Книга четвертая (403 г.)

Theophilus arrives in Chalcedon by land. – Theophilus’s solemn entry into Constantinople. - He refuses a date with Chrysostom and settles in the palace of Plakidia. - Accusation of Chrysostom according to the suggestions of Theophilus. - Council in Oak, presided over by Theophilus. - Chrysostom, summoned to the court of the Council, refuses to appear. - Anti-cathedral in the archbishop's house. – Scenes of violence in Constantinople and Chalcedon. – Indictment against Chrysostom; he is deposed without being heard. - The long brothers submit to Theophilus. - Death of Dioscorus and Ammonius. – Excitement throughout the city; Severian is expelled; the people want to throw Theophilus into the sea. - Exile of Chrysostom to Bithynia. – Earthquake in Constantinople; the empress's horror: she returns the exiled one. – Return of Chrysostom to Constantinople. – His speech and reconciliation with the empress. Going to Constantinople, Theophilus chose the dry route in order to turn the bishops of those provinces through which he had to pass against Chrysostom. He did not hide the purpose of his journey. “I am going to the court,” he said, “to depose Archbishop John.” In proconsular Asia, he entered into an agreement with the Churches, which were still excited by the recent punishments of Chrysostom. The dissatisfied resorted to Theophilus, declaring - some about the violation of their electoral rights, others - about the removal of bishops without an ecclesiastical court. The exiled Bishop of Nicomedia, the sorcerer Gerontius, was also not slow in providing deft assistance in this rivalry of rancor and vindictiveness against the archbishop. Thus things changed quickly. For the Asian Churches, Theophilus was the restorer of the former order; he took upon himself the work of the second judge, who, with the assistance of the upcoming Council, could abolish the iniquities of the first and restore force to the trampled laws. 28 Egyptian bishops were waiting for him in Chalcedon, where he joined them. The bishop of this city, an Egyptian by birth, received them as brothers, and also awaited the patriarch with the feelings characteristic of a subordinate rather than a brother. It was Kirin, the same one who accompanied Chrysostom on his Ephesian journey in 401 and who suddenly became his enemy, whether to please Theophilus or due to some personal displeasure is unknown. But it is known that no one spoke with more bile about the Archbishop of Constantinople than he, calling him nothing more than a proud, stubborn, wicked man. The time of the Council was approaching (it took place in mid-June, and the Council was to open the following month), therefore the bishops of the provinces east of Chalcedon, or those who were afraid of a long voyage, arrived here in order to board ships in this city, where the Bosphorus reaches its smallest width. They gathered here from Armenia, Persia, Mesopotamia, and from the coastal provinces of Phrygia. Those who seemed inclined were held back by Kirin, and Theophilus attracted them to secret conferences. The core of this alliance was its Egyptians. They probably argued there with great animation, especially Kirin, who was distinguished by his hot-tempered and violent disposition. During one of these disputes, a half-Persian named Marutas, bishop of Mesopotamia, accidentally crushed his leg. His sandal was probably bound with heavy iron, because Kirin's foot was wounded to such an extent that gangrene set in, and it subsequently had to be taken away. This incident greatly annoyed Theophilus, who was counting on the Bishop of Chalcedon, a brave crafty man, who he really needed to lead indecisive people, because many of those who were approached refused to accept the invitation. To his great regret, he could not take it with him to Constantinople. It was Thursday, six o'clock in the afternoon, when Theophilus, giving a sign to the rowers, finished crossing the Bosphorus with his 28 bishops. In all likelihood, he landed in a harbor designated exclusively for ships arriving from Chalcedon, which is why the port was called Chalcedon. The entire bishop's flotilla was decorated for his meeting, the entire Egyptian population stood in regular rows around the pier, so that the patriarch, landing in the capital, received an almost royal welcome. Accompanied by his bishops and an army of Egyptians, he moved through the city to the quarter of Perasma, where the Emperor placed at his disposal one of his palaces, called the Palace of Placidia. This quarter of Perasma, now called Peroyu, was separated from the city itself by the Kerassky Bay, or Horn, which was a large harbor with numerous ships that served day and night to communicate one quarter with another. On the way from the Chalcedon pier to Peru and to the palace of Placidia, where Theophilus was supposed to be accommodated, he should have passed by the episcopal church, to which the archbishop's house was adjacent. Chrysostom was waiting for Theophilus there to invite him to stay with him, but Theophilus declined this invitation. He did not even enter the church to serve a thanksgiving service there, as was due to the bishop and as was customary. Having completed his journey with pride, he settled down with his retinue in the imperial palace prepared for him. He behaved in the same way in the following days, rejecting the archbishop’s invitations and refusing to communicate and even meet with him. “Isn’t this,” said the offended Chrysostom, eager for an explanation with all his might, “isn’t this a declaration of war made to the bishop at the door of his church? Isn’t this a preparation for battle and a great temptation for the whole city?” The ship on which 28 bishops of Theophilus arrived from Alexandria also brought a significant cargo of precious Indian fabrics, aromas and incense from Arabia, intended for gifts and bribery. Theophilus divided them among the court officials and matrons of the city, which he needed, adding to this, as was his custom, a fair amount of money. Thus he gained favor in the high society of Constantinople. In the palace of Placidia, he led a lifestyle befitting only a king or a consul: its doors were open and he convened, according to a contemporary, the people he needed, spiritual and secular, whom he considered enemies of the archbishop, to brilliant feasts. It was here that everything that could serve for the process initiated by the legal order was insidiously gathered and combined. Two deacons, removed from the Church of Constantinople, one for adultery, the other for murder, had free access to the patriarch, and history portrays them as the most active instruments of his machinations. Theophilus was also quick to enter into an alliance with Evgrafia, whose house he visited diligently. So, in Constantinople there were two secret gatherings that met constantly and were directed against Chrysostom: one - in the palace of Placidia, for current intrigues and for the unification of visiting bishops, the other - at Evgrafia, for the general leadership of the conspiracy. The second of them, where Severian of Gavalsky and his constant companions, Antiochus of Ptolemais and Akakios of Vereia, sat, had contact with the court, conferring on the implementation of the plan. The Empress, more inexorable than ever, was his soul. An honest impulse or repentance of Arkady almost disturbed the peace of the attackers. The claim of the Long Brothers against the slanderers, supported in principle by Eudoxia herself, received a favorable outcome in the praetorian court. The bishop and four abbots, informers against the Nitrian monks, seeing that the case threatened them with the most severe sentence, because they brought against Ammonius and his comrades an important charge of sorcery associated with insulting His Majesty, and, moreover, frightened by the empress’s disposition in favor of the defendants, they ended up all agreeing. They admitted that the case was false, or at least unknown to them, that the petition was not compiled by them, and in this whole matter they were only obedient servants of their patriarch. According to their confession, they were declared guilty and sentenced to death. This all happened during Theophilus’s journey and before the strongest anger against Chrysostom flared up again in Eudoxia. Having learned about everything from the praetorian officials, the Emperor, whose religious feelings were offended by the actions of the patriarch, became very angry and, upon the latter’s arrival, decided to bring him to trial for these actions at the upcoming Council. The honor of religion, he thought, required a solemn explanation of this matter, and if the crime was confirmed, then punishment. Being under the influx of such thoughts and for his own peace of mind, he summoned Chrysostom, whom he instructed to interrogate Theophilus in the palace of Placidia. Chrysostom rejected the Emperor's order. “I cannot,” he said respectfully, “contribute to the violation of church decrees by trying a bishop outside his area.” Then he showed the Emperor a letter in which Theophilus himself, regarding the same case of the Long Brothers, disputed the significance in relation to himself of any Council except the Egyptian one. No matter how