A Selected Re-sharing of his English articles: From ROCA Protodeacon Basil Yakimov, in Australia: The Entry of The Holy Theotokos Into The Temple, and other spiritually edifying texts-

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Dan Everiss

<oregdan@hotmail.com>

Mon, Dec 4, 2017 at 11:12 PM

ENTRY OF THE HOLY THEOTOKOS INTO THE TEMPLE
In ancient times, the Jews had the custom of dedicating their children to the service of God in unique circumstances of family life. The dedicatees were usually brought to the temple, where they were blessed by the priests, who offered a sacrifice to God and afterwards took care of the children’s further upbringing until they attained their majority. All the children dedicated to God lived at the temple in special quarters, engaging in prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and in various activities appropriate to their gender and age.

The holy righteous Joachim and Anna, having reached a venerable old age and remaining childless, entreated God to give them a child, whom they promised to dedicate to the service of God. The Lord heard their prayers, and a daughter was born to them, named Mary. When the Virgin Mary reached the age of three, Her parents hastened to fulfill their promise. Although the law itself did not require such haste, it was obvious that the young Maiden already sensed Her high calling, exhibiting a tendency towards great piety. Naturally it was difficult for the parents to part with their daughter, but they apparently divined that some kind of unique service awaited Her.

Holy Tradition gives us a moving account of the entry of the Holy Theotokos into the temple, in commemoration of which today’s feast was established.

On the appointed day all the relatives of Joachim and Anna gathered in Jerusalem and there began a ceremonious yet at the same time modest procession of the Virgin into God’s tabernacle. In front of the Holy Virgin, Who was led by Her parents, came Her companions – girls in white attire, carrying lighted candles and singing hymns, and behind them came all the relatives and friends. A high staircase, consisting of 15 steps, led to the doors of the temple. After being placed on the first step, to everyone’s amazement the Virgin Mary began mounting the steps higher and higher, entirely on Her own and unsupported by anyone, until on the upper landing She was met by the priests, led by the high priest. All the people were even more amazed when the high priest Zacharias, father of St. John the Baptist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, led the Most-holy One into the Holy of Holies, where he himself could enter only once a year, on the feast of purification. Even the angels were amazed at how the Virgin entered the Holy of Holies.

Soon afterwards Joachim and Anna reposed in the Lord, while the Holy Virgin, remaining at the temple in order to be brought up to serve the Lord, went from strength to strength, appearing as an angel in the flesh. Daily She came to the temple and prayed unimpededly in the Holy of Holies, conversing with the angels who brought Her heavenly food, while the food She received together with all the other children She gave away to the poor. Despite all this, She never put on airs, but humbly performed all the duties assigned to Her, living in total obedience to Her preceptors – the priests.

At that time maidenhood was not in very high standing, and for this reason all the maidens who were brought up at the temple were usually given away in marriage when they attained their majority. The Most-holy Virgin, however, Who stood at the border between the Old and the New Testaments, was the first to indicate the importance of this virtue by giving a vow of chastity. The priests could not oppose such a strange decision on the part of their ward, but they did not know what to do with Her. After some thought, they got out of their difficulty by engaging Her to a certain elder, the righteous Joseph, who came from the royal ancestry of King David, but preferred to remain unknown. He lived in the small Galilean town of Nazareth and worked as a carpenter. After settling in with Her supposed husband, the Holy Virgin helped him with housekeeping and continued to engage in divine contemplation.

