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St.
John Chrysostom:
Patron Saint of the Holy Metropolis of New Jersey
Apolytikion:
The grace of your words illuminated the universe like a shining beacon.
It amassed treasures of munificence in the world. It demonstrated the
greatness of humility, teaching us by your own words; therefore, O
Father John Chrysostom, intercede to Christ the Logos for the salvation
of our souls.
Kontakion:
You received divine grace from Heaven, and by your own lips taught all
to worship the One God in Trinity. All-blessed, venerable John
Chrysostom, deservedly, we praise you for you are a teacher clearly
revealing things divine.
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This greatest and
most beloved of all Christian orators was born in Antioch the Great in
the year 344 or 347; his pious parents were called Secundus and Anthusa.
After his mother was widowed at the age of twenty, she devoted herself
to bringing up John and his elder sister in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. John received his literary training under Anthragathius the
philosopher, and Libanius the sophist, who was the greatest Greek
scholar and rhetorician of his day. Libanius was a pagan, and when asked
before his death whom he wished to have for his successor, he said,
"John, had not the Christians stolen him from us." With such a training,
and with such gifts as he had by nature, John had before him a brilliant
career as a rhetorician. But through the good example of his godly
mother Anthusa and of the holy Bishop Meletius of Antioch (see Feb. 12),
by whom he was ordained reader about the year 370, he chose instead to
dedicate himself to God. From the years 374 to 381 he lived the monastic
life in the hermitages that were near Antioch. His extreme asceticism
undermined his health, compelling him to return to Antioch, where Saint
Meletius ordained him deacon about the year 381. Saint Meletius was
called to Constantinople later that year to preside over the Second
Ecumenical Council, during which he fell asleep in the Lord. In 386
Bishop Flavian ordained John presbyter of the Church of Antioch. Upon
his elevation to the priesthood his career as a public preacher began,
and his exceptional oratorical gifts were made manifest through his many
sermons and commentaries. They are distinguished by their eloquence and
the remarkable ease with which rich imagery and scriptural allusions are
multiplied; by their depth of insight into the meaning of Scripture and
the workings of God's providence; and, not least of all, by their
earnestness and moral force, which issue from the heart of a blameless
and guileless man who lived first what he preached to others. Because of
his fame, he was chosen to succeed Saint Nectarius as Patriarch of
Constantinople. He was taken away by stealth, to avoid the opposition of
the people, and consecrated Patriarch of Constantinople on February 28,
398, by Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who was to prove his mortal
enemy.
At that time the
Emperor of the East was Arcadius, who had had Saint Arsenius the Great
as his tutor (see May 8); Arcadius was a man of weak character, and much
under the influence of his wife Eudoxia. The zealous and upright
Chrysostom's unsparing censures of the lax morals in the imperial city
stung the vain Eudoxia; through Theophilus' plottings and her
collaboration, Saint John was banished to Pontus in 403. The people were
in an uproar, and the following night an earthquake shook the city; this
so frightened the Empress Eudoxia that she begged Arcadius to call
Chrysostom back. While his return was triumphant, his reconciliation
with the Empress did not last long. When she had a silver statue of
herself erected in the forum before the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Saint
Sophia) in September of 403, and had it dedicated with much unseemly
revelry, Saint John thundered against her, and she could not forgive
him. In June of 404 he was exiled to Cucusus, on the borders of Cilicia
and Armenia. From here he exchanged letters with Pope Innocent of Rome,
who sent bishops and priests to Constantinople requesting that a council
be held. Saint John's enemies, dreading his return, prevailed upon the
Emperor to see an insult in this, and had John taken to a more remote
place of banishment called Pityus near the Caucasus. The journey was
filled with bitter sufferings for the aged bishop, both because of the
harshness of the elements and the cruelty of one of his 310 guards. He
did not reach Pityus, but gave up his soul to the Lord near Comana in
Pontus, at the chapel of the Martyr Basiliscus (see May 22), who had
appeared to him shortly before, foretelling the day of his death, which
came to pass on September 14, 407. His last words were "Glory be to God
for all things." His holy relics were brought from Comana to
Constantinople thirty-one years later by the Emperor Theodosius the
Younger and Saint Pulcheria his sister, the children of Arcadius and
Eudoxia, with fervent supplications that the sin of their parents
against him be forgiven; this return of his holy relics is celebrated on
January 27.
Saint John was
surnamed Chrysostom ("Golden-mouth") because of his eloquence. He made
exhaustive commentaries on the divine Scriptures and was the author of
more works than any other Church Father, leaving us complete
commentaries on the Book of Genesis, the Gospels of Saints Matthew and
John, the Acts, and all the Epistles of Saint Paul. His extant works are
1,447 sermons and 240 epistles. Twenty-two teachers of the Church have
written homilies of praise in his honour. Besides his feasts today and
on January 27, he is celebrated as one of the Three Hierarchs on January
30, together with Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory the
Theologian.
It should be
noted that, because September 14 is the Exaltation of the Cross, the
Saint's memory has been transferred to this day.
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