Saint
John Chrysostom
Saturday,
November 18, 2006
Saint John Chrysostom
(17 Hatour
/ 26 November)
On this
day, the honorable Saint John Chrysostom (literally
meaning, ‘Golden Mouth’), departed. He was born in the city of Antioch around
the year 347 A.D., to a rich father, whose name was Sakondos,
and a righteous mother, whose name was Anthosa. They
brought him up well and reared him in the Christian tradition. John went to the
city of Athens, where he learned the Greek wisdom in one of its schools, where
he surpassed many in knowledge and in virtue. He forsook the lusts of the world
and became a monk at a young age.
Saint
John had a friend by the name of Bassillius, who was
a monk before him. They had the same interests and they practiced many virtues.
When his father departed, Saint John did not keep any of his belongings, but
gave all of his inheritance to the poor and the needy. Then he lived an ascetic
life full of struggle. In the monastery, there was a Syrian hermit whose name
was Ansosynos. One night he saw the apostles, Saint
Peter and Saint John, entering where his fellow monk, St. John was. Saint John
the evangelist, gave him a Bible and said to him, "Do not be afraid,
whosoever you shall bind, shall be bound, and whosoever you shall loose, shall
be loosed." The old hermit therefore realized hat
St. John would be a faithful shepherd.
The grace
of the Lord filled St. John Chrysostom and he wrote homilies and sermons and he
interpreted many books while he was still a deacon. It was St. Melatius, Patriarch of Antioch, who had raised him to this
rank. He was then ordained a priest by St. Phlapianus,
St. Melatius' successor, through the guidance of the
angel of the Lord.
When Nectarius, Patriarch of Constantinople departed, Emperor Arcadius summoned Saint John and made him Patriarch. He conducted
himself in thr manner of the Apostles during his
patriarchate. Saint John continued teaching, preaching and interpreting the
books of the church, both old and new, and he admonished the sinners,
regardless of their authority or wealth.
Queen Eudoxia, the wife of Emperor Arcadius,
had a lust for money. She took a garden which belonged to a poor widow, by
force. The latter complained to the Saint, who went to the queen and admonished
her and asked her to return the garden to its owner. When Eudoxia
did not obey him, he prevented her from entering the church and partaking of
the Holy Communion. She became exceedingly angry and gathered a council of
bishops whom Saint John had excommunicated for their evil deeds and their
mismanagement. They sentenced the saint to exile. He was exiled in the Island
of Thrace, but this exile did not last more than one night. The people were
enraged and they gathered around the royal palace demanding the return of the
Patriarch. While the people were sorrowful because of their righteous shepherd,
a severe earthquake took place and almost destroyed the city, terrifying
everyone. The people thought that this was a sign of the Lord's anger, caused
by the exile of the Saint. As for Eudoxia, she was
disturbed, her soul was troubled and she went in haste to her husband and asked
him to bring back the Saint from exile. Once the light of the great shepherd
shined on his flock, their sorrow changed to joy and their wailing was replaced
by the songs of joy and happiness.
This state
of affairs did not last long. There was a large square beside the church of Agia Sophia, where a large silver statue of Queen Eudoxia was erected. On the day of its dedication, some
common people danced madly, until they were immersed in immorality and sin.
Because of Saint John's zeal to curb the spread of immorality, he repudiated
the people in his sermons, courageously showing his disapproval of their behavior. His enemies took advantage of his zeal and
accused him before the queen. This accusation gave the queen a good reason to
sentence him to exile. She strongly emphasized that the soldiers who were in
charge of guarding him not give him any means of comfort during his travel.
Thus, they moved him from one place to another hastily, until they came to a
city called Kamana, where his health deteriorated and
he departed in peace in the year 407 A.D.
During
the reign of Theodosius II, the son of Emperor Arcadius
(who exiled St. John), his body was taken to Constantinople, where it was
placed in the church of the Apostles.
May his prayers be with us all. Amen.