We can draw many instructive lessons from the story of today’s feast, and it primarily draws our attention to the love which we should have for the Lord’s temple (church). For the Mother of God the temple of Jerusalem was the abode where She wished to remain day and night, in order to be in continuous prayerful communion with the Lord. One thing have I desired from the Lord, exclaims the holy prophet King David, – and that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to attend His holy temple (Psalm 27:4). For Her the temple was a school, a source of joy, spiritual nourishment, the path along which She rose above all creation and became more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim. Seeing this, how can we not exclaim together with the psalm-writer: How desirable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord (Psalm 84:1-2). Therefore, a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Psalm 84:10). And if our parents’ house beckons to us with its love and affection, and we find a safe haven under its roof, how should we not yearn towards the house of the Lord?! Let us follow the example of the Mother of God, brethren, and let us regard attendance of God’s church as our primary and necessary duty. Amen. Protopriest Leonid Kolchev
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NATIVITY FAST
By the grace of God we have commenced the days of Nativity Fast. The fast is a time when each Christian must ponder his life, must think of the purpose of life and of how to achieve it in practice. The fast is a time when we are presented with an opportunity to work on ourselves, to shake ourselves up internally.
Human life is short. Day after day, month after month, year after year disappear without a trace, yet nothing has been done. It is often scary to look back on life. Time has passed, but there is a mountain of things still to be done.
A person’s death always seems untimely. Man always dies leaving something undone, something unfinished. And, of course, this “something” always varies. As one ascetic lay dying, he wept over the fact that he had not yet begun to repent. This was genuine humility, issuing from a deep realization of each person’s unworthiness in this life in the face of the task he must accomplish.
One of (the Russian writer) Turgenev’s heroes confessed with a bitter smile as he lay dying: “My life flew by unnoticeably.” This bitter confession may apply to many of us, alas, if the fearful hour of death comes upon us suddenly.
“Remember thy last,” O Christian! Fear death and the end of your earthly existence not with an animalistic fear, but fear it for the sake of the continuous remembrance of your future reckoning for all your deeds, for the talents that God had given you.
Remember that it is not the unknown and darkness that await you beyond the grave. On the contrary, there you may expect joy, light, and rest from the heavy burden you had borne in the name of Christ. All the good that you had sown and cultivated here on earth will develop within you there and will fill the content of your future life with rapture for eternity.
Remember the psalm-writer’s words: “Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.” The time for sowing is here on earth.
The time of each church fast is precisely the time in which we can sow the seeds of good in our souls.

Hieromonk Methody, “Before the eyes of God’s truth”)(Reprinted from “Orthodox Russia, No. 22, 2007)

A GIFT TO THE LORD FOR THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY

“And brought Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11). It was customary in the East to bring gifts to prominent people. The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon and brought him aromatic oils, much gold, precious stones, etc. That is why the Wise men brought gifts to the Infant Jesus and gave them to His Mother. And in our times, some carry on the tradition of giving presents to each other on the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity. What gift would be the most pleasing to our Lord? Let us look at the treasures the Wise men brought – can we not imitate their example?

Firstly, they brought gold – the most precious metal. But King David says that God’s Word is more precious and more desirable than precious gold. This means that if we study God’s Word and preserve it in our hearts, we have a gift which to the Lord is more precious than gold. This is His gift – Truth; there is nothing more precious than that.

Secondly,they brought frankincense. This is a kind of fragrant incense which by God’s command was used in the Old Testament tabernacle and in the temple. It has a very pleasant fragrance; rising to the heavens like clouds, it serves as a gift of thanksgiving, pleasing to God. If we bring our gift of thanksgiving to God, as the Psalmsinger says, would it not be more pleasing to God than frankincense? Is not our soul, sending the fragrance of thanksgiving to the heavens, worth more than incense?

Finally, the Wise men brought myrrh. Like frankincense, it is obtained from trees growing mostly in Arabia. To obtain it, the tree bark is cut and from it comes an aromatic sap that is used as part of the fragrant oil with which kings and high priests were anointed. The word myrrh means bitterness or sorrow. Could not we, too, bring such gifts to the Lord? Do we not sorrow and feel remorse over our sins? Heartfelt sorrow over our sins – this is our myrrh.

Thus we, too, can bring to our King the same gifts the Wise men brought to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh. We can bring Him God’s truth in our hearts, as King David says: “Your word I hid in my heart.” We can sincerely thank Him for coming down to earth to save us. We can confess before Him our sorrow over our sins, for which He had died. If we do so, then we will be as wise as the magi, and we will bring Him real gifts – true gold, incense, and myrrh.

