Posted on 09/13/2002 4:24:03 PM PDT by Lady In Blue
The Riot in Antioch
In 370 A,D. the city of Antioch, in Syria, was in a state of great unrest and anxiety. The people of Antioch had revolted against the Roman emperor, they had refused to pay the taxes, they had repelled, and in some instances, killed some of the Roman officials. "The taxes we have to pay do not leave us enough money to buy bread for our children!" they clamored. Under the leadership of fiery tempered individuals the rioting crowds filled the streets and pilfered stores. They fought the soldiers who were sent to restore order. The statue of the emperor was overturned. When the city was quiet and order was reestablished, a report was sent to the emperor in Constantinople. Would the emperor's decision be a greater burden than the taxes? Would the city be destroyed and thousands of people be imprisoned and exiled? Would terrible executions take place? The aged Patriarch of Antioch left for Constantinople to plead for his people. He would describe their distress to the emperor, their bitter need, the difficulties of the times. Would he succeed in persuading the emperor to forgive the people of Antioch?
The Priest John
During these days of anxiety and uncertainty there was one place where all could find comfort, reassurance and good counsel. This was the city cathedral where the Priest John was left in charge by the Patriarch of the Church of Antioch. Great Lent had begun and crowds had gathered for the services to hear John's unusual sermons. People had never lived through a Lenten period like this one. Never had anyone preached like this. He comforted them; yet he made them see their failures. He gave them courage to bear whatever else was to follow, and he gave them hope. He made them see clearly all the evils in their lives and he made them realize what God's love meant. As the weeks of the Lent slowly went by, the people of Antioch felt they were being really cleansed spiritually and prepared for the great Feast of Christ's Resurrection. Easter brought them peace and joy. The Patriarch returned bringing good news, for the emperor had listened to him favorably, the city had been forgiven, and there would be no reprisals.
St. John's Background
John was a priest who had moved the whole city with the fiery power of his words. He came to be called St. John Chrysostom (the word Chrysostom means golden mouthed). He was twenty years younger than St. Basil and St. Gregory, the great Fathers of the Church. His youth was in many ways similar to theirs: a happy childhood with a devoted Christian mother, an excellent education at the famous School of Antioch, and years spent in a monastery in the desert. He left his beloved monastery at the age of 41 because the Patriarch had insisted that he serve the Church as a priest in the great city of Antioch. The name Golden-mouthed was given to him by a simple woman who happened to hear one of his sermons. "Oh, Father," she said, "you are truly golden-mouthed and your words are beautiful. But your teaching is like a deep well and my poor mind is like a short rope; it is difficult for me to dip up the water of your wisdom." The name "Goldenmouthed" (Chrysostom in Greek) remained with John, but he took heed of the woman's request. He dropped the flowery eloquence that he had acquired at the School of Antioch for a simpler form that appealed directly to the heart of all his listeners. John remained in Antioch for eighteen years (379-397). With his long white garment, his hollow cheeks, deep sunken eyes and long beard, he became a familiar figure everywhere. He never had much physical strength, and sometimes remarked jokingly that he had a "cobweb body."
St. Johns Preaching
St. John's parish was the entire city of Antioch, one of the gayest and most frivolous cities in the world. Remainders of pagan practices and superstitions mingled freely with a superficial and formal kind of Christianity. People went to church much in the same way as they would attend a show. There was much coming and going of people, confusion, laughter and conversation. Pickpockets profited by the gathering. Gossip was exchanged. Women came dressed in their finery only to show it off. St. John came to his church daily to celebrate the Liturgy and to preach to his wayward flock. The time of the sermon was at the end of the Liturgy for the Catechumens, immediately after the reading of the Gospel. John held his worldly-minded listeners spellbound. He also taught his flock to read regularly and study the Sacred Scriptures. However hard John tried to overcome the custom, applause would break out at the end of his sermon. Many people would come to church just to listen to him and would leave immediately after the sermon was over. John changed the place of the sermon during the liturgy towards the end in order to avoid this practice. Although John so often found fault with his parishioners and reproved them sternly, he was loved by all. When the emperor decided to appoint him Bishop of Constantinople, the emperor's messengers had to sneak John away secretly, during the night, to avoid a riot. Frequently he would warn his frivolous flock against the dangers of wealth and preoccupation with worldly riches. "The power of riches is so great," he would say, "that even if we have all the other virtues, love of money can ruin everything. The desire, the thirst for wealth and for the good things of this world grows stronger and stronger through acquiring these, just like a fever is made worse by eating rich and heavy food. The way to reduce the fever and to slacken the thirst is to set your mind on eternal treasure."