much Arkady objected, the archbishop stood by his answer. Leaving aside the voice of conscience, which could prevent him from taking upon himself judgment over an obvious enemy, the question is, what other incentive was there for refusal, when he was the first to suggest the idea of ​​a Council in Constantinople to judge the Nitrian monks with their bishop? Why was he now challenging this idea? Was he afraid that the church case would not move into the realm of secular court regarding open violence and slander? Did he not withdraw from any participation in a matter that seemed to him to infringe on the dignity of the bishop? Be that as it may, he stood firm in his decision, Theophilus escaped great danger thanks to the honesty of his opponent, and Arkady soon forgot about all this. Nevertheless, in the camp of the Alexandrians, as they were called, the anxiety was great, and the presence of the condemned slanderers continued to embarrass the patriarch. He asked, with the assistance of court officials, and perhaps Augusta herself, that their punishment be commuted and the execution commuted to exile. These people, who put him in an unpleasant position, were removed from Constantinople, and for a while the matter calmed down. Meanwhile, the city population, excited by various rumors, began to worry. Crowds of artisans, dock workers, and even suburban peasants gathered near the bishop's house and stood there, as if fearing some kind of violence against their bishop. During the day, the churches were full of people, and in the evening, litanies, voluntarily arranged, walked around the porticos of squares and streets with great animation. It was a statement of strong public concern, and, without opposing it, Chrysostom invited his faithful to come there, sing, pray - in a word, to oppose the intercession of heaven to the evil plans of earth. However, he did not appear there in person. Frightened by this popular movement, Theophilus begged a security guard from the court under the guise of an honor guard. Not considering this precaution sufficient, in secret meetings with Evgrafia they discussed whether the meetings of the Council would be safe near this mob, so devoted to the archbishop, and whether it would not be more prudent to move them somewhere from Constantinople. The Bishop of Gavala knew from experience what these Byzantine people were like when they saw their favorite in danger, and he could give this advice. One could also be afraid that such a mood of the whole city would not influence the visiting bishops, who, moreover, were not very willing to cooperate with court intrigues. In a word, everyone agreed to ask the Emperor to move the Cathedral to another place. Which place to choose? This was the subject of the second meeting. When some suggested Chalcedon, Theophilus supported this choice, remembering the Bishop of Cyrinus, who had been prevented by a wound from sitting in Constantinople and who would have been a powerful force in his own Church. And there was one more argument in favor of Chalcedon. This city was, strictly speaking, a suburb of Constantinople, and the meeting of the Council on one or the other bank of the Bosphorus did not in the least change the meaning or even the expression of the decree on its convening - the Council meeting in Chalcedon would still be Constantinople. And indeed, history gives it either this name, or the Cathedral in Oak (that was the name of the district of the old city of Chalcedon). After this decision of the case, a third question was proposed, an important question. Will Chrysostom want to appear outside his Church? For, if geographically Chalcedon was only a suburb of Constantinople, the Church of Chalcedon was completely separate and had its own special bishop. Will Chrysostom agree to be tried outside his church district? This was doubtful. "Nothing! “If he doesn’t want it,” one of those present shouted in a loud voice, “then we will force him to do it!” We will ask the Emperor to use his power to leave his appearance to the good will of the Council.” This solved the difficulty - the Emperor was presented with a solution. He approved it. In the suburban area of ​​Chalcedon, on the outskirts of Dube, stood a palace bearing the same name and famous for its splendor throughout the East. It was a summer residence, which was built for himself with money obtained by the theft of public and private property, ten or twelve years ago, by the well-known praetorian prefect Rufinus, which is why the palace was also called Rufiana, or Rufiniana, Villa Rufina. Gold, expensive stones, rare marble, and precious Asian wood were used in abundance for the construction and decoration of this palace. The Rufinova Villa was known in the 5th century as a miracle of art and was mentioned more than once by historians. After the death of its owner, it became state property and passed from hand to hand until the time of Justinian, when Belisarius owned it, always causing surprise. Arcadia's decree transferred the meetings of the Council to this villa, worthy of the Caesars. Adjacent to the palace itself was a large basilica, the Apostoleum, dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul. In 394, in the font, with a large gathering of bishops, Rufinus was baptized by the eldest of the Long Brothers, Ammonius, whom he called from Egypt. A strange convergence of people and events! It was here that this same Ammonius was now called as a criminal and was supposed to die here! In a large monastery, adjacent to the Apostoleum with its walls, lived the brethren, obliged to pray day and night for the soul of the minister, whose robbery had ruined so many. According to custom, a church was designated for meetings of the Council, and bishops could freely reside in the vast cells of the monastery. Three weeks had passed since Theophilus arrived in Constantinople, and it was already mid-July 403 when he and his followers went to the villa in Duba. 85 bishops from all provinces of the Eastern Empire then gathered in the capital. Of their number, only 35, and later 44, accompanied Theophilus to Chalcedon, but the Egyptians were all present. The rest remained in Constantinople, being devoted to their archbishop, although among them there were those who were untrustworthy and wavering. They constituted the Johannite party, as they were later called, in contrast to Theophilus' party, called the Alexandrian party. While the Alexandrians were holding the Council with pomp under the magnificent decorations of the Apostoleum, the Johannites were meeting in the triclinium, or dining room, of the archbishop's house, under the presidency of Chrysostom. There they talked, news collected in the city was brought there, and from there they watched with concern what was being prepared on the other side of the strait. At times the archbishop left his palace and went to the church, where there was a constant crowd of people. He ascended to the pulpit, uttered a few words appropriate to the occasion, then returned to the triclinium to take part in the conversation of the bishops. Three main matters were to be discussed at the Council in Duba: 1) the complaint of the Nitrian monks, the first reason for the convening; 2) a complaint about the depositions and dedications carried out in Asia in 401 by Chrysostom; 3) the trial of the archbishop for ecclesiastical and political crimes. When distributing cases at the preliminary meeting of the Council, it was decided that the first priority would be given to the case of Chrysostom, as urgent, the second - to the complaint of the Long Brothers, and that the lawsuit against Heraclides of Ephesus would be postponed until the end of the meetings. This lawsuit was supposed to raise numerous cases of abuse and unlawful interference, for which Chrysostom was reproached during his journey to Asia. When the order of business was thus established, the sessions opened. The councils, modeled on the judicial chamber, followed the rules of record keeping of the secular court. The accusation was brought by the plaintiff, in whose name the claim was brought. The accuser had to be present in person, offer his statements in writing and solemnly sign the acts of the Council, subjecting himself, if he did not prove the justice of the claim, to the full rigor of the laws; if proven, the perpetrator was condemned to the fullest extent of church decrees. After the petition was received, the accused was summoned to court three or four times so that he could defend himself. Spontaneous and persistent refusal to appear in court was considered a crime for which the highest punishment was due - deposition and excommunication. If the accused appeared, he was interrogated, witnesses and written testimony were presented against him, then the bishops pronounced a decision. To deposition and excommunication - the highest punishments that the Councils could impose, they sometimes added imprisonment and exile, as, for example, in the case of the Long Brothers, but in this case the decision could not be carried out by church judges, and, as required by church law, they turned to the help of secular authorities. Likewise, when among the crimes appealed before the Council there were those that entailed the death penalty, then their trial handed over to secular judges. This was the legal basis for the trial of Chrysostom. The sessions opened under the chairmanship of the Patriarch of Alexandria, the second most senior in the Eastern Empire; the first most senior archbishop was the defendant. The Patriarch of Alexandria presided only until the votes were cast in the case of Chrysostom: then he resigned his chairmanship and handed it over to Paul of Heraclea, once a friend, and now the mortal enemy of the archbishop. But Theophilus led the entire investigation into this case and carried it out in such a way that he fully justified his reputation as a cunning and evil man. His first task was to summon, by right of authority, to the Council the archdeacon of the Church of Constantinople named John. In the first centuries of Christianity, the archdeacon was the chief executor of the bishop in all his external duties, especially in the management of worldly affairs: he took care of the decoration of the church, and was in charge of income; if special stewards were not appointed, as was the case under Chrysostom, he distributed salaries to the clergy. With the conduct of these important matters, he also combined responsibilities for internal decency and supervision of morality. In a word, he was called “the hand and eye of the bishop.” Archdeacon John was an angry, rude man. The archbishop removed him from his clergy for cruel treatment of a boy who served him, but then, out of condescension, he accepted him again, and the deacon, for his severity, harbored an insatiable anger against him. Theophilus knew this and called him to be the plaintiff in the present case. Indeed, it was considered very important that the archdeacon, the bishop's right hand, should be his accuser. The Patriarch also summoned as accusers or witnesses most of the dissatisfied priests and deacons of the various churches of Constantinople, as if his throne was not occupied. There were so many of them that the churches seemed deserted and services stopped in many places. The indictment presented by Archdeacon John, as we read it in the affairs of the Council, preserved to posterity by one of Chrysostom’s successors, the hardworking and learned Patriarch Photius, contained 29 points, which can be reduced to the following charges: 1) violence and cruel treatment of individuals; 2) serious insults; 3) theft; 4) seizure of church places; 5) violation of morality; 6) violations of discipline and church customs; 7) incitement of rebellion and political treason. It was a set of accusations, mostly implausible, some obviously false, drawn from unfair or false, imaginary or exaggerated rumors, which for two years the malice of a hostile party had been spreading about Chrysostom, but to which the testimony of the archdeacon gave unexpected confirmation. The accusations of violence were collected in paragraphs 1, 2 and 27, which testified that the archbishop drove out and excommunicated this same Archdeacon John, his accuser, for rough treatment of the boy, his servant, ordered him to be beaten and dragged to prison; to chain one monk, also named John, as possessed by a demon (the indictment does not say why); allegedly, in the Church of the Holy Apostles, he hit a certain Memnon in the face so that his nose and mouth began to bleed - and this did not prevent the accused from going to the altar and serving mass. To this was later added the charge of many other violence. Accusations of insults were given in abundance and formed the content of paragraphs 5, 6, 8, 9 and 20. It said, first of all, that the archbishop insulted all the clergy in total, calling them corrupt people, ready for anything, “people of the three obols,” following the Greek expression, that he even composed a book against them filled with slander. It is not difficult to recognize in these words his famous treatise on the Agapite sisters. It’s as if he called the venerable Epiphanius an idle man and demon-possessed, and showed such contempt for Bishop Akakios of Verei (this “holy man” who knew how to annoy his friends) that he did not even deign to say a word to him. Finally, the archbishop allegedly accused deacons Edaphius, John and Akaki of theft in the presence of his entire clergy, claiming that they had stolen his omophorion from him. The omophorion was a ribbon of white wool, woven from the finest fleece, three fingers wide, with hanging ends on which were two lead plaques, wrapped in black silk with four red crosses. The omophorion was a vestment assigned to bishops of the highest rank, patriarchs, high priests, and archbishops, and was considered a sign of high priesthood. The omophorion wrapped around the shoulders and fell in front and behind, and was pinned on each side with three gold pins. Putting the omophorion on the bishop and removing it was the responsibility of the deacons who were with him. After the service was completed, he was hung on one of the sacred statues, usually depicting the saint to whom the church is dedicated - in Rome he was placed on the shoulders of the statue of St. Petra. The deacons Edathius, John and Akaki, having removed the omophorion from Chrysostom, used it, as history claims, for a criminal act, probably for sorcery against his life. So, the act with which he reproached them was not a simple theft, but the desecration of a shrine. The charge of sedition and treason was in paragraphs 7, 21, 22 and 26, where it was stated that the archbishop had incited the deacons charged with the burial of the poor against Severian of Haval, and put his very life in danger; as if he betrayed two priests to secular power, one in Antioch, the other in Constantinople (which was not at all part of his rules, at least unless these priests were guilty of important crimes that brought upon them the punishment of general laws); finally, as if during a rebellion against Prince John, he opened his refuge to the soldiers who were looking for him (Prince John was the empress’s favorite). The eight remaining points were devoted to a detailed presentation of the episcopal reprisal of Chrysostom in the Churches of Asia and other violations of church decrees: that he was an accuser, witness and judge in the cases of Archdeacon Martyrius and Bishop Proerez of Lycia; as if he consecrated deacons and priests outside the church, and even in globo four bishops at a time; as if he consecrated without a written certificate of legal capacity or morality and distributed money to those ordained bishops in order to use their assistance in the persecution of the clergy; as if he ordained Serapion, his deacon, who had previously been tried for crimes, as a priest, and as a bishop a certain Anthony, convicted of robbing graves; finally, as if he refused to carry to the grave the remains of the people whom he kept prisoner and who died in his dungeon. Here the allusion to Elder Isidore is clear. The archbishop was accused of greed and theft of sacred objects, holy vessels and rich decorations in churches, marble in the Church of St. Anastasia, in the dishonest sale of a small church estate, bequeathed by Thekla, etc. These defamations were stated as true facts in counts 3, 4, 16 and 17 of the indictment; it was also required that the accused explain where he used church income. The accusations of moral violations were expressed in paragraphs 15 and 25 as follows: “He receives women and remains alone with them, removing all others, he dines alone and at these solitary meals behaves like a Cyclops - shameful and voluptuous.” Most of all, Chrysostom was outraged by the accusation of secretly receiving women. He did not forget him even in the wilderness of his exile, from where he wrote to Bishop Kyriak, his friend; “They dared to accuse me of fornication, unfortunate ones! If I could show the people my weak physical composition, this alone would be enough to justify me; death struck me during my life, and the body dragged by me is nothing more than a corpse.” This was followed by accusations of violation of church rituals and simply strange features of Chrysostom’s home life: as if “he dressed and undressed on his episcopal throne and ate flatbread after his communion; did not pray when entering and leaving church; finally, as if he wanted to be alone when he bathed in a public bath, and then immediately ordered the doors to be locked so that no one would bathe after him; Serapion carried out this order,” Truly grave crimes worthy of the bishop’s condemnation! This was the charge, which was subsequently increased by an additional act. Now, according to the order of paperwork, it should have been presented to the accused archbishop, listened to his explanation, confronted the witnesses - and Theophilus sent him through two members of the Council a summons to appear at this Council. A rumor was spread throughout the city that the death of John Chrysostom was decided and that he would be beheaded for inciting a rebellion and for insulting the empress. While the messengers were crossing the strait, in the archbishop's triclinium, the bishops loyal to Chrysostom were talking about the vile tricks of Theophilus, about the illegality of the Council, about the regrettable circumstances in the present and about even more regrettable ones expected in the future. “How,” said the bishops about the patriarch, “how could it happen that a man accused of heinous crimes and summoned alone to the praetorian court dared to bring with him an entire army of bishops? How did it happen that the disposition of the government and officials so suddenly changed and the accused became the accuser, and that the majority of the clergy of this Church succumbed to his corruption? Each expressed his own explanation, which came to his mind, when suddenly Chrysostom, as if inspired by God himself, addressed them with the following words: “Pray, brothers, and if only you love Christ, let none of you leave your Church for my sake, because I can tell you together with the Apostle: I am becoming a victim, and the time of my slaughter is near - I have finished my battle and my path. I know Satan and his networks. He can no longer bear the weapon of my teachings; may the Lord be merciful to me! Remember me, my brothers, in your prayers." These words fulfilled their sorrows. Some remained in their places, others, choking from tears, stood up and, kissing his head, eyes and lips, headed to the door. This excitement made them like anxious bees buzzing around their hive (a comparison made by one of the participants in this scene, the biographer of St. John - Palladius). Chrysostom stopped those who wanted to go out. “Stay, my brothers,” he said to them, “sit down and stop crying, otherwise my spirit will be confused even more, for I will constantly repeat to you: Christ is my life, and death is gain for me.” “I have repeated to you many times, brothers,” he continued sadly, “that real life is nothing more than a temporary path, where sorrows and joys flow with equal speed, and this world is just a big marketplace where we buy, sell and then soon leave. Are we better than the patriarchs, prophets and apostles, so that this short life given to us becomes eternal?..” One of the bishops told him: “We cry because we remain orphans, the Church remains a widow, its holy laws are overthrown, and pride and wickedness triumph, the poor are abandoned; people without instruction...” Chrysostom, striking the palm of his left with the index finger of his right hand, as he always did when he was immersed in deep thought, interrupted him at this word. “Stop it, brother,” he said, “don’t insist anymore... I ask you again, don’t leave your Churches. When Moses died, wasn't Joshua found? Didn't Elisha preach after Elijah was taken into heaven? What was the reason for the beheading of Paul? He left behind Timothy, Titus, Apollos and so many others!” Then Eulysius, Bishop of Apamea, drew attention to the fact that if they wanted to keep their places in the Churches, they would be forced to agree with the court decision and sign it. “Agree,” exclaimed the archbishop hotly, “agree so that there is no schism, but do not sign, for my conscience does not reproach me for anything that would deserve my deposition.” The conversation was interrupted by the message that messengers had arrived from the Cathedral in Duba. The Archbishop ordered them to be admitted and, first of all, asked what degree they held in the Church. “We are bishops,” they answered. And sure enough, there were two young bishops recently appointed to Libya, named Dioscorus and Paul. Chrysostom invited them to sit down and present the subject of their embassy. “We only brought a letter to you,” they answered, “let me read it.” Chrysostom expressed his consent, and the messengers handed the letter to the young servant Theophilus, who accompanied them, and he read it. It concluded the following words: “The Most Holy Council, assembled in Oak, to John (the title of archbishop was omitted with intent). We have received an indictment against you, alleging countless crimes of which you are accused. We command you to come here to us and take with you the priests Serapion and Tigrius, who we also need.” Those sent verbally added the name of the reader Paul, whom the Council also demanded to appear. Upon reading this insolent letter, in which the archbishop was stripped of his title, as if he had already been condemned and deposed, the bishops burst into indignation. “We must answer,” they exclaimed from all sides, “and answer only Theophilus, the culprit of this insult and the defender of everything that happens there.” At the archbishop's assent, they set to work and composed a reply, which they read to him. “Stop,” they turned to the patriarch, “violating church decrees and dividing the Church, this daughter of heaven, for whom Christ took flesh. If, contrary to the holy decrees of the Council of Nicea, you want to judge outside the boundaries of your territory, come here to the city, where there is good order, and do not try to drag Abel into the field, following the example of Cain. We must judge, and judge you first, for we have in our hands an indictment containing 70 counts of crimes committed by you, and moreover, our Council is much more populous than yours. There are only 36 of you, and almost all from one province, there are 40 of us from different provinces, and among us there are 7 archbishops. You see that in order to comply with those regulations that you mention, it is necessary that the minority be judged by the majority, especially when the majority is at the same time more respectable and more dignified. And in our hands there is one of your letters, where it was you who wrote to John, our brother in the episcopate, that it is impossible to allow a bishop to judge others outside his church domains. To be consistent, you should heed our invitation or act in such a way that the accusers will stop accusing you.” “That’s good,” said Chrysostom, after listening to the bishops’ answer, “protest as you think best, but it is also necessary for me to respond to what was sent to me.” And he dictated the following, but not to Theophilus, for whom he did not recognize the right to demand that he, John, be put on trial, but to all the bishops who sat at the Council in Duba: “To this day I do not know anyone who could, with any kind of legality, complain about me and accuse me. However, if you want me to appear before your assembly, first exclude from it my obvious enemies, those who did not hide their hatred and intentions against me. Do this, and I will not dispute the place of my trial, although this place, by all rights, should be Constantinople. The first of you, whom I dismiss as a suspicious person, is Theophilus, whom I accuse of saying in Alexandria and Lycia: “I am going to the court to depose John,” words confirmed by his refusal upon arrival here to see, speak and even communicate with me. I then took away Akaki Vereisky, who threatened to “annoy” me in such a way that I would not like it. Antiochus of Ptolemais and Severian of Gavalius do not deserve at all for me to speak about them: justice will soon befall them from above, and at the present time the city theaters are making them the subject of their ridicule. If, in fact, you want me to appear, start by excluding these four bishops from among my judges, but if you absolutely want them to be present, then order them to appear as accusers, so that their position becomes clear and I know with whom I am dealing. Under these conditions I will appear to you, I will appear, if necessary, before the Council of the whole world, but know that even if they sent for me a thousand times, you will not receive a different answer.” Three of the forty bishops who were in the triclinium, Lupicinus, Demetrius and Eulysius, and two priests, Germanus and Severus, were appointed to deliver both letters to Oak, then Theophilus' messengers were released. As soon as they left, the imperial notary arrived with an imperial charter, which included a petition received from Dub to oblige John (they stubbornly called him that) to appear before the judges, willy-nilly. The notary insisted to Chrysostom that he obey; Chrysostom conveyed to him the reasons for his refusal, and the notary left. He had barely left the episcopal palace when suddenly two priests of the Church of Constantinople entered there, one - a certain Eugene, who, at the cost of services to the enemy alliance, had already acquired the title and position of bishop, the other - the monk Isaac, this jester-beggar, who in the squares disgraced his archpastor for several obols. These were the new commissioners from the Council - so much zeal was put into attracting Chrysostom, so much did they want to take possession of him on the opposite bank of the strait. One of these people, addressing the archbishop rudely, said to him: “Why are you delaying? The cathedral is waiting for you; he commands you to appear and clear yourself, if you can, of the crimes of which you are accused.” The Archbishop disdained to speak with this renegade, but, immediately turning to three of his faithful bishops, he sent them to bring the following verbal answer to the Council: “You are inventing a strange course of action against me, you, who, on the one hand, refuse to remove the enemies I have dismissed from the meeting, and on the other hand, summon me to trial through my clergy.” Already the first embassy of Chrysostom led the assembly into excitement, but when the second arrived and the one at its head repeated verbatim the answer he had brought, there was an explosion of frantic rage, and the hall of the Cathedral suddenly turned into a den of robbers. Some bishops jumped up from their seats and rushed at the ambassadors, others, threatening, reviled them. One of them was beaten, the clothes of another were torn to shreds, the third was taken into custody and a chain was put around his neck, prepared for Chrysostom in case the archbishop had the imprudence to come here, and the unfortunate man, dragged out of the church in this form, was thrown into a boat and left to all the accidents of the current in the strait. After such a scene, the Council could not calm down for a long time and from hostility, as it had hitherto been towards the archbishop, it became his bitter enemy. Two new challenges were sent to him, and both times he countered them with the same refusal with the same restraint. The imperial notary no longer appeared to Chrysostom, despite the demands again sent from Dub to the Emperor - one must think that Arkady softened under the burden of an awakened conscience. Theophilus decided that this indecisive and timid spirit should be incited. Fearing that the first indictment would not damage the case with the trifles included in it, for which even the reader or the gatekeeper would not be worth reprimanding, Theophilus decided to so strengthen the criminal side with new charges that the Emperor was finally obliged to come to some kind of decision. To do this, he came up with an additional act of accusation: the monk Isaac, who was elevated to bishop for taking over the embassy, ​​as well as other capital clergy. The act of Archdeacon John only slightly touched upon the insult to His Majesty, but here it was brought to the fore. Chrysostom was formally accused of speaking insultingly about the empress in his public speeches under the name of Herodias and Jezebel. In his petition, Isaac, in 18 points, skillfully added to the first act, mentioned the cases of violence, abuse of duties, violation of the decrees and customs of the Church, which were already included in the indictment, with the addition of new circumstances and with exaggerations that changed the meaning of the actions. He included an accusation of profane language and blasphemy, as well as (who would have thought?) literary criticism of the sermons of the great orator. Thus, he reproached Chrysostom for saying: “The altar of the Church is full of furies.” “What does he mean by furies? - asked the prosecutor. “We need him to explain this.” They also heard how in one of his speeches on the occasion of some celebration, when the glorious piety of the Sovereign filled both the shepherd and the entire flock with joy, the archbishop expressed himself: “I love, I am dying of love!” “John must explain what this means,” says the accuser, “for the Church does not know such language.” He also accused the archbishop of blaspheming and inciting sinners to evil, making repentance too easy for them, when he said: “Repent twice, repent and again, and every time you repent, come to me, I will heal you,” while the Church allowed nationwide repentance only once. “In his attacks on foreign dioceses,” said the additional paragraphs, “Chrysostom not only condemned bishops and other clergy without listening to them, but also consecrated in the episcopal house foreign slaves who had not been freed and were being persecuted for crimes... Carrying out violence, he put people in prison in chains that he did not like, and starved them there to death. This is what he did with the neo-Origenists, entering into communication with the Origenists. He himself, Isaac, was treated this way by his orders by people full of crimes. He gathered pagans, former persecutors of Christians, into his church, and was present at their meetings. Finally (this was included for the court), he violated the duties of hospitality by living and dining alone... he incited a popular rebellion against the Council...” One of the points presented him as ignorant in liturgical duties, administering communion and baptizing the faithful after they had taken food. These last accusations especially affected Chrysostom, because they sought to deny the reality of the Sacraments performed by him during his episcopate, and he answered them partly before the people, partly in writing. These additional articles, together with the points of Archdeacon John, truly constituted a huge mass of accusations. Meanwhile, while the accused firmly refused to appear at the Council, and the Emperor did not take any measures to force him to do so, Theophilus moved on to hearing witnesses. Seven witnesses belonging to the archbishop's clergy were examined, and they gave their testimony with extreme bitterness. Among them were Arsas, Atticus and Elpidius. The first two of them subsequently occupied the throne of John Chrysostom, which, thanks to them, remained vacant. Everyone present was looking forward to the end. Arsas and Atticus, along with two other priests, Eudemon and Onesimus, shouted and rushed to pronounce the sentence. “John’s guilt has been abundantly proven; there is no need,” they said, “to continue the interrogations.” Finally, at the twelfth meeting, the Council announced that it was moving to a decision. Until then, Theophilus presided. Even after being challenged by the archbishop, he supervised all the paperwork and debates. Nevertheless, when the time came for a decision, he was afraid that his chairmanship would give rise to an attack and even to touch the council’s resolution on the part of such a timid Sovereign as Arkady was. He replaced himself in this role with Paul of Heraclea, although he did not abstain from casting a vote, much less did the other three allotted: Antiochus, Acacius and Severian. When they went to voting, Paul collected the votes of all the bishops, starting with a certain Gymnasium and ending with Theophilus. All those who cast votes turned out to be 45 instead of 36 who were present at the opening of the meeting. Their number gradually increased with newly arriving bishops and defectors from Constantinople. Chrysostom was sentenced to deposition, and the testimony about insulting His Majesty was sent to the discretion of the Sovereign. As soon as the deposition was proclaimed, the Council immediately informed the clergy of the archbishop in order to resolve the bonds of obedience in relation to the deposed head, and sent a report or, following the official terminology, an attitude (relation) about the actions of the Council to both Emperors - Arcadius and Honorius, the monarchs of the Roman world. Bishop Gerontius, expelled from Nicomedia, and two other Asian bishops, also removed, Faustin and Eugnomon, took advantage of the dispatch of this report to send to the sovereigns a narrative of their disasters and a complaint about the illegal actions of Chrysostom. The doublet of the report to the Emperor of the East began with these words, especially intended for Arcadius: “Taking into account that John, accused of well-known crimes and feeling guilty, refused to appear for his justification before us and that in such a case the church laws pronounce deposition, we deposed him. However, since the indictment contains, in addition to church crimes, also the crime of insulting His Majesty, it seems to your piety to order the expulsion of the culprit, so that such a great crime does not go unpunished. As for us, this is not within the scope of our department.” So, the first issue that was subject to decision by the Council was dealt with according to the arbitrariness of Theophilus. The second question was about the Long Brothers, but the bishops were indifferent to it, and Theophilus even more so. After such a complete victory as he had just won, the second battle presented dangers, and the glory of the victor over Chrysostom could only fade in the debate against the pitiful monks. Moreover, the conduct of the case was difficult: accused by them, after having condemned them in Egypt, would he want to try them again for the same thing in Chalcedon and preside over the court appointed to judge himself? Who knows what the picture of so much violence and atrocities painted by the direct and stern speech of the Long Brothers could produce at the Council and in the city? God knows what else could happen if the meeting of Johannite bishops, meeting in Constantinople, transfers the matter to another Council, as one can sense from their letter, and if the Emperor, who takes the side of the Nitrian monks, again gives free rein to the voice of his conscience. The case of the Long Brothers inevitably raised the dogmatic question of Origenism, for which not everyone was prepared, evidence of which was the failure of Epiphanius, and Theophilus, who managed to separate this question from the archbishop's case, should not have been very concerned about its renewal. From all this, a lively desire arose in his mind to hush up the matter, and the bishops, friendly to Theophilus, set out to reconcile with the Long brothers. The circumstances were favorable, and the messengers found these unfortunates in deep despondency. After Chrysostom, the patron to whom they had resorted from such a distance, abandoned them, they lost faith in the justice and mercy of people. Moreover, death caused devastation in their ranks. The death of Isidore was followed by the death of Bishop Dioscorus, the second of the Long Brothers, their support and leader. He had died a few weeks before. Even the inhabitants of the inhospitable capital marveled at him, and his grave, in the Church of St. Mucius, near one of the ports of Constantinople, attracted a large crowd of beggars - the hermit, himself almost deprived of a piece of bread, proved to them that he knew how to be abstinent enough to still give to others. But this was not enough: they also feared for the life of Ammonius, who had become very ill under the yoke of age and sorrow. So, sadness broke the energy of the Long Brothers, whom the rest of the monks obeyed as their abbots. “Oh, if,” says a modern historian on this occasion, “Dioscorus had been alive, if the dying Ammonius had not been deprived of the opportunity to give advice, these honest, simple-hearted people would never have listened to shameful proposals.” These are the proposals brought to them. The Patriarch, who desires nothing more than forgiveness, offers them peace. This does not require any formal renunciation on their part - he does not want to argue about the tenets of their teaching, nor to remember the past: he is ready to forget everything, asking these monks, who have renounced obedience to him, only to show obedience to their master. Let the Long Brothers and their companions declare before the Council, in accordance with the requirements of monastic decrees, that if they have sinned, they will repent of it. The council will accept them graciously without any dispute, the resolution of the Council of Alexandria, which condemned them, will be canceled, and the patriarch will lift the excommunication from them. Then they will be able to return to Egypt and re-enter their monasteries. The long brothers, accompanied by the entire crowd, followed the ambassadors to Chalcedon. They were all there, even Ammonius, who lay on his meager bed and after a few hours gave his soul to God. Who knows?.. Perhaps, recognizing this church and this rich palace, where ten years ago, at the request of the praetorian prefect Rufinus, he came from the depths of his desert to receive from the font this son, so unworthy of such a father, the old man felt a reproach of conscience, but this act of weakness was now cruelly atoned for. As soon as the monks arrived, they were brought in front of the Council, where everything took place according to agreement. Indeed, everyone played their role on this artificial stage. The long brothers pronounced the formula of repentance and asked for mercy to the monks who had suffered punishment from their bishop: “If we have sinned, we repent and ask that our sin be forgiven,” Theophilus, rising in his place, pronounced the formula of pardon, and the Council canceled the decree of the Council of Alexandria with a letter of absolution. Theophilus' pardon spread further: from the Origenists and to Origen himself, because history testifies that from that day on he did not interfere with re-reading his works, the prohibition of which he had recently sought with such force, and that to someone's question about the reason for such behavior, he gave the following answer, which became famous; “Origen’s creations are a garden in which flowers and thorns are mixed: I discard the thorns and admire the flowers.” But the humiliation of the Long Brothers and the insolence of Theophilus did not end there: it was still necessary to listen to laudatory speeches and defensive speeches, which the Long Brothers endured as extreme boredom. They say that when the patriarch was informed of the death of Ammonius, he exclaimed: “I mourn him with all my heart, for he was a holy monk, and I wish there were more like him.” After this pitiful comedy, the handful of Nitrian and monastic immigrants scattered - only a few of them reached Egypt. There remained the case of Heraclides of Ephesus, who was introduced to the Council at its 13th meeting. This bishop, elected by Chrysostom, was overthrown from the throne by a revolt of the Ephesian laity and clergy and was forced to go into hiding to avoid an even worse fate. This John was accused of countless crimes, especially theft. His accuser was another bishop, Macarius of Magnesia, and this case, naturally, entailed consideration of the case of all the Asian Churches, their plaintiffs were present right there, irritated to the point of rage. And the persecution of all the bishops appointed by Chrysostom was already being prepared, when events occurred in Constantinople that absorbed all the attention of the Council, interrupted its proceedings and caused, after a few days, the dissolution of the assembly itself. The whole matter of the Council with the condemnation of Chrysostom was before the eyes of the Emperor, who approved the decision with a letter mentioned in the acts. But no measures were taken to carry out the sentence, and Chrysostom continued to occupy the episcopal palace and church. This uncertain situation lasted three days. During this time the Church of Constantinople remained the prey of unspeakable turmoil. Members of the archbishop's clergy, excommunicated and not excommunicated, entered the churches from all sides, the first with an impudent, defiant look, but the people drove them out or fled from their services. Struck by the council's decree, the bishops, who had been faithful until that time, gradually dispersed, and Chrysostom's triclinium soon became empty. From time to time, an imperial official with several guards came to the archbishop's palace to announce to him that he should prepare to leave, the archbishop refused, the officer left, and the Emperor forbade the use of force. Gathering in dense crowds around the church and the archbishop's palace, connected by a gallery, the people kept watch day and night, oscillating between hope and fear. But there were no threats or insulting words from the Emperor and his officials. Only one cry was heard from time to time from all lips and echoed all the way to the palace of Arkady: “We demand an Ecumenical Council! We need a real Council to try the archbishop.” This was the slogan of the people; This was also the slogan of Chrysostom. “I was condemned by a false Council,” he repeated, “the correct Council must justify me here, in my Church, and judge me with my judges.” Besieged and as if in captivity among these animated walls erected around him by the devotion of the people, in whose eyes it was dangerous to resort to violence, Chrysostom constantly moved from his premises to the church and from the church to his premises. There he needed to console his ministers and several faithful priests, here he needed to console the confused crowd, which his appearance and word filled with grief and joy. The news became more ominous hour by hour. They told of deputations of bishops who came one after another from Chalcedon to beg the Emperor to reinforce by force the verdict and the meaning of the Council - and the Empress joined them, testing all means of influence on her weak husband. They said that we were no longer talking about exile, but about execution; they hesitated only between an ax or a sword. The archbishop himself thought about his impending death and preached to the people about submission to Providence. Meanwhile, litanies with intense sobs and prayers were heard throughout the city throughout the night. The people wanted to attract the archbishop to them, who, apparently, at first agreed to this, but then, refusing, said: “Go and pray, I will be with you with my spirit, which unites the head and its members.” One shameless act of Severian brought the people out of this forced and sorrowful calm in which the influence of Chrysostom kept them. Theophilus did not yet have the courage to show himself in Constantinople, but Severian dared to do so the next day after the verdict. He even dared to enter one church and ascend to the pulpit to speak from there about the events that had just happened; he presented the archbishop's condemnation as a punishment for his pride. “His pride alone would have justified this sentence,” he said, “even if he had not committed other crimes.” All the listeners rose up with such force against this scoundrel that he barely had time to escape and cross the strait. Nevertheless, this insulting act of the braggart against his former friend, the offended patron, from whose lips Severian had so recently heard the word of forgiveness and peace, infuriated Chrysostom. He saw in this an insult on the part of the empress herself through the court bishop, her protege, and, without separating the empress from her adviser, Archbishop John in his church delivered a speech to the people that received worldwide fame and, in all likelihood, decided his downfall, which was delayed for a while. “Brothers,” he said to this crowd swaying around the pulpit, “a terrible storm has overtaken us, and the waves are hitting us with unprecedented force, but we are not afraid of drowning, because we are leaning on a rock. No matter how much the sea rages, this rock will not shake. No matter how much the waves swell and lash, the ship