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Feast of the Kazan icon of the mother of god

Many different misfortunes, sorrows, and woes befall mankind, but one should always remember that “God will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
If a misfortune occurs at home, say a child becomes sick, – no one can take care of him, calm him down, and comfort him like his own mother. But we all have a universal Mother in heaven Who is an earnest Intercessor for Christians. Countless times She has helped everyone who appealed to Her with faith and love, both individuals and entire cities, even entire nations. There is an especially great number of such examples in the history of Holy Russia. Among them is the event that led to the establishment of today’s holiday.
In the early 17th century tsars from the Rurik dynasty ceased to occupy the Russian throne, and the country was left without a ruler. A so-called Time of Troubles ensued, or, as the people called it, “the hard times.” Internally the country became subject to unrest among the populace, theft, murder; the treasury was empty; there was no law or order anywhere. Bordering regions were falling away from Russia one after another, and to top it all there was the issue of placing a foreign king on the Orthodox throne of Russia!
Making use of all this desolation, our enemies – the Poles – invaded Russia with their troops and easily conquered the heart of Russia – Moscow, took over the holy Kremlin. At that time it seemed that the very existence and sovereignty of our nation was threatened, but God judged otherwise. The moans and tears of the agonized and stricken native sons, the heartfelt entreaty of the faithful, together with the prayers of the saints and the Queen of Heaven and earth – the Mother of God Herself – reached the Lord. This was revealed to the people in a miraculous manner. In the dead of night the cell of Moscow’s hierarch Arseny, who was languishing in the besieged capital, being bedridden due to a severe illness, suddenly lit up with a wondrous light, and there appeared the venerable St. Sergius of Radonezh, who said to the hierarch: “Rejoice, father! Our and your prayers have been heard: through the intercession of the Theotokos God’s judgment upon our homeland has been changed to mercy; on the morrow Moscow will be in the hands of the besiegers, and Russia will be saved.” And as though in confirmation of the truth of these words the ailing elder was immediately healed of his illness.
The executors of God’s will in regard to the salvation of Russia were two prominent citizens: Kuzma Minin, a church warden from Nizhniy Novgorod, and Prince Dmitriy Pozharskiy. The first, after his famous speech in which he exclaimed: “Let us stand up for Holy Russia, for the house of the Most-holy Theotokos, let us liberate our homeland!” – amassed a magnificent treasury and assembled a militia, while the second stood at the head of this militia.
This holy army approached Moscow under extremely unfavorable circumstances, but it did not rely so much on its own strength as on aid from above, bearing within its ranks the miraculous Kazan icon of the Mother of God. And as soon as the Christ-loving army learned of God’s miraculously announced decision, influenced by the prayers of the Champion Leader, it bravely rushed forward and soon liberated Moscow from the Poles. Russia was saved. The hierarch Arseny came out of the city with a procession of the cross, in order to welcome the holy army. Great was the joy of the people and fervent was their prayer of thanksgiving to God and His holy saints, and above all to our universal Mother, the Queen of Heaven. In order to preserve for all time the memory of this glorious event, the Church established this yearly commemoration on 22nd October (4th November by the old calendar) in honor of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God. The icon itself remained in Moscow for a long time, and was later transferred to St. Petersburg, where it stayed in the specially-built Kazan Cathedral.
Thus it is obvious that in that terrible period of the hard times our homeland was saved by the protection and entreaty of the Christians’ earnest Intercessor. Therefore, each one of us, remembering the history of today’s holiday, should not become depressed if woes, suffering, disappointments, and all manner of deprivation befall him personally. Sometimes God’s Providence in its wisdom delays in delivering us from these temptations, allowing them in order to give us a chance to demonstrate more clearly our faith, hope, and love for God. In truth, how many times the Russian people appeared to be standing on the verge of destruction, but as soon as they acknowledged their sinfulness and returned to God, the Lord resurrected them as though from the dead and resurrected them with great glory. And how many times in the life of each one of us, if only we were able to see it, there was such a confluence of circumstances that we thought everything was ended, that there was no way out, and suddenly the tempest quieted down, the clouds dispersed, and the sun once again shone brightly upon us, warming us to the very core… We are naturally unworthy of such mercies, and our faith is weak, yet we are not alone, we can always receive the aid of our saints and above all the All-merciful Queen of Heaven, Who, attending to our tearful prayers, will Herself intercede for us before the throne of Her Son and our God, for the prayer of a Mother availeth much to the good will of the Lord.
Thus it was before, thus undoubtedly it will be always. We have no other aid, we have no other hope safe Thou, O Mistress. Do help us Thou, for in Thee we hope and Thee we glorify: we are Thy servants, may we not be shamed (Kontakion). O Most-holy Theotokos, save us! Amen. Protopriest Leonid Kolchev

