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Part Α
THE PERSONALITY OF A MUCH-SUFFERING SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

1. Biography of Chrysostom

2. Accession of Chrysostom to the Patriarchate of Constantinople

3. Conviction and banishment of Chrysostom

Part Β
The Priesthood according to Saint John Chrysostom

1. The Glory of Priesthood according to Saint John Chrysostom

3. Conviction and banishment of Chrysostom

The Pseudo-council, in which the wild human passions and the abysmal hate triumphed against a co-bishop who was completely innocent -often God allows the slander and injustice of the just- condemned Chrysostom in absentia, deposed him and decided to banish him. The decision of the Pseudo-synod was sanctioned by the Emperor.

To avoid a blood bath and other reactions by the supporters of Chrysostom, he was secretly led, escorted by the army, to Bithynia ( Pr?netum ). The people, though, his faithful flock, was informed about what had happened and surrounded the palace asking for the recall of Chrysostom. Conflicts followed leading to injuries and murders. Then, by coincidence, a big earthquake shook Constantinople which, apart from the other disasters, caused some damages to the Empress's bedroom. The superstitious empress attributed this event to the Divine wrath, connecting it with the banishment of Chrysostom and realizing in the depths of her heart her guilt for being associated with the banishment of the Holy man, insistently asked her husband, Arcadius, to recall Chrysostom and he immediately accepted.

Chrysostom, though, asked for a relevant decision of a Council in order to come back, but there was no time for summoning such a Council since the bishops had just left for their provinces after the Pseudo-council at the Oak. Chrysostom, therefore, was forced to comply with the imperial decision without a Synodical one and be restored to his throne.

His return was triumphant and the people gave him a hearty reception; Chrysostom gave impromptu a speech -a work of rhetoric art and beauty- in order to thank them; there he praised and commended his flock for their attitude during the adventure of his banishment and the devotion they showed to him. He said : " What should I do in order to pay you back for your love? My blood is ready to be given for your salvation". Justice was, thus, restored and prevailed but unfortunately only for a short period of time. The return and restoration of Chrysostom to his throne was a fragile truce. His enemies did not rest and were now better organized so that their attempt against him would be successful.

The cause was again a speech of Chrysostom in which he complained to the Empress about the noise caused by the celebrations (games and dances) held in order to honour empress Eudoxia whose silver statue was erected near the Church of Agia Sophia (Saint Sophia), opposite the House of the Senate, in the central market; the noise hindered the celebration of the Mass. Chrysostom talked very strictly against the ones that participated in those events and it seems that his words were rather harsh and with many insinuations against Eudoxia. Socrates, the historian, mentions the beginning of a speech which is attributed, not without objections, to Chrysostom: " Again Herodias raves; again she is troubled; she dances again; and again desires to receive John's head in a charger ".

Eudoxia and the Court, in general, were annoyed and angry with the words of Chrysostom. She asked her husband, Arcadius, to take measures against him. Indeed, the feeble Arcadius convened a new local Council in 404 which again convicted Chrysostom on the charge of " entering his Church, without the sanction of a council, but with a royal order" and exiled him to Cucusus of Armenia. Of course, Chrysostom, made efforts and did whatever was necessary to prove his right and that the conviction and exile was the result of personal empathy of the bishops who were his opponents, Theophilus and the people of the Court, and not the consequence of violating the Canon.

His actions, though, did not yield any result and on the 10 th of June, 404 , he was led to exile.

Chrysostom was violently led to the place of his exile on the 10 th of June 404 . The journey there was not only adventurous, but literally agonising, full of hardships and ordeals. He was escorted by hard soldiers, travelling exhausted and fevered along rugged roads, wild mountain regions, sometimes in extremely cold weather and sometimes in blistering heat, in the wild nature of mountainous Armenia . However, he showed again patience and power of endurance and he had the courage to show that he was not influenced by his own personal hardships; he wrote numerous letters from his exile from which approximately 242 are saved. There he described to his friends the adventures of his journey to the exile and found the opportunity to highlight the moral value of ordeals urging everybody to lead a life according to Christ's preaching. The communication and sympathy of some people were his only consolation and comfort. He used to say " this brings me high consolation; to have the whole world as allies in my ordeals".

But the communication between him and his friends and their correspondence annoyed his enemies who reacted by taking actions and succeeding in transferring him to a more remote area, the desolate Pityus, at the foot of Caucasus , near the shore of the Black Sea

A new journey, much worse and more difficult than the previous one, started through difficult and dangerous passages. After walking for three months, they reached Comana of the Euxine; Chrysostom was exhausted and his strength, due to fever, abandoned him completely. He was carried to the church of the village , Saint Basiliscus, where dressed in white vestments given to him by the priest, and crossing himself, he communicated in the symbols of the Lord for the last time saying his customary words "Glory be to God for all things" and immediately after that he leaned to the hands of the priest and gave his last breath on the 14 th September, 407.

He died in exile and deposed, when he was approximately 60 years old; from the 60 years of his life, he spent 6-7 as an ascetic, 6 as a deacon, 12 as a Presbyter, 9 years and 7 months as an Archbishop and 3 years and 3 months in exile.

The deposition of Chrysostom from the Patriarchate throne led to a schism within the Church as his followers - who were called Johannites- did not recognise his successor despite his persistent recommendations to them to obey to the new ecclesiastical rulers and preserve the unity of the Church; as well as to a schism between the Church of Constantinople and the Churches of Rome, Antioch and Alexandria. This schism was restored when the Churches consented to insert John's name into the diptychs of the Church - Antioch in 413, Constantinople during Atticus in 417 and Alexandria in 419. Characteristic of the empathy against Chrysostom are the words of Cyril who said " they would as soon put the name of Judas on the rolls as that of Chrysostom ".

The schism of Johannites was restored with the translation of Chrysostom's relics to Constantinople during Proclus, in 438.

The translation of the relics (celebrated on 27 January) from Comana was accompanied by a letter -order- of the emperor Theodosius the 2 nd , son of Arcadius and Eudoxia, in which he wrote: " Theodosius the Emperor to my spiritual father Saint John Chrysostom, the teacher of the whole world: Most honored father, considering thy precious body to be lifeless, like the bodies of other dead men, I commanded that it be brought here immediately; but on account of mine unworthiness, matters did not turn out as I had intended. Therefore, I am sending to thee, as to one truly alive, this letter. Bury mine impudent offence in the abyss of thy wisdom, and forgive me, the penitent, O thou who teachest all men repentance. Return to thy devoted children, bringing us joy".

The entire population welcomed his relics; all the people, clergy and monks with the emperor, the Court, the senate and all the other officials being the leaders welcomed and reverently kissed his relics which they accompanied to the Church of Saint Apostles . The expressions of love, honour and deep respect to the wronged hierarch from the myriads of people were unprecedented. A majestic grave had been prepared worthy of his magnificence.

The Emperor Theodosius the 2 nd , himself, kissed the coffer; he removed his purple robe, spread it over it and deeply moved and on his knees asked for forgiveness for the injustice inflicted upon him by his parents Arcadius and Eudoxia and begged him to pardon them and forgive their offence.

His memory is honoured on the 13 th November and on the 30 th of January along with the two other great Hierarchs: Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian.

And as it has been correctly said, the feast days of the Saints aim at making the honoured Saints known to the faithful -their lives and achievements- so that they can follow their examples.

According to John Chrysostom " a feast is for the demonstration of good deeds, for the devotion of the soul, for the state's correctness". That was the earthly life of John Chrysostom and the life of every faithful person must be similar to his.

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