St. Michael the Archangel --(no image available)

St. James --(martyred circa. 70 A.D.; no image available). According to Eusebius , The History of the Church, 2.23, St. James was believed to be Jesus Christ's brother. In the Book of Acts 15.19; see also Acts 21.21, we find that he was the Judge of the early Church's Apostolic Council. He was a High Priest of the Temple and Eusebius records how he was martyred when other priests gathered against him and threw him from the high wall of the Temple Mount. Called "James the Righteous", the priests were afraid that in James' testimony on Christ many would believe him. The scribes and Pharisees said, "We made a bad mistake in affording such testimony to Jesus. We had better go up and throw him down, so that they will be frightened and not believe him." St. James survived the fall and the men went down the stairs and cudgeled him. He was martyred just before General Vespasian's siege of Jerusalem (70 A.D.). During the siege Josephus mentioned to him a prophesy that suggested he would become emperor. Soon after that Vespasian was called to Rome and crowned Emperor. He left his son, Titus, to continue the war.

Joseph of Arimathaea--(Image on the left hand side of the entrance of the Cathedral of Chartres). Joseph was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, a high priest, and a disciple of Christ. After the crucifixion of Christ Joseph of Arimathaea is believed to have taken Mary Magdalen to Britain to found the first Christian church there. Histories and legends surrounding his relationship to Christ suggest that he was related to Jesus and is a son of David the king. In the Romances of King Arthur and the Round Table Arthur and many of the knights are related and owe their ancestry to Joseph of Arimathaea. He and another high priest placed Christ's body in Joseph's garden tomb after the crucifixion; Sunday morning Mary Magdalen discovered that the body of Christ was not in the tomb.

Josephus --(37 A.D. - approximately 100 A.D.) Josephus was born the year Caligula became emperor. Named Joseph ben Matthias, he was the son of a priestly family--and through his Hasmonean mother--of royal blood. Precocious as a child, when he was fourteen years old rabbis came to him for advise. He was a high priest of the Sanhedrin and a governor of Galilee. In the spring of 67 A.D. When Vespasian's forces arrived most of Josephus' army deserted him, and he took refuge in the fortress of Jotapata. Vespasian laid siege to the fortress for six weeks and took Josephus prisoner. Just before Passover 70 A.D. the Roman General had done a clean sweep through the towns of Galilee and laid siege to Jerusalem. It was the Jewish Passover and approximately a million and a half Jews were in the city celebrating their major feast. Because of factions in the city the siege continued until several hundred thousand starved souls were thrown over the walls and several factions vying for control of the remaining food supplies ended up setting fire to the Herodian Temple complex, and the fire ultimately spread through the entire city leading to its complete destruction. Later in 135 A.D. an edict was issued by the Roman Emperor that no Jew should ever be allowed to gaze upon Jerusalem. That edict lasted until this century, May 1951, after a UN Resolution, the Balfor Resolution, initiated the return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land. A prolific writer, we owe our knowledge of what happened during the Roman destruction of Jerusalemto to Josephus' volumes on the Jewish Wars. He was later to join Vespasian in Rome and was renamed Flavius, adopting the name of Vespasian's Flavian family.

Chandragupta--the emperor in India who repelled Alexandar the Great (no image available). He is known for his education and one of his teachers taught the parable of "The Big Fish Eats the Little Fish." Following this teaching he founded a great empire.

St. Peter of Damaskos (died circa 1098 A.D.) This great saint of the Greek Orthodox Church was known for his quick writing, almost automatically, and, as he tells us, not knowing what he was going to say before he put pen to paper. Although his writings and inspiration were directed towards monks he believed everyone could relate to the teachings. As St. Nikodimos justly claims, his work is a "treasury of divine knowledge and wisdom".

Ibn Kaldün--one of the more prominent of many other Islamic directors during this period: Ibn Kaldün, was a great Islamic philosopher, historian and teacher (no image available).

 St. John of the Cross --(born 1542 A.D.; died December 13, 1591 A.D.; no image of St. John of the Cross available). Juan de Yepes Y Alvarez was born at Fontiveros, Spain, about 24 miles northwest of Avila. He was ordained to the priesthood in the spring of 1567 and known as Fray John. He founded the order of the Carmelites and brought Mother Teresa of Avila into the order. Through the order many monestaries and nunnries were founded. The order was predominately contemplative, emphasizing fasting and abstinance from flesh meat, poverty in the type of dwelling, clothing and food and enclosure and withdrawel from the world. He became known as Fray John of the Cross and was a prolific writer and great mystic. He died an unusual death, seeking shelter at one of the many monestaries he had founded. He was sick and the Prior of Ubeda, Fray Francisco Crisostomo, did not welcome him. Fray Crisostomo assigned Fray John the worst cell in the monastery and voiced his vexation at the expenses incurred by Fray John . He was jealous of Fray John's reputation for holyness. As Fray John's sickness got worse, with ulcerated legs, a tumor the size of a fist was found on his back. On December 13, knowing that he was about to give up the ghost, he called for the Prior and begged his pardon for all of the trouble and expense he had caused. Fray Crisotomo, it is said, begged for forgiveness and left Fray John's cell in tears. Fray John died later that evening and was canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726.

During his ministry Saint John of the Cross had made an unusual drawing of Christ as illustrated here.

Updated 6.15.01; 8.25.01; 2.17.02