When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards. Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble.
He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority. Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John.
Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life.
Chrysostom himself was conducted to Cucusus, a secluded and rugged place on the east frontier of Armenia , continually exposed to the invasions of the Isaurians. In the following year he had even to fly for some time to the castle of Arabissus to protect himself from these barbarians.
Meanwhile he always maintained a correspondence with his friends and never gave up the hope of return. When the circumstances of his deposition were known in the West, the pope and the Italian bishops declared themselves in his favour. Emperor Honorius and Pope Innocent I endeavoured to summon a new synod, but their legates were imprisoned and then sent home.
The pope broke off all communion with the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch where an enemy of Chrysostom had succeeded Flavian , and Constantinople, until after the death of Chrysostom they consented to admit his name into the diptychs of the Church.
Finally all hopes for the exiled bishop had vanished. Apparently he was living too long for his adversaries. In the summer, , the order was given to carry him to Pithyus, a place at the extreme boundary of the empire, near the Caucasus.
One of the two soldiers who had to lead him caused him all possible sufferings. He was forced to make long marches, was exposed to the rays of the sun, to the rains and the cold of the nights. His body, already weakened by several severe illnesses, finally broke down.
On 14 September the party were at Comanan in Pontus. In the morning Chrysostom had asked to rest there on the account of his state of health. In vain; he was forced to continue his march. Very soon he felt so weak that they had to return to Comana. Some hours later Chrysostom died. His last words were: Doxa to theo panton eneken Glory be to God for all things Palladius, xi, He was buried at Comana.
On 27 January, , his body was translated to Constantinople with great pomp, and entombed in the church of the Apostles where Eudoxia had been buried in the year see Socrates , VII, 45; Constantine Prophyrogen. The writings of St. Chrysostom Chrysostom has deserved a place in ecclesiastical history , not simply as Bishop of Constantinople, but chiefly as a Doctor of the Church. Of none of the other Greek Fathers do we possess so many writings. We may divide them into three portions, the "opuscula", the "homilies", and the "letters".
Those dealing with ascetical subjects in general are the treatise "De Compunctione" in two books ibid. Baur, "Der ursprangliche Umfang des Kommentars des hl.
Chrysostomus zu den Psalmen" in Chrysostomika , fase. The chief commentaries on the New Testament are first the ninety homilies on "St. Matthew" about the year ; VII , eighty-eight homilies on "St.
John" c. Paul" IX, sqq. The best and most important commentaries are those on the Psalms, on St. Matthew, and on the Epistle to the Romans written c. The thirty-four homilies on the Epistle to the Galatians also very probably comes to us from the hand of a second editor. Paul" III, Of special value for their contents and intimate nature are the seventeen letters to the deaconess Olympias. Among the numerous "Apocrypha" we may mention the liturgy attributed to Chrysostom, who perhaps modified, but did not compose the ancient text.
It contains a passage on the holy Eucharist which seems to favour the theory of "impanatio" , and the disputes about it have continued for more than two centuries.
The most important spurious work in Latin is the "Opus imperfectum", written by an Arian in the first half of the fifth century see Th. Chrysostom's theological importance Chrysostom as orator The success of Chrysostom's preaching is chiefly due to his great natural facility of speech, which was extraordinary even to Greeks, to the abundance of his thoughts as well as the popular way of presenting and illustrating them, and, last but not least, the whole-hearted earnestness and conviction with which he delivered the message which he felt had been given to him.
Speculative explanation did not attract his mind, nor would they have suited the tastes of his hearers. He ordinarily preferred moral subjects, and very seldom in his sermons followed a regular plan, nor did he care to avoid digressions when any opportunity suggested them.
In this way, he is by no means a model for our modern thematic preaching, which, however we may regret it, has to such a great extent supplanted the old homiletic method. But the frequent outbursts of applause among his congregation may have told Chrysostom that he was on the right path. Chrysostom as an exegete As an exegete Chrysostom is of the highest importance, for he is the chief and almost the only successful representative of the exegetical principles of the School of Antioch. Diodorus of Tarsus had initiated him into the grammatico-historical method of that school , which was in strong opposition to the eccentric, allegorical, and mystical interpretation of Origen and the Alexandrian School.
