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From Evaristus, Bishop in great Rome,

this missive is dispatched.  Holy Brethren:

we bring news of great sorrow (yet great joy

in Heaven), Elder John, the last of Christ's

Apostles has died outside Ephesus

(a city full of superstition in

which Faith in Christ's Gospel is thriving well,

since first preached there by venerable Paul,

on whose thirteen epistles we composed

our student treatise after he had been

martyred by Nero, that most damnable

heinous monster of foul memory).

Friends of ours witnessed John's peaceful repose.

Until his last breath, he---repeatedly---

reminded all to love one another,             [ 1 John 4:7]

for Love is God's nature; and, in His Son,

has been embodied and was crucified

(by envious, and apathetic, men)

and resurrected to secure for us

the blessing of Salvation's certainty

and its abundant generosity.

More come to Gospel Faith each given day

than have been taken in by heathen rites

or have been sent by them empty away.          [Luke 1:53]

To you, most eminent Bishop, I send

attachments:  John's Gospel, foremost, with three

epistles and his prophecy about

those things that Christ declared must come to pass        [Revelation 1:1]

shortly, that His servants may be informed

nor taken by sudden surprise or fear.

That, too, is an example of Christ's Love,

for perfect Love (as Elder John often

declared to us during his Liturgies

each day) casts out fear from those who believe.               [1 John 4:18]

Even during the vision Christ revealed

to John the most momentous events, He

said, "Fear not," words he had pronounced

more than once in the region, Galilee                                [Luke 5:10, 8:50, 12:7, 32]

as Luke's Gospel informs us splendidly.

We once met John whose gracious courtesy

was offered with sincere humility

and with a genuine and distinct joy

that vivified the words with which he put

the truths he wanted to convey to us.

And seeing this old man's eyes and his smile,

I thought about the adolescent boy

that he had been, just entering manhood;

long-haired; most of the time, shy; and barefoot,             [Luke 9:54]

not more than thirteen years old when Christ called

him, with James, both sons of Zebedee,                           [Mark 1:19-20]

to leave their father's business, fishery,

and preach His Gospel as fishers of men.

As much as I know, brethren, John outlived

all others who had known our Lord, or walked

with Him during His earthly ministry,

or live somewhere within Rome's vast empire

during his years in this world (thirty-three

or so, as Luke's Gospel, the first book, tells).                    [Luke 3:23]

But fear not, little flock, as our Lord said,                         [Luke 12:32]

the passing of those who were earliest

to be led to the Faith cannot disrupt

the solid foundation upon which Christ

has built, and still constructs, His lasting Church,

which has for you assembled all of the

authentic words that Christ's first followers

wrote of, about, and through Him---as inspired,

directed and authenticated by

the Holy Ghost.  This process was commenced

by Paul's friend, met in Rome, Onesimus

who once served as Bishop of Ephesus,

and gathered all Paul's writings he could find.

Through this primary effort, Christ designed

the canons of Sacred Scripture assembled and

authenticated by His Holy Church

to edify the Faithful and secure

knowledge of the Common Salvation to                           [Jude 3]

us, all our brethren and posterity,

that we might worship more devotedly,

and love our neighbors more efficiently.

Now, Brethren, we conclude and will dispatch

these words to you forthwith, attaching to

them our sincere Episcopal Blessing:

Grace be with you, and Peace, from Christ.  Amen.           [Galatians 1:3]

Starward

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