Or should it be ‘The Two Saints John’? I can never remember. Anyway, we know there were two of them. Actually there were quite a lot more ‘Johns’, including John the Almoner, John the Divine, Prester John et al., but the two we immediately recognise are John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
    John the Baptist was a close relative of Jesus, their mothers being cousins, and his life was devoted to preparing people for the coming of Christ.
    What has all this to do with Freemasonry? Very little of a direct nature but masons had early adopted John the Baptist as their Patron Saint. He was, after all, a splendid example of uprightness and square conduct, unshaken fidelity even in the face of death, and accepting execution rather than to betray the trust reposed in him. Furthermore, he was born on Midsummer day, June 24th, then the sun, that great luminary of nature, had reached its highest point - what one might call ‘the superstructure of the year’ - and it seemed appropriate to hold an annual Masonic Festival on that date. The Grand Lodge of England officially came into being on June 24th 1717 and the annual Festival was held on that day for several years though nowadays it is always held on the first Wednesday after St. George’s Day.
    Meanwhile, the other saint, John the Evangelist, was also being recognised as a patron of Freemasonry. This may have been because some people found it difficult to differentiate between the two men - or may even have thought of them as one saint under two different descriptions! But of course one of the advantages of having two patron saints is that you can have two annual festivals; and Saint John the Evangelist’s Day being December 27th, it means that the two festivals could be nicely spaced out; one in midsummer and the other in midwinter. In some countries this system is still adhered to.
    However, it is difficult to imagine how anyone could really confuse the two saints completely: the contrast between them was immense. In John the Baptist we see a roughly dressed man of the wilderness, probably with little education but with tremendous zeal and burning faith, preaching repentance and offering initiation by the symbol of burial in water: this he called baptism. He had no fear of authority and openly rebuked scribes and Pharisees for their hypocritical practices. Finding Herod in a sinful relationship with another man’s wife, he did not hesitate to speak out in reproof - for which he was thrown in prison. The lady in question took her revenge by using Salome’s dancing to face Herod with a position where he had to order John’s execution and this was duly carried out.
    John the Evangelist, on the other hand, was a character of an entirely different nature. A fisherman’s son he may have been but education he most certainly had for his Gospel is written in stylish classical Greek and is full of the most thoughtful philosophy. As one of the twelve disciples he took part in most of the events recorded and was given the task of looking after the Virgin Mary following the crucifixion.
    Many are the stories told of his subsequent life in Ephesus and (if he is also the author of Revelation) his imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos. It is generally believed that he lived to a very old age in spite of many unsuccessful attempts on his life: indeed, it was reported that on one occasion he was condemned to be plunged into a bath of boiling water and escaped unhurt. Another time he drank a poisoned cup without any ill effect and he is also said to have survived the bite of a venomous snake. This is why many representations of St. John in pictures and stained-glass windows show a healthy-looking man holding a wine-cup from which emerges a serpent’s head.
    The Gospel and more particularly the Epistles of Saint John are full of Brotherly Love and, as such, they have a lot to say to Freemasons and to the world in general. It is said that in the closing years of his long life the Saint would wander round the streets with just this one simple message: ‘Little children, love one another’.
    Perhaps all this will indicate some of the reasons why Freemasons chose Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist as their Patron Saints. The Royal Order of Scotland and many other constitutions still describe the three Craft Degrees as ‘The Masonry of Saint John’ and one of the Christian Orders felicitously links the two men together by referring to ‘Saint John the Evangelist who completed by his learning what Saint John the Baptist had started by his zeal.’ I suppose this is another way of saying, ‘By square conduct, level steps and upright intentions we hope to ascend to those immortal mansions whence all goodness emanates.’