St. John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom was born around 347 in Antioch, one of the great cities of the Roman Empire and an important center of early Christianity in what is now modern-day Turkey. He came from a Christian family; his father died when he was young, and he was raised primarily by his mother, Anthusa. He received an excellent classical education, studying rhetoric under the pagan rhetorician Libanius, and was preparing for a career in law or public speaking before his life took a different turn.

After his mother's death (or possibly her urging), John withdrew from public life and was baptized around 368. He spent several years as a monk in the mountains near Antioch, living an ascetic life so extreme that it permanently damaged his health. He later returned to the city and was ordained a deacon in 381 and a priest in 386 by Bishop Flavian of Antioch, whose trusted adviser he became.

It was as a priest in Antioch that John earned his enduring reputation. For roughly twelve years, he preached frequently and at length, drawing enormous crowds and earning the nickname "Chrysostom"—Greek for "golden-mouthed." His homilies, many of which survive today, included verse-by-verse commentary on Scripture (notably on Genesis, the Psalms, and the letters of Paul), as well as sermons on saints and on the proper Christian use of wealth. He was a sharp critic of extravagance among the rich and called repeatedly for care of the poor.

In 398, partly through the influence of the imperial court, John was made Archbishop of Constantinople. He launched a program of reform—overhauling the clergy, disciplining lax bishops, simplifying ecclesiastical life, and curbing the lavish spending of the imperial family, especially Empress Eudoxia. These efforts made powerful enemies, and in 403 he was deposed at a synod convened by Theophilus of Alexandria, an opponent he had earlier condemned. A few months later, after a popular uprising, he was briefly restored, but conflict with the court resumed, and he was exiled in 404. He never returned.

John was sent first to Cucusus in the mountains of Armenia and finally to Pityus on the eastern Black Sea coast. He died in transit in September 407, having reportedly been forced into an exhausting march. Although he was never formally tried on the specific charges brought against him, his reputation was rehabilitated within decades. The Eastern Church honors him as one of its great hierarchs, the West venerates him as a Doctor of the Church, and the "Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" remains the most commonly used Eucharistic liturgy in the Byzantine tradition today.

His legacy is complicated. He wrote beautiful passages on mercy and the poor, but he also left behind anti-Jewish homilies that modern readers rightly find troubling. He is remembered as a fearless preacher who suffered for confronting power, and as a pastor whose concern for the soul of the Christian community extended to those on its margins.