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Our father among the saints '''John the Merciful''' was [[patriarch]] of Alexandria in the early 7th century, also known as '''John V of Alexandria'''. He gained his epithet from his unstinting generosity in distributing the vast wealth of the [[patriarchate]] of Alexandria to the poor and afflicted. The main source for his biography is a Life written by Leontius of Neapolis in Cyprus. John is commemorated in the Orthodox Church on [[November 12]].

John was born in Amathus on Cyprus c. 550 to the patrician Epiphanius, a governor of the island. He married and had children, but was a widower when he was called to become patriarch of Alexandria on the recommendation of his friend, the city's imperial prefect Nicetas. The [[Council of Chalcedon|Chalcedonian]] [[see ]] of Alexandria had been vacant since the death in 609 of Theodore during the capture of the city by Nicetas. In 611 John assumed the throne, becoming the fifth Chalcedonian bishop of Alexandria to bear that name.

John took care of spiritual as well as bodily nourishment and in meals and other gatherings in the patriarchal palace would only converse on the Scriptures or other spiritual topics. He also patronized the learned wanderers St. [[Sophronius I of Jerusalem|Sophronius]], future [[patriarch of Jerusalem]], and [[John Moschus]], author of the ''[[Leimonarion]]'' (Spiritual Meadow).

John voiced opposition to Heraclius' early attempts at promoting [[monoenergism]] as a compromise solution to the schism over [[Chalcedon]], but did not participate in the major controversies that soon developed. He was forced to flee Alexandria by the Persian invasion of Egypt in 619. Returning to Cyprus, he died soon thereafter. A few years later much of John's work of reconciliation with the Non-Chalcedonians of Egypt was undone by the violent persecution instituted by Cyrus, who combined both imperial and ecclesiastical authority as dual prefect and patriarch of Alexandria. {{start box}}{{succession|before=Theodore I|title=[[List of Patriarchs of Alexandria|Patriarch of Alexandria]]|years=609-620|after=George I}}{{end box}}

*John's relations with non-Chalcedonians are treated briefly in [[John Meyendorff ]] ''Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D.'' (Crestwood NY 1989). Meyendorff's statement that John is venerated as a saint by the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches seems to be a confusion with John IV, Coptic Pope of Alexandria of the late 7th century, also surnamed the "Merciful" but presented as a staunch opponent of Chalcedonian Christology (see the ''Coptic Encyclopedia'').