Saint John Chrysostom describing his exile and persecution shortly before his death.
"However much we are stretched by our trials, by so much do our consolations increase, giving us firmer hopes for the future. For now everything is flowing along well for us, and we are sailing with four winds. Who could have foreseen this? Who could have foretold? Reefs and shoals, whirlpools and hurricanes all threaten shipwreck--a moonless night, darkest gloom, precipices and crags. And yet through all this we are settled, sailing on such seas that we are no worse off than a ship rocking in a harbor.
Taking all these things into account, therefore, most beloved by God, be lifted up above these tumults and billowing waves. Do not give yourself over to the tyranny of despair, but conquer the storm with reason. You can do it, for the surging sea is not stronger than your ability to master it.
Therefore, in reflecting on these things, scatter the cloud of despondency. Consider this: that the pleasant and sorrowful things of this present life are altogether passing away. If the gate is narrow and the way is hemmed in, still it is a way.
And now, escaping from the earth, and especially from the bond of the flesh, open the wings of your wisdom, not letting it be submerged by shadows and smoke, nor drawn down earthward. Meditating upon these things within yourself, most beloved by God, throw off this heavy burden of despondency."
-- Saint John Chrysostom ("Letters to the Deaconess Olympia," 404 A.D.) Archbishop of Constantinople.
Among
the many letters of St. John Chrysostom the most famous are the letters
he wrote to the deaconess Olympia after he was exiled from
Constantinople in the year 404. She was a wealthy widow, a woman known
in Constantinople for her faith and devotion to
human needs. She was known for “supplying the widows, raising the
orphans, shielding the elderly, looking after the weak, having
compassion on sinners, guiding the lost, having pity on all, attending
with all her heart to the poor, catechizing many unbelieving women and
making provision for all their material necessities of life. Thus, she
left a reputation for goodness throughout her whole life which is ever
to be remembered. Having called from slavery to freedom her myriad
household servants, she proclaimed them to be of equal honor [isotimon]
as her own nobility [eugeneias].” The letters to Olympia are full of
reassuring, comforting words despite his own suffering in the exile that
brought his life to an end in 407. His words to Olympia can also
comfort and reassure us 1600 years later as we face our own storms and
fears.
Who was Saint John Chrysostom?
St.
John, named Chrysostom (golden-mouthed) on account of his eloquence,
came into the world of Christian parents, about the year 344, in the
city of Antioch. His mother, at the age of 20, was a model of virtue. He
studied rhetoric under Libanius, a pagan, the most famous orator of the age.
In
374, he began to lead the life of an anchorite in the mountains near
Antioch, but in 386 the poor state of his health forced him to return to
Antioch, where he was ordained a priest.
In
398, he was elevated to the See of Constantinople and became one of the
greatest lights of the Church. But he had enemies in high places and
some were ecclesiastics, not the least being Theophilus, Patriarch of
Alexandria, who repented of this before he died. His most powerful
enemy, however, was the empress Eudoxia, who was offended by the
apostolic freedom of his discourses. Several accusations were brought
against him in a pseudo-council, and he was sent into exile.
In
the midst of his sufferings, like the apostle, St. Paul, whom he so
greatly admired, he found the greatest peace and happiness. His strength and hope was buried in Christ, and no Church official could destroy his Orthodox Faith. His enemies were not satisfied with the
sufferings he had already endured, and they banished him still further,
to Pythius, at the very extremity of the Empire. He died on his way
there on September 14, 407.
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