In everlasting memory shall the righteous be.
Ps. 111:6
Photo: days.pravoslavie.ru Today, throughout the Holy Orthodox Church, from one end of her borders to the other, one name is glorified—the name of the great teacher and saint of Christ, St. John Chrysostom. All is filled with him. Everywhere, the faithful seek to express their love and reverence for this glorious shepherd of Christ’s flock. The Church of Constantinople rejoices today, for on its throne once shone this great luminary; the Church of Antioch celebrates, for it was within her bosom that he was nurtured and strengthened; the Russian Church also rejoices, having been diligently edified for centuries by his works.
What has occasioned such a solemn commemoration of St. John Chrysostom? It is this: the annual remembrance of his blessed repose and his transition from this earthly vale to eternal, immortal glory in heaven is magnified this year by a remarkable milestone. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross this year, 1,500 years were completed since the repose of this great saint.
Fifteen centuries of unceasing and ever-growing influence upon the Christian world—an influence that conquers death and time, to which all human things are subject—is a triumph of the spirit, a kind of historical miracle. This compels us, on the threshold of new centuries and millennia, to turn our hearts wholly to him, to pour out our gratitude as loving children, and to exalt him with all the praises we can muster. This is what is happening today throughout the vast expanse of the Orthodox Church: Everywhere, the great hierarch John is lauded, and thousands of encomiums are delivered in his honor and memory.
But who can truly and worthily extol St. John Chrysostom? St. Proclus of Constantinople, one of his closest successors, declared that no one can accomplish this unless another John of equal stature were to appear. Yet the Church has had but one John Chrysostom. There is no fitting word for this servant of the Word. However, since his memory, consisting—as St. Proclus expressed it—of the recollection of his countless labors, struggles, and teachings, is like a river overflowing with life-giving waters to nourish the souls of the faithful, we too, brethren, must draw near to this river and, though in small measure, drink of its life-giving streams.
Who among the faithful does not know the name of St. John Chrysostom? Almost daily throughout the year, his sublime creation—the Divine Liturgy—sanctifies the faithful. They pray with the prayers he composed. On the radiant night of Christ’s Resurrection, who has not experienced moments of great spiritual exaltation while hearing his Paschal homily? Who among the faithful, having once tasted the sweetness of his endlessly edifying and supremely artistic works, is not irresistibly drawn to them again? Who, having once glimpsed the wondrous image of his holy life and his sorrowful yet blessed repose, does not keep it ever before them?
Which seems more marvelous to us—his life or his works? This question is irresolvable, for the life and works of Chrysostom form an indivisible whole, a single unified personality, in which his works are inseparable from his life, and his life from his works. St. John Chrysostom continues to live in his works and not only in heaven, just as his works owe their origin to his holy life and its unique aim: the salvation of others. Thus, truly marvelous are both his life and his works.
The life of St. John Chrysostom fills us with reverent wonder. From his first conscious steps to his last breath, it was wholly dedicated to God. It contained no gaps or omissions, no retreating or wavering. Like an arrow shot from a bow and flying straight to its mark, so too the relatively brief life of St. John was a single, swift course toward the prize of the heavenly calling. Firmly he held the rudder of his life’s ship, always steering it toward the serene haven of the Heavenly Kingdom. No deceptive mirages could cause him to doubt the worthiness of his goal, its supreme value, or its superiority over all other life’s aims. Neither could the difficulties of his path—full of many sorrows and deprivations—lead him astray.
Even in his youth, under the rare and wondrous care of his mother Anthusa—whose name cannot go unmentioned when speaking of St. John Chrysostom—he was trained not only in Christian precepts and wisdom but also in the secular sciences under the best teachers of that time, in Antioch, the capital of the East and a center of enlightenment. John might have easily secured a brilliant position in life, achieving fame or perhaps even high office. Yet, he was not seduced by these prospects, which captivate thousands of less gifted and less educated young men. Even his brief foray into applying his secular knowledge served only to acquaint him with the world's poverty, suffering, and various afflictions, which later so greatly aided his pastoral service.
