Read the proceedings of the synod[212] that was unlawfully summoned
against St. John Chrysostom. The presidents were Theophilus, bishop
of Alexandria, Acacius of Beroea, Antiochus of Ptolemaïs, Severian
of Gabala, and Cyrinus of Chalcedon, who were bitterly hostile
to Chrysostom, and constituted themselves judges, accusers, and
witnesses. There were thirteen sessions: twelve against Chrysostom,
the thirteenth against Heraclides, whom Chrysostom had ordained
bishop of Ephesus.
Owing to the pressure of other business, however, the deposition of
Heraclides could not be ratified. His accuser was Macarius, bishop
of Magnesia. The open enemy and chief accuser of Chrysostom was his
deacon John. He first charged Chrysostom with having wronged him
by ejecting him for having beaten his own servant Eulalius; the
second charge was that a certain monk named John had been flogged
by order of Chrysostom, dragged along, and put in chains like
those possessed; the third, that he had sold much valuable Church
property; the fourth, that he had sold the marble which Nectarius
had set aside for decorating the church of St. Anastasia; the fifth,
that he had reviled the clergy as dishonourable, corrupt, useless
in themselves,[213] and worthless; the sixth, that he had called
St. Epiphanius[214] a fool and a demon; the seventh, that he had
intrigued against Severian, and set the _decani_[215] against him;
the eighth, that he had written a book slandering the clergy; the
ninth, that, having called all the clergy together, he had summoned
three deacons, Acacius, Edaphius, and John, on a charge of having
stolen his hood,[216] and had asked whether they had taken it for
any other purpose; the tenth, that he had consecrated Antonius
as bishop, although he had been convicted of robbing graves; the
eleventh, that he had denounced count John at a seditious meeting of
the troops; the twelfth, that he did not pray either when walking to
the church or entering it; the thirteenth, that he ordained deacons
and priests without standing by the altar; the fourteenth, that he
consecrated four bishops at once; the fifteenth, that he received
visits from women by themselves, after he had sent every one else
out of the room; the sixteenth, that he had sold by the agency of
Theodulus the inheritance left by Thecla; the seventeenth, that no
one knew how the revenues of the Church were spent; the eighteenth,
that he had ordained Serapion priest at a time when he was under
accusation; the nineteenth, that he paid no heed to those who
belonged to the communion of the world, who had been imprisoned by
his orders, and when they died in prison did not even condescend to
make arrangements for the interment of their bodies; the twentieth,
that he had insulted the most holy Acacius, and refused to grant
him an interview; the twenty-first, that he had handed over the
presbyter Porphyry to Eutropius to be banished; the twenty-second,
that he had also handed over the presbyter Venerius and grievously
insulted him; the twenty-third, that a bath was heated for him alone,
and that after he had bathed, Serapion emptied the bath, so that no
one else might use it; the twenty-fourth, that he had ordained many
without witnesses; the twenty-fifth, that he ate gluttonously alone,
living like a Cyclops; the twenty-sixth, that he himself was accuser,
witness, and judge, as was evident from the case of Martyrius the
proto-deacon, and Proaeresius, bishop of Lycia; the twenty-seventh,
that he struck Memnon with his fist in the church of the Apostles,
and while he bled at the mouth celebrated the communion; the
twenty-eighth, that he dressed and undressed on his throne, and ate a
lozenge;[217] the twenty-ninth, that he bribed the bishops who were
consecrated by him to oppress the clergy.
Such were the charges against this holy man. He was four times
summoned, but refused to appear. He declared that, if the synod would
remove his open enemies from the list of judges, he was ready to
appear and defend himself against any charges brought against him; if
they refused to do so, no matter how many times they summoned him, it
would be of no avail.
The first and second counts were then investigated, after which the
synod proceeded to deal with the case of the bishops Heraclides and
Palladius of Helenopolis. The monk John, mentioned by the deacon
John in the second charge against Chrysostom, presented a memorial
accusing Heraclides of being a follower of Origen, and of having been
arrested at Caesarea in Palestine for the theft of the clothes of
Aquilinus the deacon. Notwithstanding this, he declared, Chrysostom
had consecrated him bishop of Ephesus. He further accused Chrysostom
himself, whom he blamed for all that he had suffered at the hands of
Serapion and Chrysostom owing to the Origenists. After this the ninth
and twenty-seventh charges were investigated.
Then bishop Isaac again charged Heraclides with being a follower of
Origen, with whom the most holy Epiphanius would hold no communion
either at prayers or meals. He also presented a memorial containing
the following charges against Chrysostom: (1) That the monk John,
already mentioned, had been flogged and put in chains through the
Origenists; (2) that Epiphanius refused to hold communion with him
on account of his connexion with the Origenists Ammonius, Euthymius,
Eusebius, Heraclides, and Palladius; (3) that he neglected the duties
of hospitality and always ate alone; (4) that in church he used
such language as “the table is full of furies”; (5) that he loudly
exclaimed, “I am in love, I am mad”; (6) that he ought to explain
what “furies” he referred to, and what he meant by “I am in love,
I am mad,” expressions unknown to the Church; (7) that he licensed
people to sin, since he taught, “If thou sin again, repent again,”
and, “As often as thou sinnest, come to me and I will heal thee”; (8)
that he uttered blasphemy while in the Church, asserting that the
prayer of Christ was not heard, since He did not pray in a proper
manner; (9) that he stirred up the people to reject the authority
of the synod; (10) that he had welcomed a number of heathens who
had oppressed the Christians, kept them in the church, and afforded
them protection; (11) that he had encroached upon the provinces of
others, and consecrated bishops there; (12) that he had insulted the
bishops, and ordered the bishops and ...[218] to be ejected from his
house; (13) that he had subjected the clergy to unheard-of insults;
(14) that he had violently appropriated sums of money left to others;
(15) that he performed ordinations without a meeting of the clergy
and contrary to their wish; (16) that he had received the Origenists,
but allowed those who were in communion with the Church and had come
to him with letters of recommendation to be cast into prison without
obtaining their release, and even if they died there, took no further
notice of them; (17) that he had consecrated as bishops foreign
slaves not yet emancipated and, in some cases, under accusation; (18)
that he himself (Isaac) had often been ill-treated by him.
Of these charges the first, having been already discussed, did not
seem to require further examination, but the second and seventh,
and then the third of the charges brought by deacon John, were
investigated. In this last the archpresbyter Arsacius, the successor
of Chrysostom, and the presbyters Atticus and Elpidius somehow or
other came forward as witnesses against that holy man. They and the
presbyter Acacius also gave witness against him on the fourth charge.
After these had been investigated, the above-mentioned presbyters,
with Eudaemon and Onesimus, demanded that the synod should hasten
its decision. Accordingly, Paul, bishop of Heraclea, called upon
all to give their vote. The members present, forty-five in all,
then recorded their opinion, beginning with bishop Gymnasius and
ending with Theophilus of Alexandria. It was unanimously decided
that Chrysostom should be deprived of his episcopate. A letter on
his deposition was sent on the part of the synod to the clergy of
Constantinople, and a report was made to the emperors. Gerontius,
Faustinus, and Eugnomonius also presented three petitions,
complaining that they had been unjustly deprived of their episcopates
by Chrysostom. The emperors in reply sent an imperial rescript
to the synod. These were the proceedings of the twelfth session;
the thirteenth, as has been stated, was occupied with the case of
Heraclides, bishop of Ephesus.