St. John the Archbishop of Constantinople
John's work as Archbishop of Constantinople was even more exacting than that he had in Antioch. He celebrated Liturgy daily and preached in his church, then, tired as he was, he went to the cathedral in time to give a second sermon there. He had no time to write his sermons, but they have been preserved for us by scribes who took them down as he spoke. When the service was over, there was a great deal of business to attend to. According to the tradition of St. Basil, John developed and supervised a vast amount of help to the poor and the unfortunate. He did not merely administer this work from the Archbishop's palace. He himself went to the prisons and spent hours with the condemned, embittered prisoners. He visited the slums of Constantinople, giving advice, appealing to those who had the means to help, and straightening out many injustices. The Church, in those times, had its own court of justice which tried many cases, and Archbishop John had to disentangle many complicated family disputes, quarrels and inheritances. In reading the records of these trials one is amazed at his brilliant mind and wide education which permitted him to straighten out the most entangled legal problems. It was also the Archbishop's duty to correct many bad practices that had crept into the Church itself. Sometimes positions were granted to unworthy men who had given rich gifts to the Church. John had to speak tactfully but firmly to other bishops to make them realize that they had acted unwisely. Hardest of all was the task of defending the Christian principles in the family of the emperor himself.
St. John's Conflict With the Empress
Empress Eudoxia was an arrogant, dominant woman. Whenever St. John's sermons condemned faults and vices that were uncomfortably like her own, she resented them as a personal insult. Every disparaging remark that could be made about John was eagerly repeated at her court. The worst they could say about him was that he was "inhospitable", because he would not invite guests to his table, nor would he entertain on feast days. John was not moved by these criticisms. When cases came up before him for trial he made decisions without paying any attention to what the empress thought or said. He was very firm about his decisions. When the infuriated empress had John dismissed from the palace, John refused to let the empress enter the cathedral. At last, things came to a climax. Pressed by his wife, the emperor had John arrested and placed aboard a boat, to be sent into exile. John quieted the crowds who came to defend him, and persuaded them to return to their homes. But that very night a riot broke out and crowds almost attacked the imperial palace in their clamor for the return of their beloved archbishop. Next night an even more frightening event took place. An earthquake shook the city and the palace was damaged. The empress herself begged for John's return. The city was illuminated and the entire bay was covered with boats rowing out to meet Archbishop John.
St. John's Exile
Peace did not last long, however. John continued to preach and carry out his duties in his usual manner. The empress could not tolerate this. She gathered all her supporters, convened a council which condemned John without giving him a hearing. This time the verdict was upheld and Archbishop John was taken under military escort to the distant country of Armenia. The village folks along the way, the parish priests, the monks and hermits came out to greet him with tears exclaiming: "We would rather see the sun overcast than have your golden mouth silenced." For three years John remained in the little town of Kukuz, surrounded by the love and respect of all the people there. Then the emperor decided to send him still further away. The journey was very exhausting. The soldiers made John follow the mountain paths on foot under the scorching sun and in heavy rain. The journey lasted three months, and then the bishop's strength failed. John was now 63 years old, sick and exhausted. When he could not walk any further the party stopped for rest at a little town. That night John had a vision. A martyr, who had died in this town during the early persecutions, appeared to him and said: "Brother John, tomorrow we shall be together." The following day Archbishop John received the Holy Communion and passed away peacefully with these words on his lips: "Glory to God for everything!"
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
The name of St. John Chrysostom is familiar to all of us because the Liturgy which bears his name is celebrated in our churches every Sunday except during the Great Lent. St. John did not compose the Liturgy the way an artist would compose his work. Rather, he established the practice of having certain liturgical rites, prayers and practices already in use at that time, follow each other in certain order. This order of the Liturgy came to be associated with his name.
Perhaps, but it shouldn't. The iconography for Christ is perfectly well-established, as it is for Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, the BVM, Nicholas, and innumerable others. Sacred tradition transmits the Church's understanding of how all these saints looked, as well as Chrysostom, and in the vast majority of cases each of these saints is immediately recognisable. The problems arise when "artists" (as opposed to iconographers) reaching after novelties sever themselves from sacred tradition.
of
(According to the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church)
From approved ecclesiastical sources.
New Revised Liturgy
"The Holy Mass [The Divine Liturgy] is a prayer itself, even the highest prayer that exists. It is the Sacrifice, dedicated by our Redeemer at the Cross, and repeated every day on the Altar. If you wish to hear Mass as it should be heard, you must follow with eye, heart, and mouth all that happens at the Altar. Further, you must pray with the Priest the holy words said by him, in the Name of Christ and which Christ says by him. You have to associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens on the Altar. When acting in this way you have prayed Holy Mass."
-- His Holiness, Pope Saint Pius X
In the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church, the bread and wine used for the Divine Liturgy (The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) are prepared by the priest at a small table located on the left side of the Altar (The Table of Preparation). After he has completed this rite (called Proskomedia) the priest leaves the prepared chalice and paten on the Table of Preparation and goes to the Altar to begin the Divine Liturgy.
