Read the work by George, bishop of Alexandria,[511] entitled _The
Life of St. Chrysostom_. Who the author is, I cannot state with
certainty. The style is simple, at times degenerating into meanness
and vulgarity, and the proper construction of nouns and verbs,
usually observed even by the grammarians,[512] is neglected. The
author says that he has compiled his history from material taken from
bishop Palladius,[513] who has written an admirable and careful life
of Chrysostom in the form of a dialogue, from Socrates,[514] and
other writers.
According to the author, the great John was born at Antioch of
noble parents, Secundus and Anthusa. Meletius the Armenian, then
head of the Church at Antioch,[515] initiated them into the rites
of Christianity and prepared them to receive the saving grace of
baptism, having first initiated and baptized their son. At an early
age, John went to school. From boyhood he was distinguished for
his modesty, showed none of the effeminacy common to wealthy and
high-born children,[516] and would not even ride on horseback. At
Antioch he attended the lectures of Libanius on grammar and rhetoric,
and of Andragathius on philosophy. After his father’s death, he was
the comfort of his mother, and, abstaining from all pleasures and
amusements, devoted himself entirely to study.
He visited Athens to improve his knowledge, and in a short time
showed himself so superior to all other students that Anthemius,
the priest of the temple of Athena, who was reputed the wisest man
in Athens, was jealous of him. Demosthenes, the prefect of the
city, sent a most complimentary summons to him, in answer to which
John presented himself with great humility. In a discussion that
took place between them, John showed himself superior in learning,
intelligence, and piety. A marvellous result of this was, that
Anthemius, finally convinced by John’s divine eloquence and prayers,
was baptized with all his household by the bishop of the city. The
prefect, who had been already baptized, received instruction in the
doctrines of Christianity, together with a large number of heathen.
The bishop of the city wanted to ordain John and to leave him bishop
of the city in his place, but John, when he became aware of this,
secretly set sail in haste for his own country.
His friends and acquaintances wished him to enter the legal
profession, but he was himself inclined to a monastic life, although
only eighteen years of age. Two of his fellow-students, Theodore,
afterwards bishop of Mopsuestia, and Maximus, afterwards bishop of
Seleucia, rejected a public and mercenary career and chose a private
and simple life. He was very intimate with Basil the Great (not the
other Basil, as some assert), who was ordained deacon by Meletius
and whom John esteemed more highly than any other of his friends.
Basil took farewell of John and tried to persuade him to adopt the
same kind of life, but for the time his mother stood in the way.
Bishop Zeno came from Jerusalem[517] and appointed John reader in the
church at Antioch. Soon afterwards his mother died, John distributed
his father’s property amongst the poor, left the city, entered a
monastery in the neighbourhood, and showed himself a model and
pattern monk.
Hesychius, a Syrian monk, who was reputed to have a knowledge of the
future, saw two men in white raiment, the one holding a book and
the other some keys, both of which they gave to John. The latter
declared that he was the apostle Peter, the former that he was John
the theologian. Hesychius told this to the inmates of the monastery,
having taken care that it should not reach the ears of John, for fear
lest, owing to his great modesty, he might leave the monastery. John
also went through severe religious exercises and composed several
monastic treatises.
He also wrought miracles while in the monastery. One of the citizens
had such a pain on one side of his head that his right eye hung
out, but when he consulted John he was immediately cured. A certain
Archelaus, a wealthy and distinguished person, suffering from
leprosy in the face, was ordered to wash in the pool out of which
the brethren drank, and became well; after this, he distributed his
wealth, said farewell to the world, and entered the monastery, his
example being followed by many others. Another person named Eucleus,
who had lost his right eye through the influence of an evil spirit,
applied to the monastery for admission; his head was shaved while the
man of God prayed, and he recovered his sight. A woman also who had
an issue of blood seven years was healed. A lion, which was said to
have carried off a number of travellers, after John had impressed the
sign of the cross upon others, was killed by its influence.
After four years, owing to the number of people who applied to
him, he left the monastery, and spent two years in a cave seldom
sleeping and not lying down during the whole of the time. Having
contracted a chill in the stomach and kidneys, he was compelled to
return to Antioch, where he was ordained deacon by Meletius and
looked after the altar. At that time he wrote the three treatises
to Stagirius[518] and those _On the Priesthood_ and _On the
Incomprehensible_. After the death of Meletius at Constantinople,
the holy John returned to the monastery. Flavian, who had succeeded
Meletius, in consequence of a divine revelation brought him back to
the city from the monastery and ordained him priest. A command had
been given to Flavian in a vision that John should be ordained and
that Flavian himself should ordain him. A dove that hovered over his
head during the ceremony was abundant proof of the divine grace with
which he was to be filled. He spent twelve years in the sanctuary.
From his early years, owing to his zeal for virtue he was harsh and
severe, and rather given to wrath than to consideration for others.
He wrote several commentaries while at Antioch, and at the bishop’s
urgent request addressed the people extemporaneously in the pulpit.
The son of a woman named Euclaea, suffering from a violent fever,
whose life had been despaired of, was healed by being sprinkled with
some water which John had blessed. A certain woman belonging to the
sect of the Marcionists,[519] whose husband held some office in the
city, was in a desperate condition from dysentery; but having been
healed by John, she, her husband, and all her household, with several
other Marcionists, returned to the true faith.
On the death of Nectarius, archbishop of Constantinople,[520]
John was sent for from Antioch, in spite of the opposition of the
inhabitants, who claimed him as their own special blessing. But the
emperor’s command prevailed; John was consecrated by Theophilus,
patriarch of Alexandria,[521] who was reluctant to perform the
ceremony, but was forced to do so, certain papers containing charges
against him being held over him as a threat if he did not consent.
While John was being consecrated amid general approval, a man
possessed was freed by him from an evil spirit.
The great Chrysostom then immediately abolished the custom of
receiving spiritual sisters and delivered long discourses against
the unjust, the gluttonous, and the pleasure-loving. He was very
charitable, so that many called him the Almsgiver. In a word, he
taught all virtue and dissuaded from all vice. He also sent monks
to Phoenicia to redeem from error those who were given over to
idolatry; these monks, armed with the imperial authority, overthrew
the idolatrous temples, the expenses being defrayed by certain pious
women. A band of Celts, infected by Arianism, was brought back to
the true faith by missionaries who spoke their language. He also
brought back the nomad Scythians voluntarily to Christianity. He
utterly rooted out the Marcionite heresy which was raising its head
again in the East. He increased the number of nightly services with
chanting. He took his food alone for three reasons; he was a total
abstainer from wine because it affected his head (except when he
drank it flavoured with roses in summer), he suffered from a weak
stomach so that he often could not eat the food put before him, but
asked for something else, and when at leisure he often refrained
from food all day. The clergy considered him very harsh and austere.
His deacon Serapion was also the cause of great hatred against him.
John expelled several clergy from the Church for various reasons.
Serapion also quarrelled with Severian, bishop of Gabala, who
conceived a great and lasting hatred of John. John was greatly loved
by the people owing to his discourses. He himself was very fond of
commenting upon the epistles of St. Paul, who, according to John’s
friend Proclus, visited him for three nights and inspired him with
the interpretation of his epistles.
John also offended the empress in the case of Theodoric the
patrician, whom he had succeeded in freeing from her unjust
exactions. Theodoric gave the greater part of his property to the
Church poorhouse as a thankoffering to God, which inflamed Eudoxia
with anger and malice. Eutropius introduced a law that criminals
who fled for refuge to the churches should not enjoy the privilege
of asylum. But when, soon afterwards, he himself took refuge there,
he reaped the fruits of his own legislation. While he lay prostrate
at the altar, the great John delivered a speech full of reproach,
which set many against him, who thought that he rebuked the unhappy
wretch too cruelly. He deprived the Arians of their churches and
with the emperor’s consent drove them out of the city. Since they
had composed antiphons to deceive the simple-minded he outdid them,
with the assistance of the empress, by displaying silver crosses
while the antiphons were being sung. It is said that the God-inspired
Ignatius first introduced antiphons, in imitation of the angels
who in this manner sang the praises of God. The influential Arian
Gaïnas[522] demanded a church from the emperor, but John who was
present expressed his disapproval with great freedom, and persuaded
the emperor to refuse. Soon afterwards, when Gaïnas rebelled, John,
without delay, at the general request, went on an embassy to the
barbarian, and repressed the revolt.
Eusebius, who succeeded Celbianus as bishop of Valentinopolis,[523]
presented a document containing seven charges against Antoninus,
bishop of Ephesus. The three first accused him of sacrilege; the
fourth was that he had retained in his service without rebuking
him a youth who had committed murder; the fifth, that he had taken
possession of and sold some land which had been left by Basilina, the
mother of Julian,[524] to the Church; the sixth, that he had resumed
intercourse with his wife after he had said farewell to the world,
and that he had had a child by her; the seventh, that he accepted
fees for consecration. The last charge, being regarded as the most
serious, was investigated. The trial was protracted to great length,
since the accuser himself purposely neglected his duty, and Antoninus
died before it ended. John therefore went to Ephesus, and removed
from their sees six bishops who had paid fees to secure consecration
and confessed their guilt. He also deposed six others in Asia for the
same offence. In place of Antoninus he consecrated Heraclides his
own deacon, which created a disturbance. In place of the six bishops
others were appointed who were distinguished by greater piety and
virtue. When Chrysostom was banished all these were deprived of their
sees, while those who had been ejected were restored.
