“It behooves the priest to be as pure as if he stood in heaven… Picture Elias and the immense multitude standing, while the prophet prays and fire descends… In the sacrifice which is now offered the priest brings down not fire, but the Holy Spirit and prays that that grace may descend and inflame the souls of all.”
(On the Priesthood 3.4-6)
John (349-407 CE) received the honorific of ‘Chrysostom’ or ‘golden mouth’ because of his extraordinary oratorical gifts. Only one more person, the bishop of Ravenna Peter Chrysologus (380-450) had this unique distinction; he was referred to as ‘golden word.” John Chrysostom was brilliant, outspoken, direct and many of his sermons have survived to this day.
John was born into a well-to-do family in Antakya (Antioch) in Southern Turkey. His father died when John was very young and his mother Anthusa, a devout woman, instilled in him a deep Christian faith and ensured he received an excellent education under the rhetorician Libanus, a non-Christian. The exact year of his baptism is disputed (368 or 372). After his baptism he studied Antiochene exegesis and later spent six years as a hermit. His severe asceticism ruined his health and he had to return to the city. On his return he was first made a deacon and later a priest in 386. He was an extraordinary preacher and crowds flocked to hear his sermons. After a difficult first year he had a serene period of intense pastoral work from 387 to 397. In the year 397 he was made bishop of Constantinople and zealously worked for the people, especially the poor. His life challenged the political class, the clergy and monks who had succumbed to laxity. The so-called Synod of Oak dismissed him in 403 and the king decreed that he be exiled. This was not carried out because of an accident in the imperial palace. He continued to preach fearlessly. However, in 404 the emperor signed a decree definitively exiling him to Armenia. In 407 his opponents, who did not want him to have any contact with his friends, persuaded the emperor to send him farther away. During an extremely brutal deportation he died of exhaustion in Pontic Comana on the 14th of September.
John Chrysostom is one of the most prolific Church Fathers with his most fruitful years being the years of his priestly ministry in Antioch. He produced 67 homilies on Genesis, 59 on the Psalms, 88 on the Gospel of John, 90 on Mathew and smaller collections on other biblical books. However, his specialty was St. Paul, on whom he gave more than 200 sermons. Other works included seventeen treatises and two hundred and forty-one letters. One of his best-known works is a treatise on The Priesthood which is arranged in six books and presented in the form of a dialogue with a certain Basil. Books three to six offer an excellent picture of a priest’s tasks. It underlines the pastoral duties of a priest—the protection of widows and virgins, righteousness, proclamation of the word of God, responsibility towards others, defending the faith and so on. In the treatise John develops the spirituality of a priest, pointing out that, unlike a monk who takes care of his own salvation, the priest is accountable for his entire community. Thanks to the years of pastoral engagement, John Chrysostom’s spirituality evolved. It moved from a rigid asceticism of his earlier days towards one which was more understanding, inclusive and other-centered. Even today the life of John Chrysostom offers us the image of an exemplary priest and bishop – a courageous, zealous and committed person who went through various persecutions, sufferings and eventual martyrdom. His golden words shone forth in his life as he bore witness to the Good News until the very end.
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