From “For All the Saints”, Prayers and Readings for Saints’ Days According to the Calendar of the Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher of the Faith, 407 — Memorial 27 January On this day we remember John, an ancient bishop of Constantinople whose eloquence earned him the nickname Chrys-os’-tom, “John the golden mouth.” But he was more than a brilliant preacher. He also led a life of true holiness, giving himself continually both to prayer and to the cause of justice. Born at Antioch around the year 350 and raised by his widowed mother, John studied rhetoric under an eminent pagan teacher. Years later, when someone asked this teacher whom he wanted as his successor. “John would have been my choice,” he answered, “if the Christians had not stolen him from us.” Stolen or not, John gave his whole heart to the Christian way. While his mother lived, he stayed with her at home, but under a strict rule of life. When she died, he tried his vocation as a hermit. Ill health drove him back to Antioch, where he was ordained to the priesthood. During the next twelve years John earned his reputation as a preacher who made the text of the New Testament come alive for his hearers. His fame quickly spread far beyond his home city, and in the year 398 the emperor decided that he should become bishop of the imperial capital, Constantinople. John attempted to reform the moral character of his clergy and called upon the imperial court to heed the cries of the poor and the hungry. His innocence in ecclesiastical politics made him easy prey for his unscrupulous rivals, and they engineered a synod which tried John on trumped-up charges and deposed him. The emperor confirmed the synod’s judgement and sent John into exile. Soon afterwards Constantinople was hit by an earthquake. This put the imperial court in fear of God’s wrath, and John was recalled, only to be exiled again a few months later. He died in the year 407, a victim of brutal treatment and exposure. Sentence The Lord has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Isaiah 50.4 Collect O God, you gave a golden eloquence to your servant John that he might declare your justice before the face of the proud and mighty. Grant us, after his example, such faithfulness to your word, that we may strengthen the hearts of the weary and sustain those who are afflicted by wrong; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 15:54:45 +0000
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