of Christ will not perish. Why should I be afraid? I'm asking you. Death? But I will say with the Apostle: “My life is Christ, and death is my acquisition.” Exile? But the earth belongs to the Lord and with all that it contains. Deprivation of property? I brought nothing into this world, and I will take nothing from it with me. Anything that can make a person tremble, I despise. I laugh at wealth, I laugh at the honors that others so covet. Wealth is nothing more than poverty to me. And if I want to live, then only to be with you, to work on your spiritual improvement. I tell you as I act, and I appeal to your love, may this love be trusting. No no! Churches will not be dissected or mutilated! The Church is indivisible. In it, the heads are not separated from the members, they remain in unity, no matter what is said about the husband and wife, even more true in relation to the shepherd and flock: they are one, and what God has united cannot be divided in the power of man. Tell me, what happened to the tyrants who once tried to suppress the Church? Tell me, where are their dungeons, their fires, where are the teeth of their wild beasts and the sharpened swords of their executioners? They wanted to act, but did nothing. The same silence and the same oblivion always cover the tyrants and the arsenal of their crimes, but what about the Church? It shines brighter than the sun throughout the Universe, and if tyrants could not strangle faith when Christians barely existed, how can they hope to do so now when Christians cover the entire earth? Sometimes, during the days of torment, they saw unimaginable cruelties to which some young girl, almost a youth, was subjected, and how this girl was stronger than the horns of torture and the sting of flame. Iron teeth tormented her sides - her faith remained unshakable. How do they want to frighten a whole people?.. Oh, they don’t know us at all! Christ is with me! What am I afraid of? His gospel is in my hands—the staff on which I lean. This is where my refuge is, this is the peaceful haven of my soul. The storms raised against me, the sea thrown down upon me, the furies of sovereigns and the mighty of the world... all this is nothing more than a web for me, and if mutual love had not kept me in these places, I would not have resisted leaving here... Do you know, beloved brothers, why they want to destroy me? Because I did not order rich carpets to be laid out in front of me, that I never wanted to dress in gold and silk clothes, that I did not stoop to satisfy the greed of these people and did not keep a table open for them. The tribe of the asp always dominates, Jezebel has offspring left, but grace also struggles with Elijah. Herodias is also here, Herodias is still dancing, demanding the head of John, and they will give her the head of John, because she is dancing. Brothers, the time has come for weeping, everything turns to dishonor. Gold alone gives shine and glory here. Meanwhile, listen to what David says: “If you have an abundance of wealth, do not set your heart there.” And who said this? Wasn't this the man who was elevated to the royal throne? Did he not rule his kingdom with the authority of a monarch? And he never looked at other people’s property in order to steal it, he never used his power in order to ruin the faith. He sought warriors more willingly than treasures, and did not appear in the affairs of government as a slave to women... Oh, woe, woe to the women who close their ears to the warnings of heaven, and intoxicated not with wine, but with stinginess and anger, bother their husbands with their evil advice, dragging them towards injustice...” In this speech, already clear, there was one word that left no doubt about the speaker’s intentions, a word that was stronger than all the hints, no matter how transparent they were. It cannot be conveyed in translation because it consists of a play on words. That was the name of the empress herself: Eudoxia in Greek means good glory, honor, but adoxia is the opposite of this and means dishonor. And so, saying that in this empire, where there is no longer any law except the arbitrariness of Eudoxia, everything turns to dishonor, Chrysostom uses the word adoxia, reminiscent of the name of Arkady’s wife: the rest is clear. This speech was made the next day after the condemnation and, most likely, in the evening. The next morning, an imperial official came to Chrysostom and demanded in the name of the Emperor that he immediately leave the city. “The emperor does not allow any more delay,” he told him, “a ship is ready to take you to the place designated for exile: I have orders to take possession of you with the help of soldiers at the slightest sign of resistance.” A fight would inevitably follow at the church doors, and rivers of blood would flow. This picture presented itself to Chrysostom and made him shudder. Approaching the imperial officer and the detachment of guards accompanying him, he said: “I am in your hands; take me wherever you want.” The officer handed him over to the guard of the “curious” (as the senior police agents were called) and with his guards returned to the palace along the same route through the crowd of people. He should have found Chrysostom elsewhere. The passages that separated the basilica from the archbishop's house were connected by secret gates to a secluded quarter of the city. Chrysostom and his guardian, unnoticed by anyone, left the gate and reached a neighboring house, where they remained hidden until the evening. When night fell, the “curious” and his captive went to the harbor through roundabout streets, hoping not to be recognized, but when they approached the harbor, some of the people noticed Chrysostom and immediately a rumor spread throughout the city that the archbishop was being taken away. Then numerous crowds came running to prevent the departure, but Chrysostom restrained them with his power: “Let me leave,” he told them, “I am obliged to obey the Emperor; Let not a single drop of the blood of my people be shed because of me. I entrust my work to the future Council.” The darkness, which was approaching more and more, contributed to his departure. The same imperial official was on the pier with a detachment of soldiers and sailors, they surrounded the archbishop and boarded the ship with him, which immediately raised anchor. He swam across the Propontis and proceeded to the city of Hieron, the harbor of Bithynia, where the official was, according to the order given to him, to land Chrysostom. It was still night when the ship approached the shore. The guards disembarked the exile and set sail again. The choice of this place, so close to Chalcedon, seemed suspicious to Chrysostom; he assumed this was a trap, an intention to hand him over to the hands of his enemies, and in his eyes, death would be a thousand times better. And therefore, before the day came, when the city authorities could not yet receive news of everything that had happened, he hired a boat himself and, keeping to the shore, ordered himself to be taken to the Gulf of Astaki, to the town of Prenetou, located on the coast opposite Nicomedia. In the neighborhood, among the fields, there was a villa, the owner of which the exile knew, and here he thought to hide. His first movement, when he entered the hospitable refuge, was to fall on his knees and invoke the protection of heaven on the Church of Constantinople, “which he did not leave,” as Chrysostom later said, “for he carried it in his heart.” His flight was carried out so carefully and mysteriously, his traces were so hidden that everyone could think that the official reported that the expelled man was in the place designated for his exile. The night of his abduction was a night of mourning and tears for Constantinople; history has brought to us a touching picture of the people's grief. A large crowd, recently furious and irritated, now suddenly silent and gloomy, hurried to the church to pray to heaven and demand from them the father who had been kidnapped by people. There was not enough space in the churches; they prayed at street intersections, under the porticoes of squares, - finally, everywhere, and, in the words of Chrysostom himself, “the whole city turned into one church.” The houses of the poor were empty: men, women, children, artisans, ship workers, sellers - everyone was at prayer, everyone wanted to participate in these prayers raised to heavenly justice. Only one exclamation, heard from time to time, recalled the passions of the earth: “Let them convene an Ecumenical Council!” This was the only healing that people could offer now. When, with the onset of day, the tired people began to return to their homes, Theophilus arrived from Chalcedon and, having gathered all the Alexandrians, as many as there were in the harbor, took power over the city as its church conqueror. The clergy, hitherto hidden, gathered around him, offering him services and asking for orders. He rewarded the most zealous, removed excommunication from the most unworthy, and generously distributed initiations, promotions, and positions to everyone he met. Everything established by the archbishop was destroyed. Theophilus ordered these priests to each of them take charge of the church, but the