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SYNAXIS OF THE HOLY ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
On the hierarch of Angels

We celebrate this day in honor of Archangel Michael and all the heavenly host. Who is this Michael and why is he also called the “Archistrategus” (i.e. chief commander)? The Heavenly King has many more hosts than all earthly kings put together. In the Scriptures the Lord is called Sabaoth, because thousands of thousands serve Him, and hosts of hosts stand before Him. When Christ was born, a great multitude of celestial warriors appeared before the shepherds of Bethlehem. Archangel Michael had been placed as the supreme commander over all these bodiless hosts, which is rendered by the Greek word “Archistrategus.”
In the beginning all the bodiless spirits were good. But when some of them were overcome by pride, fell away from the Almighty Lord, and became evil, Archangel Michael said to the remaining spirits, who were incidentally much greater in number: “Let us attend! Let us stand well before our Creator, and let us not have any thoughts against God.” All the good angels obeyed Archangel Michael and hymned: holy, holy, holy, the Lord Sabaoth, and now they are eternally rapturous, remaining loyal to their Creator, so that now they cannot fall and become evil, not because of their essence, but by the grace of God, just as all the holy saints, sojourning in heaven after their repose, will remain holy for ages and can no longer sin.
All the angels whom Archangel Michael commands are of unequal rank, some receiving instructions from others and being sent into service to help us, sinners, and intercede on our behalf. When a certain Angel was leaving the Prophet Zacharias after conversing with him, another Angel appeared before the first one and commanded him to return to the prophet, in order to announce to him the future fate of Jerusalem. St. Gregory the Dialogist comments on this: “There is no doubt here that one Angel is sending out another; the ones who are being sent are obviously lower in rank than the ones who are sending them.” In like manner a certain Angel ordered another one to explain to the Prophet Daniel the vision which the prophet had seen, but could not understand.
From these sacred testimonies we clearly see that the angels have their own hierarchy, that some of them command, while others obey, that some instruct, while others take orders. If such order exists among the angels who cannot sin, is it not even more necessary for people, who stumble at every step? Our very nature demands that those who are more capable, more informed, and more experienced take up the burden of command, while all the others remain subordinate.
Finally, scriptural accounts of angels assure us that they are our true helpers. We are often engaged in many difficult labors and are threatened by danger, especially because the evil spirits attempt to hinder all our good deeds. But whoever has a pure conscience has no need to fear. For a good Christian there are more helpers in heaven than enemies in the realm of darkness. Whoever refrains from sin is close to his heavenly intercessor. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear the Lord, and delivereth them (Psalm 34:7). O holy Archangel of God Michael with all the heavenly host, we pray thee, deliver us from our enemies! Amen. Archbishop Sergius of Khersones
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GUARDIAN ANGEL
The day on which the holy Church glorifies the Archangel Michael and the bodiless host is close to every believing Christian soul, for on this day we also glorify our celestial friend and protector – the Guardian Angel.
The Scriptures themselves bear witness to the Guardian Angels. The Guardian Angel is a friend who never betrays a person, who is assigned to him from the day of baptism to the day of

burial. The Guardian Angel is the only friend on whom a Christian can rely in his life, for everything that surrounds us here on earth is vapor, dust, and ashes – ever-changing impermanence.
In the awesome hour of death the Guardian Angel is our last helper, a faithful witness to all the good we had done on earth, to all that makes us worthy of our humanity.
But we are too remote in our lives from our Angels, just as we are too remote from all that is spiritual and invisible. We believe only in what we can perceive, what can be seen with the eye, touched with the hand. We have little belief and are weak in faith.
One of the goals of our spiritual life is to find the way to our Guardian Angel. This way can be found not through imagination and fantasy, which – alas! – often spoil our spiritual life, but through a continuous endeavor to purify our hearts. Only the pure in heart will see God, only the pure in heart are granted spiritual vision. And the true path to our heavenly helper and friend is the path of purifying the heart and combating sin.
O truly, according to the Apostle, sins are an impediment to us… How varied are the bitter fruits eaten by those who taste of sin. And if it were not for the power of Christ, what would a man do, who has become completely entrapped in evil deeds?
But man is saved by the grace of God and the help of the Guardian Angel. For if a man wishes with all his heart and does everything he possibly can to combat sin, the Lord will always stretch out His mighty hand to him and will deliver him from perdition, while the Guardian Angel will always be his constant helper and protector. Hieromonk Methody, “Before the eyes of God’s truth”) (Reprinted from “Orthodox Russia, No. 22, 2007) ****************************************************************************************************************************************************

On November 6th (October 24th by the old calendar) the Church commemorates the icon of the Mother of God “The Joy of All Who Sorrow.”

