Description
St. John Chrysostom was a brilliant and fiery preacher from Antioch where he had been born as a pagan in 347. He received a good classical education, but rejected Greek philosophy in favor of the Truth of Christ, which illumined his soul so that he sought and received baptism. His parents soon followed him into the Church. When they died, St. John became a monk and began a life of strict fasting and asceticism through obedience, chastity, poverty, and stability, the four vows of a monk. After some years God sent an angel both to him and to Flavian, Patriarch of Antioch, and instructed them both to have St. John ordained a priest.
His fame and eloquence over subsequent years called for him to become the Patriarch of Constantinople, which he fulfilled for six years. Because of jealousy and envy, his enemies contrived with the Empress Eudoxia to have him banished from the capital. He was reinstated by God’s Providence, but then banished again and so driven by moving from place to place that he died in exhaustion in Armenia in 409. His last words were, “Glory to God for everything.” His name Chrysostom means Golden-mouth.