Saturday, November 13, 2004
John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople
3rd Vesp, Jn Chrysostom: Wisdom Selections 2 Epistle: Hebrews 7:26-8:3
Gospel: St. John 10:9-16
Wisdom 4:10-12; 6:21; 7:15-17, 22, 26, 29; 2:1,
10-17, 19-22 LXX, especially vss. 20, 21: "Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his
own saying he shall be respected. Such things they did imagine, and were deceived: for their
own wickedness hath blinded them." While Saint John Chrysostom served as Archbishop of
Constantinople, the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, he preformed many outstanding works.
His achievements are well summarized by St. Nikolai of Zica: "He governed the Church for six
years as Patriarch with unequaled zeal and wisdom, sending missionaries to the pagan Celts and
Scythians and purging the Church of simony, deposing many bishops who were given to this
vice. He extended the Church's charitable works, wrote a rite for the Holy Liturgy, put heretics
to shame, denounced the Empress Eudoxia, interpreted the Scriptures with his golden mind and
tongue and left to the Church many precious books of sermons."
St. John fell victim to a type of jealousy and political intrigue that remains to this day a dark blot
in the history of the Church. The present reading, selected for our meditation at the Vespers of
the Feast of St. John, captures the spirit of the Saint's life and his contribution to Orthodox
Christianity. The opening three verses (4:10-12) serve as an introduction, remind us of the abrupt
tragedy that befell St. John's affairs, and form a fitting epitaph: "he pleased God , and was
beloved of Him: so that living among sinners he was translated" (vs. 4:10).
The next section (vss. 7:15-29) inspires us to remember the brilliant teaching from Scripture
which earned St. John the title, "Chrysostom," or "Golden Mouth." He knew well both the Old
and New Testaments, and among the finest expositions from the sacred corpus, are his sermons
or teachings delivered either in Antioch, where he served as a Deacon for five years and as a
Priest for another 11 years, or in Constantinople after becoming Archbishop of that city. Any
who have read the saintly Chrysostom's works will have no hesitation at putting Solomon's
words in St. John's own mouth: "God hath granted me to speak as I would, and to conceive as is
meet for the things that are given me: because it is He that leadeth unto wisdom" (vs. 7:15). In
397 AD, the Priest John of Antioch was suddenly spirited away from the city of his birth by two
imperial officials who brought him swiftly by coach to Constantinople where he was consecrated
as the twelfth Bishop of the city. He was just under fifty years of age. His own monastic
preparation in the Faith before ordination revealed itself in his sermons that often were outspoken
against frivolities like horse racing and theater, both of which entertained too many in the city.
While for years the Saint was warmly received by Emperor Arkadios and the Empress Eudoxia,
his sharp tongue "against the well-off" cooled their relations with him, and played into the hands
of his enemies in the Church, particularly Patriarch Theophilos of Alexandria.
In 400 AD, a Church quarrel in Alexandria boiled over beyond Egypt and came to St. John's
attention. His mediation was adroitly turned against him, so that he was removed as Patriarch
with Imperial support through Theophilos' intrigues. This enemy of St. John used his political
"strength" in a pseudo-justice (vs. 2:11) to send St. John into a brief exile in 403 AD. Though
soon restored, in 404 AD the Saint was again sent to a distant, three-year exile, after which he
was force-marched to an isolated spot at the eastern end of the Black sea where illness and
exhaustion ended his life. In "the mysteries of God" (vs. 22),thirty years later his relics were
brought back to Constantinople in triumph when St. John was fully vindicated and glorified.
As Grace shining forth from thy mouth like fire, hath illumined the universe, O Father John
Chrysostom, intercede thou with the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls.