Golden Tongue
How did it happen that a preacher and church leader, so well spoken that he is called Golden Tongue and was often applauded after his sermons, end up sent into exile and dying during a forced march? How did such a one who was such a prolific writer that he penned 90 homilies on Matthew, 88 on John, 55 on Acts, 67 on Genesis, 59 on the Psalms and all of Paul’s epistles end up forced to march until he dropped. How did this happen to him whose last words that came off his tongue were truly golden, “Glory to God for all things?”
This all happened to John Chrysostom (Golden Tongue) who was born in Antioch in 347 and died in exile on September 14, 407. After receiving a classical education he began studies of the scriptures and entered the ascetic life, even living in a cave for two years. He later became a Lector (reader) in the church, then a Deacon where he assisted with the liturgy and then a priest in 386.
Toward the end of October 397, Asterius, governor of Antioch summed John to come immediately to the martyr’s chapel outside the Roman gate. The road to Constantinople, the new Rome, led through the area. Asterius waited in his carriage. He invited John to side beside him and then immediately left Antioch following the road to Constantinople It was only after they were underway that the governor revealed that he had been selected as bishop of the capital of the new Rome. A letter from the emperor stressed that the mission be carried out with discretion, apparently fearing protest demonstrations in Antioch over the removal of the golden tongued preacher. At a place called Pagrae he was handed over to personnel from the palace who provided safe passage. The 750 mile route would have taken them through Tarsus, Paul’s hometown, and Ankara the current capital of turkey.
On February 26, 398 he was installed as Bishop of Constantinople, the capital of the Roman empire, much to the disappointment of numerous other interested candidates. He immediately began a reform, “Sweeping the stairs from the top down.” He cut expenses, eliminated frequent banquets, forbad clergy to keep housekeepers who had taken a vow of virginity, told monks to stay in their monasteries instead of wandering aimlessly. He assailed the wealthy women for their extravagant finery and men who conducted business during the service. With the money he saved from his household budget in just one year he built a large hospital.
However, he was ill suited to church and empire politics. You can attempt to untangle the web of political intrigue by going online to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
On the presence of Christ in the sacrament he wrote,
The Magi worshipped this body even when it lay in a manger. Those heathen foreigners left home and country and went on a long journey, and came and worshipped him…We are citizens of heaven; let us imitate those foreigners…For you behold him not in a manger; but on an altar; not with a woman holding him, but with a priest standing before him: with the Spirit descending with great bounty upon the oblation.
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