13 September: SAINT JOHN CHRISTOPHER, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
He suffered to bear witness to the Gospel
‘Glory to God, in all things’: with these words, on 14 September 407, Saint John Chrysostom, ‘Golden Mouth’, so called because of his oratorical art and eloquence, concluded his earthly pilgrimage. Born in Antioch in a year between 344 and 354, he devoted himself to the study of rhetoric and letters under the direction of the famous Libanius. After finishing his studies, he became fascinated by the world and became involved in theatre and debate. Shortly afterwards, however, he prepared himself for baptism and received it on an Easter Sunday of an unspecified year. He then attended the Diodorus Circle, a kind of seminary where theological studies could be done. During that time, he became interested in exegesis of the Holy Scriptures and learned the historical-literary method of the Antioch school. He then spent six years living a hermit's life, first on Silpius Hill, near Antioch, and then in a cave in solitude and penance.
Returning to the city, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Meletius in 381, and a priest by Bishop Flavian in 386. Before his ordination to the priesthood, he had already written five of his famous Treatises. His sermons aroused admiration among the faithful, seeking to remind Christians to be consistent with their baptismal promises. He invited them to know the Scriptures more and more, to live an intense spiritual life, and to exercise charity towards their brothers and sisters. He wrote: ‘It is a monstrous error to believe that the monk must lead a more perfect life, while others could do without worrying about it ... Laymen and monks must come to an identical perfection' (Against the Opponents of Monastic Life 3:14).
In 397 John became Patriarch of Constantinople. In the capital he dedicated himself to the reform of the Church: he deposed simoniacal bishops, condemned the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few, and shared the goods of the patriarchate with the poor. His work of evangelisation reached even the most distant. Her zeal aroused envy from the powerful who feared losing their social position. In 403, the Empress Eudoxia, with the support of the Patriarch of Alexandria, Theophilus, had him deposed for heresy and sentenced to exile in a false trial. Not long afterwards, however, given the great popular support, the conviction was overturned and he was recalled to Constantinople. He resumed his preaching against vices and abuses and was arrested again and condemned to exile.
John appealed to Pope Innocent I, who confirmed his innocence of the accusations, but the imperial power wanted him far away. He was confined to Cucuso, a small town in Armenia, but the faithful continued to follow and frequent him. So his enemies decided to send him even further away and assigned him to a city on Pontus. Exhausted, he never managed to reach his destination, because he died on the way, in Comana.
He bequeathed many works ranging from Treatises on ascetics and morals, to homilies on Genesis, the Psalms, the Gospels of Matthew and John, the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St Paul, to baptismal and liturgical homilies.
Famous is his definition of prayer: ‘Prayer, or dialogue with God, is a supreme good. It is, in fact, an intimate communion with God. As the eyes of the body seeing the light are enlightened by it, so also the soul that is stretched towards God is enlightened by the ineffable light of prayer. It must, however, be a prayer not made out of habit, but one that proceeds from the heart. It must not be confined to certain times or hours, but flourish continuously, night and day’. From the Homilies of John Chrysostom, (Homily 6 on Prayer; PG 64, 462-466).