The Golden Mouthed Preacher-St.John Chrysostom [Bishop,Doctor of Catholic and Orthodox Churches]

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?

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.

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. 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."

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.

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.

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 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.

Prayer to Jesus before Holy Communion

O Lord, my God, I am not worthy that you should come into my soul, but I am glad that you have come to me because in your loving kindness you desire to dwell in me. You ask me to open the door of my soul, which you alone have created, so that you may enter into it with your loving kindness and dispel the darkness of my mind. I believe that you will do this for you did not turn away Mary Magdalene when she approached you in tears. Neither did you withhold forgiveness from the tax collector who repented of his sins or from teh good thief who asked to be received into your kingdom. Indeed, you numbered as your friends all who came to you with repentant hearts. O God, you alone are blessed always, now, and forever.

Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop, Orator, Doctor

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