St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor.

 

JOHN was born around 347 at Antioch in Asia Minor. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by a very pious mother. He was well-educated, having studied rhetoric under Libanius, one of the most famous orators of his day. He became a monk, then a preacher and priest for a dozen years in Syria. While there he developed a stomach ailment that troubled him the rest of his life.

It was for his sermons that John earned the title Chrysostom [“golden mouthed”]. They were always on point, explaining the Scriptures with clarity, and sometimes went on for hours. Reluctantly he was made bishop of Constantinople in 398, a move that involved him in imperial politics. He criticized the rich for not sharing their wealth, fought to reform the clergy, prevented the sale of ecclesiastical offices, called for fidelity in marriage, and encouraged practices of justice and charity. Archbishop and Patriarch of Constantinople, he revised the Greek Liturgy. Because John’s sermons advocated a change in their lives, some nobles and bishops worked to remove him from his diocese. He was twice exiled from his diocese. Banished to Pythius, he died on the way of natural causes.

Greek Father of the Church, proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 451.