(CONGREGATION STANDS)
The priest kisses the Holy Gospel on the Altar and then makes the sign of the cross over the Altar with the Gospel Book, and begins:
PRIEST: Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever.
PEOPLE: Amen.
Priest & People: Christ is risen from the dead, conquering death by death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life. (3 Times).
( CONGREGATION SITS )
PRIEST: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For peace from on high, and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For peace in the whole world, for the well-being of the holy Churches of Cod and for the union of all, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For this holy church and for all who enter it with faith, reverence and the fear of God, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For our holy universal Supreme Pontiff N . . ., the Pope of Rome, for our most Reverend Archbishop and Metropolitan N . . . , for our God-loving Bishop N . . ., for the venerable priesthood, the diaconate in Christ, for all clergy and the people, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For our civil authorities and all our armed forces, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For this city (or: for this village, or: for this holy monastery), for every city, country, and for all-living therein with faith, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For good weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: For those who travel by sea, air, and land, for the sick, the suffering, the captive, and for their safety and salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
(Special intentions are added at this time.)
Priest: For the servant of God (or servants of God) N. . ., and for his (her, their) blessed memory, and that his (her, their) every transgression, voluntary and involuntary, be forgiven, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: That he (she, they) may stand uncondemned before the dread tribunal of Christ, and that his (her, their) soul (s) may be included in the realm of the living, in the place of light, where all the saints and righteous repose, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: That we may be delivered from all affliction, wrath, and need, let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: Help, save, have mercy and protect us, O God, by Your grace.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: Remembering our most holy, most pure, most-blessed and glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life, to Christ, our God.
PEOPLE: To You, O Lord.
Priest (silently): Lord our God. Whose might is beyond utterance. and glory is incomprehensible, Whose mercy is measureless, and love of man is ineffable: Yourself O Master, look down with Your mercy upon us, and upon this holy house, and grant to us, and to those who pray with us, the riches of Your mercy, and of Your compassion.
PRIEST: For to You is due all glory and honor and worship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever.
PEOPLE: Amen.
PEOPLE: Cry out with joy to God all the earth, O sing to the glory of His name, O render Him glorious praise.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.
Say to God: How Tremendous Your deeds! Because of the greatness of Your strength Your enemies cringe before You.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.
Before You all the earth shall bow; shall sing to You, sing to Your name, O Most High!
Through the prayers of the Mother of God O Savior, save us.
PEOPLE: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to make music to Your Name, O Most High.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.
To proclaim Your love in the morning and Your truth in the watches of the night.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.
To proclaim that the Lord is just. In Him there is no wrong.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Savior, save us.
PEOPLE: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.
PEOPLE: O Only-Begotten Son and Word of God, Who, being immortal, deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the Holy Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and became man without change. You were also crucified, O Christ, our God, and by death have trampled death, being one of the Holy Trinity, and glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us.
PRIEST: Again and again in peace let us pray to the Lord.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: Help, save, have mercy and protect us, O God, by Your grace.
PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.
PRIEST: Remembering our most holy, most pure, most blessed and glorious Lady, the Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, with all the saints, let us commend ourselves and one another, and our whole life, to Christ, our God.
PEOPLE: To You, O Lord.
Priest (silently): You, Who promised to grant the petitions of two or three united together in Your name, have given us to offer these prayers with a single and united voice; also hear now the requests of Your servants for their benefit, giving us the knowledge of Your truth in the present time and granting life eternal in the age to come.
PRIEST: For You are a good God and lover of mankind, and to You we give glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever.
PEOPLE: Amen.
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord; let us sing joy fully to God our Savior.
PEOPLE: O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
Let us come before Him, giving thanks with songs let us hail the Lord.
O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
A mighty God is the Lord, and a great king over all the earth.
O Son of God, risen from the dead, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
PEOPLE: O Son of God, wondrous in Your saints, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
Let us come before Him, giving thanks with songs let us hail the Lord.
O Son of God, wondrous in Your saints save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
A mighty God is the Lord, and a great king over all the earth.
O Son of God, wondrous in Your saints, save us who sing to You. Alleluia.
BTTT on 09-13-04, Feast of St. John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church!
Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Saint of the Day Ping List.
"A Roman Catholic friend once told me he thought St.John's liturgy was also used in Western churches occasionally prior to Vatican II."
That is correct for Rome, at least. The Pope would celebrate 3 Easter liturgies (sorry I can't rememeber which Churches).
The first would be the vigil Mass in the Roman rite after which (early on Sunday morning around 1.00 a.m.) he would travel to the church which served the embassy of the Patriarch of Constantinople and celebrate the Divine Liturgy according to the rite of St. John Chrysostom. This was to acknowledge the universality of the Church and pray for the Christians of the East. He would then travel on for the main Easter Sunday morning Mass of the resurrection.
