 |
St
John Chrysostom by Our Holy Father St Alphonsus St John was born at Antioch about the year 347, and was descended of one of the most illustrious families of the city. His mother, being left a widow at the early age of 20, took particular care of the education of her child, and placed him under the most eminent masters, to study rhetoric and philosophy. It was expected that the child would attain to great worldly fortune, but he, from his twentieth year, applied himself to the study of sacred Scriptures and to prayer, and dedicated himself entirely to the service of his crucified Lord. Whereupon St Meletius, his bishop, took a great liking to him, and having instructed him for three years, made him Lector of his own church. Although during his stay in Antioch he led a very retired and mortified life, he bethought him of the advantages of a still more solitary and austere state, and consequently retired to a cave, where he passed some years in continual prayer and penitential practices, which were so severe as to injure his health. He was therefore obliged to return to Antioch, where Flavianus, St Melitius’ successor, ordained him to the priesthood five years later, and in consequence of his great eloquence, appointed him preacher of that church. This office he discharged so well that public approbations of approval were frequently made (whence came the name Chrysostom or golden-mouthed), against which the saint protested saying: “What good can these your applauses do me? That only which I desire is, that you practise what I preach: this to me will be the most acceptable applause.” Nectarius, Patriarch of Constantinople, died in the year 397, and as the name of our saint had acquired great celebrity throughout the entire province, the Emperor Arcadius, the clergy, and the people agreed in having him promoted to that see, and without making known to him their design, summoned him to Constantinople, and had him consecrated in a church there by the bishops previously assembled. With an untiring and holy zeal he laboured for the reformation of the clergy, and endeavoured to suppress the avarice and haughtiness of the Emperor’s court; this made for him many enemies. It happened that there arrived at Constantinople some monks, who had been expelled from Egypt by Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, under the pretext of Origenism, but St John being satisfied of their innocence, wrote to Theophilus in their favour, beseeching him not to disturb them. He, however, being a haughty and vindictive man, succeeded in raising a persecution against the saint. The Emperor indeed summoned Theophilus to Constantinople, to account for his conduct, but he easily gained over to his side the nobles, bishops and clergy who were opposed to Chrysostom. In the square before the great church of St Sophia a silver statue had been erected to the Empress, where dances and public games were performed, which disturbed the sacred offices of the church. The saint strongly rebuked the people for this irreverence; but his zeal only infuriated the Empress Eudoxia, who to satisfy her revenge availed herself of the enmity which Theophilus and the other bishops bore our saint. Backed by this party, Theophilus was enabled to get together a secret meeting of 36 bishops who having drawn up some false accusations, deposed St John from his bishopric, and obtained from the Emperor a decree for his banishment. The saint having received the order, took leave of the bishops who were his friends, and delivered himself to the soldiers who obliged him to travel day and night, until they arrived at Cucusus in Armenia; the journey lasted 70 days, during 30 of which the saint suffered from tertian fever. Meanwhile Pope Innocent I, having been informed of the injustice done St John, did all in his power to assemble a synod whereby the innocence of the saint would be definitely declared. But his enemies laboured successfully to prevent its celebration, and jealous of the fame he was acquiring in his place of exile, prevailed upon Arcadius to banish him to Pytius, a small town on the borders of the empire. Saint John was accordingly assigned two officers, one of whom was a most brutal man; and having been instigated by the enemies of the saint to cause his death on the road, he obliged him to travel in the most violent rains and amid scorching heats, not allowing him to rest in any town, but halting at obscure villages, where no accommodation could be found. When
they arrived at Comana, in Pontus, the inhuman officer obliged him
to continue his journey five miles further to the church where St
Basiliscus, Martyr and Bishop of Comana, had been buried; they lodged
in a house contiguous to the church, and in the night the holy martyr
appeared to St John, and exhorted him to have courage, adding “Tomorrow
we shall be together.” St Chrysostom then changed his dress, putting
on a white robe; he received the Holy Viaticum, and poured forth his
last prayer, which he concluded with an expression he was constantly
using: “Glory be to God for all things.” He had been a bishop nearly
10 years. God did not delay the punishment of his enemies, and especially
of Eudoxia, who died a few days afterwards. She was soon followed
by Arcadius, who expired in his thirty-first year. † |
