Chrysostom
11/12/08
“So destructive a passion is avarice that to grow rich without injustice is impossible.” – John Chrysostom
Chrysostom was not his family name. It was a nickname meaning “Golden-Mouthed.” He was a very moving speaker.
He was born in 349 and died in 407. He was kidnapped as a child and elevated to Bishop of Constantinople (capital of the Eastern Roman Empire). He was elevated to Bishop against his will.
All things happen for a reason. Upon being named Bishop, he immediately began reforming the church.
You have to love him. He refused all of the “perks” that came along with being a Bishop. He tossed out the expensive art work and wardrobe of those before him. He even gave money to the poor after selling gold communion cups. He saw the Church in the correct way at that time. He saw it not as a power or political structure but as “the right agent for social change.”
He often taught that it was not enough to worship at the church alter. The genuine alters our bodies that were given to us by God.
Among saints, John Chrysostom is remembered as a great preacher. He preached that “as we serve one another – especially the poor – we grow to be like Christ.”
He was exiled by the Empress Eudoxia after he rebuked her for her public exhibit of vanity. He passed away as a homeless, forgotten prisoner.
Until one day, a former student of St. John, Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople preached a message glorifying St. John. He said “O John! Thy life was filled with difficulties, but thy death was glorious, thy grave is blessed and reward abundant through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place! Love hath conquered space, unforgetting memory hath annihilated the limits, and place doth not hinder the miracles of the saint.”
Those who heard that sermon talked Proclus into getting with the emperor, so that the relics of St. John be transferred to Constantinople. And they were. The emperor sent a message that was read at the grave of St. John then they took his relics to Constantinople. They opened the coffin and his body was their, free of decay.
I won
’t go on but please read upon on John Chrysostom. You will be happy that you did.
11/12/08
“So destructive a passion is avarice that to grow rich without injustice is impossible.” – John Chrysostom
Chrysostom was not his family name. It was a nickname meaning “Golden-Mouthed.” He was a very moving speaker.
He was born in 349 and died in 407. He was kidnapped as a child and elevated to Bishop of Constantinople (capital of the Eastern Roman Empire). He was elevated to Bishop against his will.
All things happen for a reason. Upon being named Bishop, he immediately began reforming the church.
You have to love him. He refused all of the “perks” that came along with being a Bishop. He tossed out the expensive art work and wardrobe of those before him. He even gave money to the poor after selling gold communion cups. He saw the Church in the correct way at that time. He saw it not as a power or political structure but as “the right agent for social change.”
He often taught that it was not enough to worship at the church alter. The genuine alters our bodies that were given to us by God.
Among saints, John Chrysostom is remembered as a great preacher. He preached that “as we serve one another – especially the poor – we grow to be like Christ.”
He was exiled by the Empress Eudoxia after he rebuked her for her public exhibit of vanity. He passed away as a homeless, forgotten prisoner.
Until one day, a former student of St. John, Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople preached a message glorifying St. John. He said “O John! Thy life was filled with difficulties, but thy death was glorious, thy grave is blessed and reward abundant through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place! Love hath conquered space, unforgetting memory hath annihilated the limits, and place doth not hinder the miracles of the saint.”
Those who heard that sermon talked Proclus into getting with the emperor, so that the relics of St. John be transferred to Constantinople. And they were. The emperor sent a message that was read at the grave of St. John then they took his relics to Constantinople. They opened the coffin and his body was their, free of decay.
I won
’t go on but please read upon on John Chrysostom. You will be happy that you did.
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