But Chrysostom rightly avoided pushing his principles to that extreme to which, later on, his friend Theodore of Mopsuestia , the teacher of Nestorius, carried them. He did not even exclude all allegorical or mystical explanations, but confined them to the cases in which the inspired author himself suggests this meaning. Chrysostom as dogmatic theologian As has already been said, Chrysostom's was not a speculative mind, nor was he involved in his lifetime in great dogmatic controversies.
Nevertheless it would be a mistake to underrate the great theological treasures hidden in his writings. From the very first he was considered by the Greeks and Latins as a most important witness to the Faith. Even at the Council of Ephesus both parties, St. Cyril and the Antiochians, already invoked him on behalf of their opinions, and at the Seventh Ecumenical Council , when a passage of Chrysostom had been read in favour of the veneration of images, Bishop Peter of Nicomedia cried out: "If John Chrysostom speaks in the way of the images, who would dare to speak against them?
Strangely enough, in the Latin Church , Chrysostom was still earlier invoked as an authority on matters of faith. Augustine c. The Bishop of Hippo himself very soon afterwards claimed Chrysostom for the Catholic teaching in his controversy with Julian of Eclanum , who had opposed to him a passage of Chrysostom from the "Hom. Jean Chrys. Again, at the time of the Reformation there arose long and acrid discussions as to whether Chrysostom was a Protestant or a Catholic , and these polemics have never wholly ceased.
But it must be remembered that all the respective passages contain nothing positive against the actual Catholic doctrine.
On the other side Chrysostom explicitly acknowledges as a rule of faith tradition XI, , as laid down by the authoritative teaching of the Church I, As to Christology , Chrysostom holds clearly that Christ is God and man in one person , but he never enters into deeper examination of the manner of this union.
Of great importance is his doctrine regarding the Eucharist. There cannot be the slightest doubt that he teaches the Real Presence , and his expressions on the change wrought by the words of the priest are equivalent to the doctrine of transubstantiation see Naegle, "Die Eucharistielehre des hl. Sources A complete analysis and critique of the enormous literature on Chrysostom from the sixteenth century to the twentieth is given in BAUR, S.
Jean Chrysostome et ses oeuvres dans l'histoire litt raire Paris and Louvain, , Chrysostomi written c. Chrysostomum written c. Commentarius historicus in Acta SS. Jean Chrysostome et l'imp ratrice Eudoxie Paris, ; 3rd ed. Chrysostomus und die Kirche, besonders des Orients, in dessen Zeitalter, 2 vols. Berlin, - 22; 4th ed. Braunsberg, , scientific. W rzburg, ; cf. Ostertafeln Berlin, , Buchlein ber Hoffart u. Kindererziehung Freiburg, im Br.
Chrysostom on St. Cambridge, , 3 vols. There exist about 54 complete editions in five languages , 86 percent special editions of De Sacerdotio in twelve languages , and the whole number of all complete and special editions is greatly over The oldest editions are the Latin; of which forty-six different incunabula editions before the year exist. APA citation. Baur, C. John Chrysostom. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company. MLA citation. He was exiled to Armenia where he continued to be a great presence in the Church of the East through his many letters. He was exiled from Armenia to an isolated place along the Black Sea. He died during the journey in in Pontus , his ill health unable to endure its rigors. Chrysostom's many writings, especially homilies and commentaries on the Gospels, are still extant and have exerted great influence over the centuries.
Therefore, when you are in church, be there in silence, fear, and veneration. John Chrysostom. John Chrysostom Feast day: Sep Latest news. Sydney archbishop urges public opposition to New South Wales euthanasia bill. Vandalism of cross-shaped pro-life display at Catholic university caught on video.
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