John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), whose epithet means 'Golden-Mouthed' in Greek, was among the foremost preachers of the early Eastern Church and one of the most prolific authors in all of early Christianity. His surviving works — including over 700 homilies, numerous biblical commentaries, and hundreds of letters — constitute the largest body of writing from any Church Father. Born into an aristocratic family in Antioch, one of the great cities of the Roman East, John studied rhetoric under the famous pagan orator Libanius. A tradition — repeated widely but of uncertain origin — holds that Libanius said John would have been his successor 'if the Christians had not stolen him.' After his baptism around 370, John spent six years as a monk in the mountains near Antioch, practicing extreme asceticism that permanently damaged his health. Returning to Antioch, he was ordained deacon and then priest, quickly gaining renown for his preaching. His homilies 'On the Statues' (387), delivered during a crisis when the people of Antioch feared imperial retribution for destroying the emperor's statues, showed his ability to steady a frightened congregation with scripture and argument. In 397, John was taken against his will to Constantinople to serve as Archbishop — the most prestigious bishopric in the Eastern Empire. There, his fearless denunciation of corruption among the clergy, the excesses of the imperial court, and the extravagance of the wealthy earned him powerful enemies, including Empress Eudoxia, whom he is said to have compared to Jezebel. His insistence that the Church's wealth belonged to the poor made him beloved among ordinary citizens but increasingly isolated at court. Deposed through the machinations of Archbishop Theophilus of Alexandria at the Synod of the Oak in 403 and exiled twice, John died on a forced march to Pityus on the eastern shore of the Black Sea on September 14, 407, his last words recorded as 'Glory be to God for all things.' His remains were returned to Constantinople in 438 with great ceremony. The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom remains the most frequently celebrated Eucharistic liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches to this day.