Severian, bishop of Gabala, having heard that Antiochus was in
Constantinople and had obtained considerable sums of money by his
discourses went there himself. John, when he set out for Ephesus,
recommended him as his deputy in the pulpit, and in this manner
Severian became known to the emperor and all the people.
Callitropē, the widow of a shipmaster, had been unjustly taxed, and
Paulacius, the prefect of Alexandria, harshly pressed the poor woman
for the amount (500 gold pieces). She appealed to the empress, who
fined Paulacius 100 pounds of gold, of which the sorely afflicted
woman only received thirty-six pieces. She accordingly took refuge
with the general “port in a storm,” the great John, who brought
an action against Paulacius for the payment of 500 pieces to the
widow. This roused the hostility of Eudoxia, who was anxious for
Paulacius to be let off. She was not listened to, however, and the
just man claimed and restored to the ill-treated woman that of which
she had been unjustly defrauded. Then a wonderful thing happened.
When Eudoxia sent to rescue Paulacius in despite of John, an angel
appeared bearing a spear and frightened her messengers, so that their
mission was unsuccessful. In consequence of these and similar acts
of John, Acacius of Beroea, Theophilus, Antiochus, and Severian,
and many others, whom he had offended by his reproaches, with the
assistance and at the instigation of Eudoxia, began to plot against
him. Theophilus accused Peter, chief presbyter of Alexandria, of
having administered the sacrament to a woman who was a Manichaean;
his defence was that she had been converted and that it was by his
permission that she had been admitted by him to the communion. In
proof of this he called to witness Isidore the presbyter[525] and
hospitaller of Alexandria. This Isidore, owing to his blameless
character, had formerly been sent to Damasus[526] by Theophilus,
and had brought from Rome to Flavian an offer of friendship and
alliance, after the two Churches had been at variance for twenty
years. The evidence of Isidore roused the anger of Theophilus, who
expelled Peter from the Church and falsely accused Isidore of gross
immorality. When the falsehood was discovered, Theophilus was roused
to further villainy, which was increased by the following incident.
A certain rich woman named Theodota had given Isidore 1000 pieces of
money to distribute amongst the poor without consulting Theophilus,
which Isidore had done. To avoid the wrath of Theophilus he fled
to the mountain of Nitria,[527] where he had formerly lived in a
cell. The chief of the Egyptian monks were Dioscorus, Ammonius,
Euthymius, and Eusebius, four brothers, called “the long” from the
height of their stature. At that time a quarrel had broken out with
the Anthropomorphite heretics. When some ignorant and coarse monks
created a disturbance in Egypt, Theophilus, apparently alarmed when
they abused him, attempted to deceive them by flattery, saying, “I
have seen your faces as the face of God.” But when they further
demanded that Origen, because he asserted that the divinity was
without human form, should be anathematized, he consented, and
so escaped death. Seizing hold of this pretext against the “long
brethren” (since they would no longer associate with him as before,
and denied that God had a human form), he accused them to the monks
and stirred up that ignorant herd against them and also against
Isidore, on whose account he was the more hostile to them. At last,
after having been the victims of intrigue and ill-treatment, and
their cells having been set fire to, they fled to Constantinople.
John received them kindly and sympathetically, but did not admit them
to communion for fear of offending Theophilus, to whom he wrote a
letter proposing reconciliation, but Theophilus paid no attention.
In the meantime the “long brethren” presented documents containing
charges against Theophilus, and were in turn accused by others at his
instigation. When these latter were unable to prove anything they
were thrown into prison and flogged, some of them died and the rest
were condemned to banishment in the island of Proconnesus.[528] John
informed Theophilus of the charges against him, to which Theophilus
angrily replied: “I believe you are acquainted with the canons of
the council of Nicaea, by which it is ordained that no bishop shall
exercise jurisdiction beyond his own province. If you are not, then
make yourself acquainted with them and do not interfere with the
charges against me.” Notwithstanding, the same Theophilus who wrote
these words afterwards condemned John, although he belonged to
another diocese. As the monks did not desist from their accusations
against Theophilus, the emperor ordered him to present himself for
trial. But the animosity against John increased to such a degree
that, on his arrival, Theophilus was appointed judge of John himself.