From ancient times this holy icon was kept in Moscow, where it became famous in the late 17th century during the reign of the princes Ioann and Peter, sons of

Tsar Aleksey, by healing the Patriarch Adrian’s sister Euthemia.

The unfortunate woman suffered for many years from terrible sores on her skin. She was treated by many physicians, but they all acknowledged themselves powerless to cure her. After that, giving herself over to the will of God, the sufferer began to await healing only from the Lord. Once, after a fervent early morning prayer, she heard a voice saying to her: “Euthemia, go to the church of My Son’s Transfiguration; there is an icon there, ‘The Joy of All Who Sorrow.’ Call a priest and have a moleben served before this icon.” Euthemia did exactly as she was told, and on October 24, 1688 she was completely cured.

On this day was established the commemoration of this miraculous icon, which, in contrast to other icons of the Theotokos, is depicted in a special manner. The Most-holy Mother of God is shown in full height, usually with the Infant Christ in Her arms, but sometimes without Him. At the top of the icon, above the Theotokos’ head, the Lord is seen giving His blessing. The distinguishing feature of the icon is the images of people suffering from various illnesses and overwhelmed by earthly sorrows and misfortunes. Among these rows of human sufferers are depicted angels handing out various blessings on behalf of the Theotokos. The name of the icon and the images depicted on it reflect the deep understanding which the Russian people had of the Theotokos’ great charity and compassion towards mankind.

CHRISTIAN TEACHING

On mercy

There is a certain moment in the Gospel, dear brethren, when a lawyer comes up to Christ and asks Him: Master, what should I do in order to inherit eternal life? The Lord then asks him in turn: What is written in the law about it? The lawyer replies: That we should love the Lord God with all our heart, all our soul, all our might, all our mind, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
It is to this key to attainment of eternal life that the Church leads us by means of sequential Sunday Gospel readings. One of the Gospel readings tells us of how Jairus, head of the synagogue, came to Christ: his only daughter was dying, and he could not find help anywhere. And so he ran up to Christ, fell at His feet, and begged: help… she is dying… my only one. Christ went with him.
And thus Jairus is going along with Christ. And this walk, perhaps a short one, appears to Jairus like a path of life. His daughter is dying, and yet he has hope… He has hope, because he has faith in that Christ can produce a great miracle, can accomplish the cure which no one else can achieve. And this walk with Christ is the entire path of Jairus’s life.
We all must have a similar path, dear brethren. All of us are traveling towards the moment of our departure from this life. Each one of us must await this moment. But if we have hope in Christ, if we hold onto Christ as Jairus did, if we do not abandon Christ no matter what disasters we encounter, then we will undoubtedly attain that which the lawyer asked about – we will attain eternal life.
But how should we proceed? How should we hold onto Christ? How should we make sure to remain with Him throughout the entire course of life? The course of life is usually a long one; for many it is often many years, sometimes 80, sometimes 90 or longer. How many dangers we face of being torn away from Christ! A veritable storm of disasters swirls around us: how many sorrows there are in our family lives between husband and wife, between parents and children; how many political crises we see in our society, how many horrible crimes, how the abandonment of God permeates all spheres of our earthly existence! Where should we turn? The answer is simple: we should emulate Jairus and attach ourselves to Christ, walk along with Him, hold onto Him.
And how can we hold onto Christ? The Gospel account of the good Samaritan reveals to us the secret of remaining with Christ. And the secret is: to be a good Samaritan always, everywhere, and towards everyone.
Let us examine ourselves as to whether we are truly good Samaritans. Here is our family around us, our children – have we taught them to be good? Here comes a person to us who is on the brink of moral disaster – have we supported him in his battle with sin? Over there our friend finds himself in difficult circumstances – have we helped him to the best of our ability? And how many people there are who need only a single word of encouragement, of attention, – and have we given them of ourselves as did the good Samaritan?
It is for this reason that the Lord provides us with this wonderful image of the good Samaritan, in order to teach us that only mercy can keep us at Christ’s side.
Children, for example, first grow baby teeth which fall out, giving way to other, permanent ones. The same must take place with our hearts. We are born with a coarse earthly heart, an egoistic heart. We would not be able to enter eternal life with such a heart. And, unfortunately, it will not fall out by itself. We must make a conscious effort to replace it with a new heart, no longer earthly, but belonging to Christ. And every time we help our neighbor, we make this effort, as though we were tearing off a piece of our heart and giving it to our neighbor, while in place of this little piece of earthly sinful heart the Lord places within us a piece of His own heart. And thus, throughout the entire course of our life, we must exchange our heart for a new, real heart, for the heart of Christ.
And at that point eternal life will open up for us. At that point nothing will tear us away from Christ, and we will obtain that about which the lawyer asked the Lord: eternal life. Amen. (From Archbishop Andrew of Novo-Diveevo’s book, “The One Thing Needful)

