsellor to the Caliph. When iconoclasm began, under Emperor Leo the Isaurian, John wrote in defence of the icons. As a member of the Caliph’s court, John was beyond the reach of Leo; so he had a letter forged that implicated John in a plot to attack Damascus. The Caliph was so enraged at John’s apparent act of treason, he had John’s hand cut off (what’s interesting is that he did not have him executed).
John requested, and obtained his severed hand. That night he prayed before an icon of the Theotokos. She appeared to him in a dream – healing his hand. When he later woke, he discovered that indeed his hand had been restored. According to one legend this is the origin of the icon of the Theotokos of Three Hands – it began as her being painted with a medallion of a hand around her neck, and later “morphed” into her actually having three hands.
The miraculous restoration of John’s hand convinced the Caliph of his innocence and he restored John to his former dignity. However, John by this time, wanted to withdraw from the world, and with the Caliph’s permission, entered the monastic life.
John was a prolific writer, in addition to defending the veneration of icons, he wrote the first systematic presentation of orthodoxy, as well as an apologetic/refutation of Islam. He was also a skilled hymnographer, whose forms are still used today.
Late in life John was ordained to the priesthood by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. He died in AD 760, aged 84.
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