The wife of the senator Theognostus, who had been proscribed and
died in exile, had been deprived by the empress of a field that had
been left her. She accordingly had recourse to John, the champion
of widows, but although he spoke with great freedom on her behalf
his efforts were unsuccessful and only roused the hatred of the
empress. He accordingly ordered that, on the day of the Exaltation
of the Cross (the 14th of September), when the unjust empress was
about to enter the church, the gates should be shut against her. His
order was carried out, and the empress retired in shame and anger,
and from that time began to plot John’s deposition, banishment, and
every other degradation that her indignation suggested. When, as she
drew near, she found the gates of the church being closed, one of her
suite drew his sword against those who were shutting them; whereupon
his hand suddenly withered, but was afterwards restored on his doing
homage to John.
The great Epiphanius, whom Theophilus had beguiled and stirred
up against John, on his arrival in Constantinople created a
disturbance. He ordained a deacon at Hebdomon[529] in St. John’s
Church contrary to the law, performed the service without the
permission of Chrysostom, and demanded that he should condemn the
writings of Origen. Our author relates (as is also stated in the
life of Epiphanius), that he by no means approved of the deposition
of Chrysostom, as others believed he did, in spite of the empress’s
importunity. He also mentions their prediction to each other, that
neither should see his throne again. Before his condemnation John,
having heard that Eudoxia was angry with him, delivered a lengthy
discourse against women generally, which the people interpreted as an
attack on the empress. On the arrival of Theophilus, the intrigues
against the great combatant John began. When he did not appear at
the synod, Theophilus and his party pronounced sentence against him,
although he loudly protested that he was ready to appear and defend
himself, if his avowed enemies were removed from the council. Forty
bishops were ready to support John against Theophilus and his party,
but when they loudly protested he comforted them, and begged them
not to cause dissension in the Church. After his deposition, he was
banished to Hieron,[530] but, in consequence of a severe shock of
earthquake which was ascribed to the divine wrath, he was brought
back to the city and again seated, against his will, on the episcopal
throne. He declared that he did not wish to resume his pastoral
office until the unjust sentence against him had been submitted
to investigation. Soon afterwards, Eudoxia being again enraged
because John had attacked her in reference to the statue which had
been erected in her honour near his church and was the cause of
disturbance inside, intrigues were again set on foot against him.
Theophilus, although this was an unexpected piece of good fortune for
him, being afraid of the hatred of the citizens, did not appear. The
cause of their hatred against him was that, after the deposition of
John, he had communicated with the “long brethren,” by whose means
he had plotted against him, and that he did not himself abstain from
reading the writings of Origen, on account of which he had accused
John. He did not, therefore, attend in person, but sent others to
declare that John ought not even to be brought to trial, since after
his deposition he had ventured to perform the services of the Church,
whereas the synod of Antioch left no room for defence to one who
did so after he had been deprived of office. Those who sided with
John declared that both the canon and the synod were tainted with
Arianism, and that the canon had been aimed at Athanasius; that the
council of Sardica[531] repudiated the validity of the synod, and not
only allowed Athanasius to defend himself but also to perform the
duties of the priesthood with Marcellus.
Chrysostom was accordingly prohibited from officiating in the church
and even from entering it. The festival of the Birth of Christ was at
hand, and until the feast of Pentecost and for five days afterwards
he took no part in the services. He was then finally expelled from
the city and the church and was banished to Cucusus.[532] At that
time a fire broke out in the pulpit and spread to the rest of the
building. Many of the enemies of John were made an example, being
carried off by filthy diseases or heaven-sent calamities. John, after
he was deported to Cucusus, both lectured in public and consecrated
several bishops, priests, and deacons. He also performed many
miracles during his banishment and after his death, which Basiliscus,
bishop of Comana and martyr,[533] having appeared to him, foretold.
He was buried in the same grave as the martyr.
Theophilus and his party condemned Heraclides, bishop of Ephesus,
in his absence, and, after suffering cruel indignities, Serapion
was deprived of the bishopric of Heraclea, to which he had been
consecrated by John after his first return from exile. A eunuch of
the tribune Victor, a man of disgraceful character, was elected in
his stead. Other bishops, about twenty in number, were driven from
their sees, together with a large number of priests, deacons, and
laymen, who were accused of favouring John, including some pious
women, the most distinguished of whom were Olympias,[534] Pentadia,
Procle, and Silvanē.
Innocent, bishop of Rome, strongly supported the cause of John,
although without success. He sent messengers who were dismissed
with contumely and wrote letters, but his efforts were unavailing.
Subsequently, Arsacius was with difficulty induced to enter his name
on the diptychs.[535] Some time afterwards, Proclus transported his
remains to Constantinople.
This writer appears to relate much that is contrary to the truth of
history, but there is nothing to prevent the reader from picking out
what is useful and passing over the rest.