By his own ideal aspiration and the marvelous guidance of Providence, which was preparing in him a great light for the Church, St. John, like the apostle Paul whom he so dearly loved, considered all his worldly advantages as loss for the sake of Christ (Phil. 3:8). He chose the best and most secure path to prepare for his life’s work: the path of asceticism and personal spiritual perfection. This was not only his fervent desire but also the best preparatory school for his great pastoral ministry.
For it must be recognized that there can be no fruitful ministry to others' salvation where there is no awareness of the need first to conquer one’s own passions and strive unwaveringly to fulfill the commandments. This connection between personal righteousness and ascetic labor with pastoral ministry is masterfully articulated by Chrysostom himself in his classic work On the Priesthood.
Thus, if anyone sees a gap between the six years of strict ascetic life that St. John spent in the Syrian mountains and his later pastoral service, imagining them as opposed or thinking that illness alone brought him from the desert to Antioch’s episcopal throne, they misunderstand. These periods of his life are deeply interconnected, united by the same ultimate goal and direction. It was in the solitude of the desert that the foundation for his profound pastoral influence was laid. There, his love for others and zeal for their salvation were purified and kindled into a blazing flame, vividly witnessed by many pages of his works and all his subsequent labors.
Oh, blessed desert, which has given the world such a great shepherd!
Thus, St. John Chrysostom embarked upon the work of saving his neighbors, and in so doing, as he served this great calling—the very image and example of which is the redemptive love of God—he too, in accordance with the immutable law of true spiritual life, found salvation for himself. Rising step by step in spiritual perfection, he attained immeasurable glory both in the heavens, where eternity reigns, and on earth, where history bears witness to his works.
The ministry of St. John Chrysostom, spanning the final decades of the fourth century and the opening years of the fifth, was not marked by controversies over dogma, which filled both the preceding and subsequent eras in the Church’s history and brought renown to his elder and younger contemporaries, the other great Fathers and Teachers of the Universal Church. St. John’s era has rightly been called a time of "dogmatic peace," and his work was that of a great reformer of morals, a zealous advocate for the purity of Christian life, and a tireless laborer for the full and true realization of the Gospel's absolute commandments and ideals.
The fruits of this tireless labor, and of this most intense struggle, are by their nature invisible to us, separated as we are by centuries from that time. Yet we can discern them by the power of his surviving works, which continue to influence us. These fruits will be fully revealed in glory on that day when not only the external history of the Church but also her inner life—the hidden story of her members—shall be laid bare. When the full accounting of the Church’s earthly journey is made, then will the immeasurable and precious good that St. John, by God’s grace, sowed in the souls of the faithful be revealed. His unique, unparalleled role in the Church's history will then become evident.
To support weary pilgrims on their journey to the Heavenly Fatherland—to aid souls in their mortal struggle against the ever-deceptive power of sin, a struggle that determines eternal destiny; to rouse the slothful, banish despair, and save them from the spiritual death of hopelessness—what a noble, truly Christian mission this is! This mission alone did St. John pursue, and he did so successfully and victoriously. How many hearts invisibly carry the seeds of his moral influence, from his immediate listeners to generations of Christians across the centuries! And even what is recorded in Church history speaks clearly of the scale of his pastoral zeal and its triumphs.
Church chronicles recount his efforts to support his flock during a time of imperial wrath, the reformation of the morals of the Antiochians through his preaching, his great missionary endeavors—especially in the later years of his life—and the love the people of Constantinople bore for him. Even Empress Eudoxia, who caused him great trouble, later sought forgiveness through her son, Emperor Theodosius. How many souls did St. John save from eternal destruction, and over how many might he boldly proclaim, "Behold I and the children which God hath given me" (Isaiah 8:18; Hebrews 2:13). Truly, blessed is John, for he ministered to the salvation of so many!
By what means did St. John Chrysostom so mightily move the hearts of men? What was the path of his irresistible moral influence? A simple yet incomplete answer would be: His power lay in his word. Indeed, for St. John, the ministry of reconciliation—the pastoral ministry—was above all a ministry of the word.