On the importance of the word
The word as an image of the Holy Trinity
From the essence of a thinking mind the word is born, inherent in it, exemplifying the thought and equal to it; from the thought issues the spirit of it, which rests within the word and by means of the word is transmitted to the listeners; this spirit is absolutely equal to both the thought and the word, and is equally inherent in both of them. For example, in the word love you can see the loving origin (the thought), and the word born of it, and you can feel the tender breath of love.
Idle words
For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (Matt. 12:36). So you see how you will be held accountable and punished even for every idle word and not only corrupting word. Because there are not and cannot be any idle words in the eyes of our Lord, Creator of the Word: the word of the Lord shall not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11); for with God not a single word shall remain powerless (Luke 1:37); and we are created in the image of God, – therefore, our words, too, should not be uttered idly or in vain, but each word should have spiritual power: let your speech be always with grace (Coloss. 4:6). For this reason, both in prayer and in conversation, be extremely attentive not to utter words idly, to no purpose.
The power of the word
The words of prayers are like rain or snow, if they are uttered with faith and compassion: each word contains its own power and bears its own fruit. Raindrops or snowflakes, falling upon the ground continuously, irrigate the soil, which then bears fruit; thus the words of prayer – that spiritual rain – each one separately irrigate the soul, which then bears the fruit of virtue with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, especially if it is accompanied by the rain of tears. (From the spiritual diary of St. John of Kronstadt, “My Life in Christ”)

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THE LIFE OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Commemorated November 13/26

The legion of saints of the Church is comprised of men of extraordinary ability whose talents may have been dissimilar but many of whom seem to have shared a common genius for oratory. Yet out of this vast assembly of eloquent speakers, whose reputation might have rested on their gift of expression alone, the one for whom the title "Chrysostom" (in Russian, "Zlatoust"), or "golden-mouthed" was reserved, was John of Antioch, known as St. John Chrysostom, a great distinction in view of the qualifications of so many others.

Endeared as one of the four great doctors of the Church, St. John Chrysostom was born in 347 in Antioch, Syria and was prepared for a career in law under the renowned Libanius, who marveled at his pupil's eloquence and foresaw a brilliant career for his pupil as statesman and lawgiver. But John decided, after he had been baptised at the age of 23, to abandon the law in favour of service to the Saviour. He entered a monastery which served to educate him in preparation for his ordination as a priest in 386 AD. From the pulpit there emerged John, a preacher whose oratorical excellence gained him a reputation throughout the Christian world, a recognition which spurred him to even greater expression that found favour with everyone but the Empress Eudoxia, whom he saw fit to examine in some of his sermons.

When St. John was forty-nine years old, his immense popularity earned him election to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, a prestigious post from which he launched a crusade against excessiveness and extreme wealth which the Empress construed as a personal affront to her and her royal court. This also gave rise to sinister forces that envied his tremendous influence. His enemies found an instrument for his indictment when they discovered that he had harboured some pious monks who had been excommunicated by his archrival Theophilos, Bishop of Alexandria, who falsely accused John of treason and surreptitiously plotted his exile.

