John Chrysostom was born around 354 in Antioch, Syria. As a young man, he first responded to the call of desert monasticism until his health was impaired. He then returned to Antioch after six years as a monk and was ordained a priest. In 397, he became Bishop of Constantinople.

John, called “Chrysostom,” which means “the golden-mouthed,”is regarded as one of the greatest preachers in Christian history. People flocked to hear him. His eloquence was accompanied by an acute sensitivity to the needs of people. He saw preaching as an integral part of pastoral care, and as a medium of teaching. He warned that if a priest had no talent for preaching the Word of God, the souls of those in his charge “will fare no better than ships tossed in the storm.”

Chrysostom is renowned to this day for his Easter sermon, which continues to be read from pulpits around the world. It reads in part: “Hell is angry because it has been thwarted! Hell is angry because it has been mocked! Hell is angry because it has been destroyed! It is angry because it has been abolished! It is angry because it has been taken captive! Hell seized a body but it discovered God. It seized earth and it encountered heaven. It seized what it saw and was vanquished by what it did not see. O death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is thy victory“

Chrysostom describes the Christian eucharistic liturgy as a glorious experience, in which all of heaven and earth join together in the worship of God. His treatise On the Priesthood remains a classic manual on the priestly vocation and its demands. The priest, he wrote, mustbe “dignified, but not haughty; awe-inspiring, but kind; affable in his authority; impartial, but courteous; humble, but not servile, strong but gentle ...”

Chrysostom was particularly eloquent concerning the Christian obligation to care for the poor, saying: “If you cannot remember everything, instead of everything, I beg you, remember this without fail, that not to share our own wealth with the poor is stealing from the poor and deprivation of their means of life, for we do not possess our own wealth but theirs. If we have this attitude, we will certainly offer our money; and by nourishing Christ in poverty here and laying up great profit hereafter, we will be able to attain to the good things that are to come.”

While he was extolled as a preacher and pastor, his fiery temperament was poorly suited to the subtle politics demanded by his ministry as a bishop, and his episcopate was short but tumultuous. He was twice exiled, and he died during the second period of banishment, on September 14th, 407. Thirty-one years later, his remains were brought back to Constantinople, and were buried on January 27th, which thus became the traditional date of his commemoration.