All unanimously recognize him as the greatest preacher of the Eastern Church. The name "Chrysostom" (Golden-Mouthed), which became his own, testifies to this. Experts in ecclesiastical rhetoric affirm that for anyone aspiring to be a good preacher, the best school is the study of Chrysostom's works. No one has ever preached with such eloquence, simplicity, and profound edification as St. John Chrysostom. Even now, after more than fifteen centuries have passed since his golden mouth fell silent, he remains unsurpassed in this regard.
His sermons, often commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, are remarkable for the pure Gospel spirit that permeates them. St. John Chrysostom was a preacher of unadulterated Christianity, the true Gospel. It is said with good reason that Chrysostom’s lips were Christ’s own lips. At the same time, his homilies demonstrate an extraordinary knowledge of the human soul and the hidden recesses of the human heart, leaving listeners and readers captivated and deeply moved.
What, then, was the secret of Chrysostom’s incomparable eloquence? Certainly not merely his natural gifts, though God richly endowed him with talents from his youth, which he, as a good and faithful servant, multiplied through diligence and labor. Nor was it solely the schooling he received, though he was well-trained in rhetoric. We know of others equally talented and similarly educated among the Church Fathers, yet their homilies contain more artifice and less heartfelt simplicity and profound edification than those of St. John.
The true secret of Chrysostom’s unique eloquence lies in his love for his listeners and his profound moral bond with his flock. “You are everything to me,” he once confessed to his congregation. “If my heart could be torn open, you would see that you all dwell there: women, children, and men alike” (Homily on the Acts of the Apostles). He embraced with all his heart the Savior’s command for the good shepherd’s relationship with his sheep, not merely as an external duty but as a profound internal connection. This love gave him his extraordinary eloquence, particularly as he beheld those he loved in the danger and peril of losing salvation.
Love compels him who loves to share the treasures of his spiritual life with his beloved. As the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does (John 5:20), so too does a heart enlightened and expanded by love naturally pour out its fullness beyond itself. Yet, this gift of love is not easily attained. It is the most excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31), requiring the entire ascent of virtues and true holiness to acquire this pearl of great price.
Above all, St. John Chrysostom possessed an unshakable faith, akin to vision. Though not a speculative theologian, the mysteries of faith are the foundation of his writings, the source from which rivers of wisdom flow. For Chrysostom, the unseen spiritual world was far more real than the visible, material one. His perspective was the reverse of ours—we who are ensnared by sensory perceptions and worldly concerns.
He also exhibited boundless compassion and love for Christ’s “least brethren”—the poor and needy—on whose behalf he preached and to whom he gave all he had. His life and ministry exemplified the pure Gospel, leaving an indelible mark on the Church and the world.
Great indeed is John Chrysostom in his life, but he is no less great in his death, which, as we know, occurred in exile after he had occupied the most prominent throne of the Eastern Church—the episcopal see of the imperial city. “O John!” we cry out with St. Proclus, “Your life was truly filled with sorrow, but your death is honorable, your tomb is glorious, and your reward is great!”
The repose of St. John Chrysostom, which we now commemorate, is deeply moving and profoundly instructive. His final words, “Glory to God for all things,” remain as his ultimate teaching, a testament of faith and gratitude that echoes to all generations. Undoubtedly, we too give thanks to God for granting His Church such a holy hierarch. As one Church writer aptly stated, no person of sensitivity could fail to thank Providence for bestowing upon the world so radiant a luminary.
Let us be edified by his immortal works, for, as the same writer observed, to be ignorant of such sublime writings is as if one were to miss seeing the sun at midday. Let us take to heart his chief exhortations: the diligent study of God’s Word, steadfast devotion to prayer, and the practice of almsgiving—this “queen of virtues.”
And as for him, let us remain confident in the eternal glory of his heavenly reward, which will ever correspond to his enduring renown on earth, in accordance with the psalmist’s words: In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be (Psalm 111:6).
Amen.