When St. Pius V codified the Missal (Tridentine) around 1570, the Roman tradition of 3 Masses on Easter Sunday was effectively mandated for the whole Latin Church, although I do not know whether the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was used extensively outside of Rome.
Apparently, the obligation to say 3 Masses on Easter Sunday was a feature of the "Old Rite" which many priests resented and was one of the changes that were eagerly sought for the "revision" of the Roman Missal after Vatican II. By that stage, many had lost any awareness of where the 3 Easter Masses had come from.
BUMP
Thanks for posting this!
"for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it. He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom. He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh. When Isaias foresaw all this, he cried out : "O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world." Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and, lo! It discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! It encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible. "
WOW!
I love that.
BTTT on the Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church, September 13, 2005!
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God calls each one of us to be a saint.
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September 13, 2006
St. John Chrysostom
(d. 407)
The ambiguity and intrigue surrounding John, the great preacher (his name means "golden-mouthed") from Antioch, are characteristic of the life of any great man in a capital city. Brought to Constantinople after a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John began his episcopate under the cloud of imperial politics.
If his body was weak, his tongue was powerful. The content of his sermons, his exegesis of Scripture, were never without a point. Sometimes the point stung the high and mighty. Some sermons lasted up to two hours. His life-style at the imperial court was not appreciated by some courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man. His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into their office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam's fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards. Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His action taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor was viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority. Two prominent personages who personally undertook to discredit John were Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. He died in exile in 407. Quote:
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BTTT on the Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church, 09-13-06!
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St John Chrysostom, 345-407. Doctor of Preachers, Feast, Sept 13th. |
Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor
September 13th
San Giovanni Crisostomo and Saints
c. 1509
Oil on canvas, 200 x 156 cm
S. Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice
It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life. -Saint John Chrysostom
St. John Chrysostom born at Antioch, c. 347 and died at Commana in Pontus, September 14, 407.
John -- whose surname "Chrysostom" occurs for the first time in the "Constitution" of Pope Vigilius in the year 553 -- is generally considered the most prominent doctor of the Greek Church and the greatest preacher ever heard in a Christian pulpit. His natural gifts, as well as exterior circumstances, helped him to become what he was.
At age 20 St. John Chrysostom met Bishop Meletius who inspired him to devote himself to an ascetic and religious life. He studied Holy Scriptures and frequented the sermons of Meletius. About three years later he received Holy Baptism and was ordained lector. But the young cleric, seized by the desire of a more perfect life, soon afterwards entered one of the ascetic societies near Antioch, which was under the spiritual direction of Carterius and especially of the famous Diodorus, later Bishop of Tarsus. Prayer, manual labour and the study of Holy Scripture were his chief occupations, and we may safely suppose that his first literary works date from this time, for nearly all his earlier writings deal with ascetic and monastic subjects. Four years later, Chrysostom resolved to live as an anchorite in one of the caves near Antioch. He remained there two years, but then as his health was quite ruined by indiscreet watchings and fastings in frost and cold, he prudently returned to Antioch to regain his health, and resumed his office as lector in the church.
Probably in the beginning of 381 Meletius made him deacon, just before his own departure to Constantinople, where he died as president of the Second Ecumenical Council. The successor of Meletius was Flavian. Ties of sympathy and friendship connected Chrysostom with his new bishop. As deacon he had to assist at the liturgical functions, to look after the sick and poor, and was probably charged also in some degree with teaching catechumens. At the same time he continued his literary work, and we may suppose that he composed his most famous book, "On the Priesthood", towards the end of this period, or at latest in the beginning of his priesthood.
In the year 386 Chrysostom was ordained priest by Flavian, and from that dates his real importance in ecclesiastical history. His chief task during the next twelve years was that of preaching, which he had to exercise either instead of or with Bishop Flavian. But no doubt the larger part of the popular religious instruction and education devolved upon him. The earliest notable occasion which showed his power of speaking and his great authority was the Lent of 387, when he delivered his sermons "On the Statues". The people of Antioch, excited by the levy of new taxes, had thrown down the statues of Emperor Theodosius. In the panic and fear of punishment which followed, Chrysostom delivered a series of twenty or twenty-one (the nineteenth is probably not authentic) sermons, full of vigour, consolatory, exhortative, tranquilizing, until Flavian, the bishop, brought back from Constantinople the emperor's pardon. But the usual preaching of Chrysostom consisted in consecutive explanations of Holy Scripture.(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition )
Collect:
Father,
the strength of all who trust in you,
you made John Chrysostom
renowned for his eloquence
and heroic in his sufferings.
May we learn from his teaching
and gain courage from his patient endurance.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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