rebellious people opposed this. Even when Theophilus himself wanted to penetrate the archbishop's basilica, the faithful blocked his way. The Alexandrians of his detachment took up arms, and a battle took place. The church and baptismal sanctuary were covered with corpses, and the baptismal pond was said to be filled with human blood. As soon as the battle began, the authorities sent troops, fought everywhere, every church turned into a fortress, where the people held strong and into which the soldiers fought their way with spears and javelins. Blood flowed in the altars, and cries of curses replaced the song of the Lord for mercy. Although the monasteries of Constantinople were generally hostile to the archbishop, who intended to make changes in them, one of them, having now taken his side, kicked out the newly minted priests who had infiltrated him, and the soldiers rushed at the monks. They were exterminated in their own churches, sought out in all corners to cut them off, and chased through the streets with swords in their hands. One pagan writer says that at the same time many residents of the city were killed by soldiers because they were dressed in black on the occasion of mourning, and thus looked like monks. This event seemed to be to the heart of the pagans, who rejoiced at the sight of how the Christian hand freed them from the people “in black robes,” their mortal enemies, the furious destroyers of their temples and violators of their sacred rites. This was the day of the accession of Theophilus the Egyptian, as the Johannites called him. The night brought with it new horrors. The shock of the earthquake was felt in the suburb of Gebdomonsky and, spreading with extraordinary force to the city center, shook the rich quarters, and especially the one where the imperial palace was located. In the empress's room, the bed, which had been raised very high, rolled onto the floor. Eudoxia thought that her last hour was approaching, and, pale, with her hair down, rushing into her husband’s room, she cried out in horror: “The one whom we were forced to expel is a righteous man, and God himself is armed with vengeance. If you want to save the empire, go immediately to return it." With sobs and prayer, she knelt until the Emperor solemnly promised to fulfill her request. Encouraged by this, she wrote the following letter to the archbishop: “Holiness! I beg you, do not think that I took part in what happened to you. I am innocent of your blood. Evil and corrupt people have conspired against you. God is the witness of my words and the tears that I sacrifice to Him.” It was not yet dawn when one of the court officers received an order from her to go to Hiero, deliver this letter into the exiled man’s own hands and add in words that she wanted his return, that only his quick arrival could avert the destruction of the city. Seeing that the first messenger was not returning, Eudoxia impatiently sent another, then a third. The people, seeing this, were frightened, thinking that something sinister was being hidden from them, and many people rushed to look for the archbishop, so that the Propontis boiled under many ships between Thrace and the coast of Bithynia. Meanwhile, inquiries were made about the whereabouts of Chrysostom in Hieron and in neighboring ports. Finally, they found him in a villa in the Prenetsky village. Struck by this turn of affairs and still assuming some intrigues, so well was he aware of the deep depravity of his enemies, the archbishop hesitated - the arrival of the eunuch Brison finally decided his departure. Brison, Augusta's first chamberlain and one of the Emperor's secretaries, was generally an honest and pious man. Wounded in the head by a stone in one of the anti-litanies opposed to the Arians, he secretly leaned towards the side of the archbishop, despite the fact that he was attached to the empress. His explanations dispelled suspicions, and Chrysostom decided to follow him. As they approached Constantinople, the Bosporus appeared before their eyes, illuminated by thousands of torches - on boats, on the shore and in the harbor. It's already midnight. It was an unprecedented spectacle of the meeting that the people gave their bishop. Chrysostom was deeply shocked, however, he did not want to land on the pier. “A deposed bishop,” he said, “can only enter his Church legally justified by the Council,” and he ordered to sail to the neighboring pier of the suburb, which bore the name Marian. In vain the empress, fearing any new troubles, in the most respectful and urgent terms begged him to enter the city without hesitating any longer - he stood by his decision. The people interrupted these negotiations, rushed to look for him in the Marian suburb and, despite all his resistance, one might say, carried him in their arms to the episcopal basilica. There they shouted to him to sit down in the bishop's seat and pronounce the word of reconciliation from there; Chrysostom refused to fulfill this, presenting the same reasons and trying in vain to understand them. Then several strong hands grabbed him and, willy-nilly, they put him there, while the crowd, prostrate at his feet, prayed for a blessing. What was he supposed to do? He gave the blessing, moved to tears. They also wanted to hear his expressive words, as if in order to be completely sure that John Chrysostom was definitely here. He climbed onto the pulpit and spoke; the cursive writers have preserved for us some fragments of his impromptu speech, but the applause and shouts of the crowd did not allow him to finish it. As its basis, Chrysostom took the narrative of the Old Testament, which he applied to himself and to the events that momentarily shook his episcopal power. “We read in the Holy Scriptures,” he said, “that when Sarah, the wife of Abraham, fell into the hands of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who intended to encroach on her chastity, a miracle saved her and blessed righteous Abraham with heavenly protection, when all human help already seemed in vain. The same thing happened to our Church, my wife, whose integrity the Egyptian intended to desecrate. The whole day she remained in the hands of this enemy, like Sarah, the night in the power of Pharaoh - and both remained blameless. And, just as Sarah came out of the palace of the Egyptian king, burdened with gifts and riches, so the Church of Constantinople emerged from her captivity in greater splendor and purity, ready to place the treasure of her fidelity on the heavenly altar.” The legitimate bishop triumphed over the Egyptian impostor; the clergyman wanted, for his part, to celebrate the victory over the worldly authorities. Chrysostom fulfilled this, showering praises on Augusta, his persecutor, who, oppressed by horror, now bowed her head before him. He praised her piety, calling her the mother of the faithful, the nurse of hermits, the support of the poor, the patroness of the saints. He spoke about her concerns to return him to Constantinople, about her various embassies to him, and read the letter that she wrote to him that night in the place of his exile. He added to this her words, conveyed to him by a palace officer upon his arrival. “I have achieved the authority to carry out the good deed that I ardently desire. I returned the head to the body, the helmsman to the ship, the shepherd to his sheep, the spouse to the Church on her marriage bed. This success is dearer to me than the splendor of my crown.” With this declaration of submission to the Church and the shepherd, peace was restored and accepted by the archpastor. In Constantinople, everything calmed down, at least for a while, and the troublemakers, envious people, and intriguers had no choice but to flee or hide. And indeed, the Council in Oak dissipated on the same day, without finishing the work of Heraclides. Severian of Gavre left first, traveling long distances to reach his diocese. As for Theophilus, whom the people of Constantinople threatened to throw into the sea if he appeared again, he sailed to Egypt with his 28 bishops from Chalcedon. Chrysostom, having returned the favor of the Emperor, did not cease to demand the convening of an Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in order to cancel the decision of the false Council in Oak and give it itself a canonical justification. The emperor gave in to his wishes - and the decree was signed. Thus ended this first tragic attempt on the power, honor and life of St. John Chrysostom. A robber cannot avoid execution, escape from human hands - a rich man cannot escape the right hand of God. The rich man will be cast into Gehenna, Lazarus will lie down in Abraham's bosom. Holy Scripture teaches us that a thief is not only one who steals someone else's property, but also one who does not distribute what he has... You feel sorry when you see a beast tormenting a sheep, but when you yourself torment one of your own kind, connected to you by the bonds of nature itself, then you do not see anything unworthy in this, and you still want to be considered human! Mercy distinguishes a person, and cruelty distinguishes a beast. A man helps - a beast torments, the mouth of a stingy man is fiercer than the mouth of a beast, because one of his words leads to death...