Category: DOCTORS of the Church

Saint of the Day – 13 September – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor of the Church – “Golden Mouthed” – (c 347 at Antioch, Asia Minor – 407 of natural causes) Bishop, Confessor, Father and Doctor, Preacher, Orator, Writer, Theologian,  Name Meaning – • God is gracious; gift of God (John), • golden-mouthed (Chrysostom). Patronages – • epileptics; against epilepsy• Constantinople; Istanbul, Turkey• lecturers, preachers, speakers, orators (proclaimed on 8 July 1908 by St Pope Pius X). St John Chrysostom was the Archbishop of Constantinople and is an important Early Church Father. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom and his ascetic sensibilities.  Chrysostom was among the most prolific authors in the early Christian Church, exceeded only by St Augustine in the quantity of his surviving writings.

John was born in Antioch in 349 to Greek parents from Syria.   John’s father died soon after his birth and he was raised by his mother.   He was baptised in 368 or 373 and tonsured as a reader.   As a result of his mother’s influential connections in the city, John began his education under the pagan teacher Libanius.   From Libanius, John acquired the skills for a career in rhetoric, as well as a love of the Greek language and literature.  As he grew older, however, John became more deeply committed to Christianity and went on to study theology under Diodore of Tarsus, founder of the re-constituted School of Antioch.

John lived in extreme asceticism and became a hermit in about 375;  he spent the next two years continually standing, scarcely sleeping and committing the Bible to memory. As a consequence of these practices, his stomach and kidneys were permanently damaged and poor health forced him to return to Antioch.

Diaconate and service in Antioch:
John was ordained as a deacon in 381 by Saint Meletius of Antioch who was not then in communion with Alexandria and Rome.   After the death of Meletius, John separated himself from the followers of Meletius, without joining Paulinus, the rival of Meletius for the bishopric of Antioch. But after the death of Paulinus he was ordained a presbyter (priest) in 386 by Evagrius, the successor of Paulinus.

In Antioch, over the course of twelve years (386–397), John gained popularity because of the eloquence of his public speaking at the Golden Church, Antioch’s cathedral, especially his insightful expositions of Bible passages and moral teaching.  The most valuable of his works from this period are his Homilies on various books of the Bible.   He emphasised charitable giving and was concerned with the spiritual and temporal needs of the poor.   He spoke against abuse of wealth and personal property:

“Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Do not ignore him when he is naked. Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect him outside where he is cold and ill-clad. He who said: “This is my body” is the same who said: “You saw me hungry and you gave me no food”, and “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did also to me”… What good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger? Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well.”

His straightforward understanding of the Scriptures – in contrast to the Alexandrian tendency towards allegorical interpretation – meant that the themes of his talks were practical, explaining the Bible’s application to everyday life.   Such straightforward preaching helped Chrysostom to garner popular support.   He founded a series of hospitals in Constantinople to care for the poor.

Archbishop of Constantinople:
In the autumn of 397, John was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople, after having been nominated without his knowledge.   He had to leave Antioch in secret due to fears that the departure of such a popular figure would cause civil unrest.   During his time as Archbishop he adamantly refused to host lavish social gatherings, which made him popular with the common people but unpopular with wealthy citizens and the clergy.   His reforms of the clergy were also unpopular.   He told visiting regional preachers to return to the churches they were meant to be serving—without any payout.

His time in Constantinople was more tumultuous than his time in Antioch.   Theophilus, the Patriarch of Alexandria, wanted to bring Constantinople under his sway and opposed John’s appointment to Constantinople.   Theophilus had disciplined four Egyptian monks (known as “the Tall Brothers”) over their support of Origen’s teachings.   They fled to John and were welcomed by him.   Theophilus therefore accused John of being too partial to the teaching of Origen.   He made another enemy in Aelia Eudoxia, wife of Emperor Arcadius, who assumed that John’s denunciations of extravagance in feminine dress were aimed at herself.   Eudoxia, Theophilus and other of his enemies held a synod in 403 (the Synod of the Oak) to charge John, in which his connection to Origen was used against him.   It resulted in his deposition and banishment.   He was called back by Arcadius almost immediately, as the people became “tumultuous” over his departure, even threatening to burn the royal palace.   There was an earthquake the night of his arrest, which Eudoxia took for a sign of God’s anger, prompting her to ask Arcadius for John’s reinstatement.

Peace was short-lived. A silver statue of Eudoxia was erected in the Augustaion, near his cathedral.   John denounced the dedication ceremonies as pagan and spoke against the Empress in harsh terms:  “Again Herodias raves; again she is troubled; she dances again; and again desires to receive John’s head in a charger”, an allusion to the events surrounding the death of John the Baptist.   Once again he was banished, this time to the Caucasus in Abkhazia.

Exile and death:
Faced with exile, John Chrysostom wrote an appeal for help to three churchmen:  Pope Innocent I, Venerius the Bishop of Milan and the third to Chromatius, the Bishop of Aquileia.   In 1872, church historian William Stephens wrote:

“The Patriarch of the Eastern Rome appeals to the great bishops of the West, as the champions of an ecclesiastical discipline which he confesses himself unable to enforce, or to see any prospect of establishing.   No jealousy is entertained of the Patriarch of the Old Rome by the Patriarch of the New Rome.  The interference of Innocent is courted, a certain primacy is accorded him but at the same time he is not addressed as a supreme arbitrator;  assistance and sympathy are solicited from him as from an elder brother, and two other prelates of Italy are joint recipients with him of the appeal.”

Pope Innocent I protested John’s banishment from Constantinople to the town of Cucusus in Cappadocia, but to no avail.  Innocent sent a delegation to intercede on behalf of John in 405.   It was led by Gaudentius of Brescia; Gaudentius and his companions, two bishops, encountered many difficulties and never reached their goal of entering Constantinople.

John wrote letters which still held great influence in Constantinople.   As a result of this, he was further exiled from Cucusus (where he stayed from 404 to 407) to Pitiunt (Pityus) (in modern Abkhazia) where his tomb is a shrine for pilgrims.   He never reached this destination, as he died at Comana Pontica on 14 September 407 during the journey.   His last words are said to have been “Glory be to God for all things”.

Veneration and canonisation:
John came to be venerated as a saint soon after his death.  Almost immediately after, an anonymous supporter of John (known as pseudo-Martyrius) wrote a funeral oration to reclaim John as a symbol of Christian orthodoxy.   But three decades later, some of his adherents in Constantinople remained in schism.   Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (434–446), hoping to bring about the reconciliation of the Johannites, preached a homily praising his predecessor in the Church of Hagia Sophia.   He said, “O John, your life was filled with sorrow but your death was glorious.   Your grave is blessed and reward is great, by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place!   Love has conquered space, unforgetting memory has annihilated the limits and place does not hinder the miracles of the saint.”