When it was discovered that the great St. John had been exiled by the puppets of the state, there arose such a clamour of protest, promising a real threat of civil disobedience, that not even the royal court dared to confront the angry multitudes and St John was restored to his post. At about this time he put a stop to a practice which was offensive to him, although none of his predecessors outwardly considered it disrespectful; this practice was applauding in church, which would be considered extremely vulgar today, and the absence of which has added to the solemnity of Church services.

St. John delivered a sermon in which he deplored the adulation of a frenzied crowd at the unveiling of a public statue of the Empress Eudoxia. His sermon was grossly exaggerated by his enemies, and by the time it reached the ears of the Empress it resulted in his permanent exile from his beloved city of Constantinople. The humiliation of banishment did not deter the gallant, golden-mouthed St. John, who continued to communicate with the Church and wrote his precious prose until he died in the lonely reaches of Pontus in 407.

The treasure of treatises and letters which St. John left behind, included the moving sermon that is heard at Easter Sunday services. The loss of his sermons which were not set down on paper is incalculable. Nevertheless, the immense store of his excellent literature reveals his insight, straightforwardness, and rhetorical splendour, and commands a position of the greatest respect and influence in Christian thought, rivaling that of other Fathers of the Church. His liturgy, which we respectfully chant on Sundays, is a living testimony of his greatness.

The slight, five-foot St. John stood tall in his defiance of state authority, bowing only to God and never yielding the high principles of Christianity to expediency or personal welfare. In the words of his pupil, Cassia of Marseilles, "It would be a great thing to attain his stature, but it would be difficult. Nevertheless, a following of him is lovely and magnificent."

Chrysostom as a Monk (AD 374-381)

After the death of his mother, Chrysostom fled from the seductions and tumults of city life to the monastic solitude of the mountains south of Antioch, and there spent six happy years in theological study and sacred meditation and prayer. Monasticism was to him (as to many other great teachers of the Church) a profitable school of spiritual experience and self-government. He embraced this mode of life as "the true philosophy" from the purest motives, and brought into it intellect and cultivation enough to make the seclusion available for moral and spiritual growth.

He gives us a lively description of the bright side of this monastic life. The monks lived in separate cells or huts, but according to a common rule and under the authority of an abbot. They wore coarse garments of camel's hair or goat's hair over their linen tunics. They rose before sunrise, and began the day by singing a hymn of praise and common prayer under the leadership of the abbot. Then they went to their allotted task, some to read, others to write, others to manual labour for the support of the poor. Four hours in each day were devoted to prayer and singing. Their only food was bread and water, except in case of sickness. They slept on straw couches, free from care and anxiety. There was no need of bolts and bars. They held all things in common, and the words of "mine and thine," which cause innumerable strifes in the world, were unknown among the brethren. If one died, he caused no lamentation, but thanksgiving, and was carried to the grave amidst hymns of praise; for he was not dead, but "perfected," and permitted to behold the face of Christ. For them to live was Christ, and to die was gain.

Chrysostom was an admirer of active and useful monasticism, and warns against the dangers of idle contemplation. He shows that the words of our Lord, "One thing is needful"; "Take no anxious thought for the morrow"; "Labour not for the meat that perisheth," do not inculcate total abstinence from work, but only undue anxiety about worldly things, and must be harmonised with the apostolic exhortation to labour and to do good. He defends monastic seclusion on account of the prevailing immorality in the cities, which made it almost impossible to cultivate there a higher Christian life.

Chrysostom as Patriarch of Constantinople (AD 398-404)

After the death of Nectarius towards the end of the year 397, Chrysostom was chosen, entirely without his own agency and even against his remonstrance, archbishop of Constantinople. He was hurried away from Antioch by a military escort, to avoid a commotion in the congregation and to make resistance useless. He was consecrated Feb. 26, 398, by his Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, who reluctantly yielded to the command of the Emperor Arcadius.

Constantinople, built by Constantine the Great in 330, on the site of Byzantium, assumed as the Eastern capital of the Roman empire the first position among the Episcopal sees of the East, and became the centre of court theology, court intrigues, and theological controversies.

