The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian holds a special place among the chosen disciples of Christ the Savior. Often in iconography, the Apostle John is depicted as a meek, majestic and spirit-bearing elder, with features of virginal tenderness, with the seal of complete calmness on his forehead and the deep gaze of a contemplator of ineffable revelations. Another main feature of the apostle's spiritual appearance is revealed through his teaching about love, for which he was primarily given the name of the Apostle of Love. 
Indeed, all his writings are permeated with love, the main idea of which boils down to the concept that God in His being is Love (1 John 4:8). In them he dwells mainly on the manifestations of God's ineffable love for the world and man, on the love of his Divine Teacher. He constantly exhorts the disciples to love each other.
The ministry of Love is the whole life path of the Apostle John the Theologian.
He was characterized by calmness and depth of contemplation combined with fervent fidelity, tender and boundless love with fervor and even some sharpness. From the brief instructions of the Evangelists, it can be seen that he possessed a highly fervent nature, his heartfelt impulses sometimes reached such violent jealousy that Jesus Christ was forced to moderate them as disagreeing with the spirit of the new teaching (Mk. 9, 38-40; Lk. 9; 49-50: Lk. 9, 54-56) and called The Apostle John and his brother James were "sons of thunder" (Boanerges). At the same time, he reveals a rare modesty and, despite his special position among the apostles as a disciple whom Jesus loved, he did not stand out from the number of other disciples of the Savior. The distinctive features of his character were observation and sensitivity to events, imbued with a subtle sense of obedience to the will of God. The impressions received from the outside were rarely found in his word or action, but they penetrated deeply and deeply into the inner life of the holy Apostle. Always sensitive to others, he was sick at heart about the dying. The Apostle John listened with awe to the Inspired teaching of his Teacher, full of grace and truth, contemplating the Glory of the Son of God in pure and sublime love. Not a single feature from the earthly life of Christ the Savior escaped the penetrating gaze of the Apostle John, not a single event passed without leaving a deep mark in his memory, therefore, the fullness and integrity of the human personality were concentrated in him. The thoughts of the Apostle John the Theologian possessed the same integrity. There was no duality for him. In his opinion, where there is no complete devotion, there is nothing. Having chosen the path of service to Christ, he pursued it with fullness and undivided consistency until the end of his life. The Apostle John speaks of complete devotion to Christ, of the fullness of life in Him, therefore sin is considered by him not as a weakness and damage to human nature, but as evil, as a negative principle, completely opposite to good (John 8:34; 1 John 3:4; 1 John 3:8-9). According to his view, one can belong either to Christ or to the devil, there can be no middle, indefinite state (1 John 2, 22; 1 John 14, 3). Therefore, he served the Lord with undivided love and dedication, rejecting everything that belongs to the original enemy of man, the enemy of truth and the founder of lies (1 John 2:21-22). The more he loves Christ, the more he hates the Antichrist; the more he loves the truth, the more he hates lies – light excludes darkness (John 8:12; John 12:35-36). With this manifestation of the inner fire of love, he testified with special power of the spirit about the Deity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-18; 1 John 5:1-12).
The Apostle John was determined to express the last word of Divine Revelation, which introduces into the innermost secrets of the inner Divine life, known only to the eternal Word of God, the Only Begotten Son.
The truth is reflected in his mind and word, because he feels and comprehends it with his heart. He contemplates the eternal Truth and both sees and transmits it to his beloved children. The Apostle John simply asserts or denies and always speaks with absolute precision (1 John 1, 1). He hears the voice of the Lord revealing to him what He Himself hears from the Father.
The theology of the Apostle John destroys the boundary between the present and the future. Observing the present, the temporal, he does not stop at it, but shifts his gaze to the eternal in the past and to the eternal in the future. And therefore, calling for the sanctity of life, he solemnly proclaims that "whosoever is born of God will not sin" (1 John 5:18; 1 John 3:9). In communion with God, a true Christian participates in the Divine life, therefore the future of humanity is already being accomplished on earth. In the exposition and disclosure of the doctrine of the Economy of salvation, the Apostle John the Theologian moves into the realm of the eternally present, in which Heaven descended to earth and the renewed earth is illuminated by the Light of Heavenly Glory.
So the Galilean fisherman, the son of Zebedee, became a Theologian who announced through Revelation the mystery of the existence of the world and the fate of mankind.
The celebration of May 8 to the Holy Apostle John the Theologian was established by the Church in memory of the annual exodus on this day at the place of his burial of the finest pink ashes, which were collected by believers for healing from various diseases.