St. John before the Latin Gate

The feast of St. John before the Latin Gate is of greater-double rite and its liturgical colour is red. The feast appears in the Gregorian Sacramentaries on May 6th and is the dedication festival of the fifth century church in Rome named after the feast. The feast commemorates the 'martyrdom' of St. John the Evangelist as described by Tertullian in the year AD 92. On the orders of Domitian St. John was cast into a cauldron of hot oil yet emerged unscathed and was exiled to the island of Patmos.


The church, in Rome, above, of San Giovanni a Porta Latina was dedicated in honour of this feast and used to be a liturgical station on Saturday in Passion Week.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons Sancti tui etc were sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116 from the Common of Apostles in Paschaltide. The Office hymn was Tristes erant Apostoli. After the collect of the feast commemorations were sung of the preceding feast of St. Pius V and of the Octave of the Solemnity of St. Joseph. The Paschal Suffrage was omitted as ere the Dominical preces at Compline.

At Mattins the invitatory is Regem Apostolorum Dominum, Venite adoremus. The Office hymn is again Tristes erant Apostoli and in the first nocturn the antiphons Stabunt justi etc are sung along with the psalms from the Common. The lessons for the first nocturn are the Incipit of the first Epistle of St. John, Quod fuit, found on Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, which are sung with the responsories from the Common. In the second nocturn the lessons are taken from the writings of St. Jerome against Jovinian, in the fifth lesson St. Jerome relates Tertullian's account of St. John's 'martyrdom'. In the third nocturn the homily on St. Matthew's Gospel is again from St. Jerome. The Te Deum is sung.

At Lauds the antiphons Sancti tui etc are again sung, this time with the Dominical psalms. The chapter and Office hymn, Paschale mundo gaudium, and the antiphon on the Benedictus, Filiae Jerusalem, are from the Common. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Octave is sung.

At the Hours the Paschaltide Doxology is sung at the conclusion of the Office hymns. The antiphons Sancti tui etc are sung at the Hours. At Prime the festal psalms are sung (Pss. 53, 118i & 118ii), the short lesson is Scimus quoniam. The Dominical preces are omitted.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Mass Protexisti is sung. The Gloria is sung. The second collect is of the Octave. The Creed is sung, the preface is that of the Apostles.

At Vespers a colour change is made to white and the psalms and antiphons of Saturday are sung. The Office hymn is Ad regias Agni dapes. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of St. John, St. Stanislaus and of the Octave. The Paschal Suffrage is omitted as are the Dominical preces at Compline.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the feast of St. John before the Latin Gate has been abolished from the Kalendar despite its appearance in seventh century liturgical texts and a fifth century church being dedicated to the event. Today is a IV class Saturday Office of the BVM. The Solemnity of St. Joseph and its Octave have also been abolished, along with its Octave. Vespers are ferial with no commemorations and even the Paschal Suffrage has been abolished too as has the Paschal Doxology at Compline etc.