Chrysostom soon gained by his eloquent sermons the admiration of the people, of the weak Emperor Arcadius, and, at first, even of his wife Eudoxia, with whom he afterwards waged a deadly war. He extended his pastoral care to the Goths who were becoming numerous in Constantinople, had a part of the Bible translated for them, often preached to them himself through an interpreter, and sent missionaries to the Gothic and Scythian tribes on the Danube. He continued to direct by correspondence those missionary operations even during his exile. For a short time he enjoyed the height of power and popularity.

But he also made enemies by his denunciations of the vices and follies of the clergy and aristocracy. He emptied the Episcopal palace of its costly plate and furniture and sold it for the benefit of the poor and the hospitals. He introduced his strict ascetic habits and reduced the luxurious household of his predecessors to the strictest simplicity. He devoted his large income to benevolence. He refused invitations to banquets, gave no dinner parties, and ate the simplest fare in his solitary chamber. He denounced unsparingly luxurious habits in eating and dressing, and enjoined upon the rich the duty of almsgiving to an extent that tended to increase rather than diminish the number of beggars who swarmed in the streets and around the churches and public baths. He disciplined the vicious clergy and opposed the perilous and immoral habit of unmarried priests of living under the same roof with "spiritual sisters." This habit dated from an earlier age, and was a reaction against celibacy. Cyprian had raised his protest against it, and the Council of Nicea forbade unmarried priests to live with any females except close relations.

The Empress Eudoxia was jealous of his influence over Arcadius and angry at his uncompromising severity against sin and vice. She became the chief instrument of his downfall.

At the request of the clergy of Ephesus and the neighbouring bishops, he visited that city in January, 401, held a synod and deposed six bishops convicted of shameful simony [buying/selling of ecclesiastical privileges, such as pardons or benefices]. During his absence of several months he left the Episcopate of Constantinople in the hands of Severian, bishop of Gabala, an unworthy and adroit flatterer, who basely betrayed his trust and formed a cabal headed by the empress and her licentious court ladies, for the ruin of Chrysostom.

On his return to Constantinople he spoke on Elijah's relation to Jezebel in such a manner that Eudoxia understood it as a personal insult. The clergy were anxious to get rid of a bishop who was too severe for their lax morals.

The Repose of Saint John and the Transfer of His Relics

The saint died in the city of Comene on September 14th in the year 407 on his way to a place of exile, having been condemned by the intrigues of the empress Eudoxia because of his daring denunciation of the vices ruling over Constantinople. The last words on his lips were, "Glory be to God for all things!" The transfer of his venerable relics was made in the year 438: after 30 years following the death of the saint during the reign of Eudoxia's son emperor Theodosius II (408-450).

Saint John Chrysostom had the warm love and deep respect of the people, and grief over his untimely death lived on in the hearts of Christians. Saint John's student, Saint Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople (434-447), making Divine-services in the Church of Saint Sophia, preached a sermon which in glorifying Saint John he said: "O John! Thy life was filled with difficulties, but thy death was glorious, thy grave is blessed and reward abundant through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place! Love hath conquered space, unforgetting memory hath annihilated the limits, and place doth not hinder the miracles of the saint." Those who were present in church, deeply touched by the words of Saint Proclus, did not allow him even to finish his sermon. With one accord they began to entreat the Patriarch to intercede with the emperor, so that the relics of Saint John might be transferred to Constantinople. The emperor, overwhelmed by Saint Proclus, gave his consent and made the order to transfer the relics of Saint John. But the people dispatched by him were by no means able to lift up the holy relics -- not until that moment when the emperor realising his oversight that he had not sent the message to Saint John, humbly beseeching of him forgiveness for himself and for his mother Eudoxia. The message was read at the grave of Saint John and after this they easily lifted up the relics, carried them onto a ship and arrived at Constantinople. The reliquary coffin with the relics was placed in the Church of the holy Martyr Irene. The Patriarch opened the coffin: the body of Saint John had remained without decay. The emperor, having approached the coffin with tears, asked forgiveness. All day and night people did not leave the coffin. In the morning the reliquary coffin with its relics was brought to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The people cried out: "Receive back thy throne, father!" Then Patriarch Proclus and the clergy standing at the relics saw Saint John open his mouth and pronounce: "Peace be to all."

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