Conversation before departure into exile

“Conversation before going into exile” (5 chapters) is the farewell speech of St. John Chrysostom to his flock. He pronounced it in Constantinople at the end of September 403 after the decisions of the Council “at Oak”, at which the saint was sentenced to deposition. Emperor Arcadius, who approved this sentence, issued a decree on the expulsion of St. John from the city. The devoted flock, having learned about this, guarded the gates of his home for three days, spending all the time in prayer and even forgetting about the needs of their body. The conversation is filled with edification and consolation to all those suffering for the truth. St. John Chrysostom tries to pacify his flock, speaking about the invincibility of the Church of Christ and the indissoluble union of the members of its Body with its Head: “There is nothing, man, stronger than the Church; stop the war so that you do not destroy your strength, do not bring war into the sky. If you fight with a person, you either win or you are defeated; and when you are at war with the Church, it is impossible for you to win, because God is stronger than everyone.” *The title of the work in Greek is Πρὸ τῆς ἐξορίας. *The title of the work in Latin is Sermo antequam iret in exsilium. This conversation was delivered by St. John Chrysostom in the saddest period of his life. The Pridubsky Cathedral pronounced a sentence of deposition over him, and Emperor Arcadius, who approved this sentence, issued a decree expelling the saint from the city. The flock devoted to him, having learned about this, guarded the gates of his home for three days, spending all the time in prayer and even forgetting about the needs of their body. The saint, to whom Arkady's order was conveyed, during the first two days refused to carry it out, indicating that he had been completely violated. On the second day, he delivered a conversation before his devoted people, full of edification and consolation to all those suffering for the truth. This conversation was preserved in the Greek original, but sometimes things were added to it that make one suspect their authenticity. 1. There are many waves and a strong storm; but we are not afraid of drowning, because we stand on a rock. Let the sea rage, it cannot destroy the stone. Let the waves rise, they cannot sink the ship of Jesus. What, tell me, are we afraid of? Is it death? “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Are there any links, tell me? “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness of it” (Psalm 23:1). Is it the taking of property? “For we have brought nothing into the world; It is clear that we cannot bear anything” (1 Tim. 6:7). And everything terrible in the world is despicable for me, and everything favorable is ridiculous. I am not afraid of poverty, I do not desire wealth, I am not afraid of death, I do not want to live, except for your prosperity. Therefore, remembering the present, I urge your love to remain courageous. No one can separate us; What God has combined, man cannot divide. If it is said to the wife and husband: “And he said: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh: so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matt. 19:5–6); If you cannot dissolve a marriage, then how much more can you destroy the Church of God? You will rebel against her, not being able to harm the One against whom you are at enmity. By war against me you make me more glorious, but you destroy your own strength; “It is difficult for you to go against the pricks” (Acts 26:14). You will not dull the edge, but your feet will be stained with blood; so the waves do not destroy the stone, but themselves turn into foam. There is nothing, man, stronger than the Church; stop the war so that you do not destroy your strength, do not bring war into the sky. If you fight with a person, you either win or you are defeated; and when you are at war with the Church, it is impossible for you to win, because God is stronger than everyone. “Are we really going to decide to irritate the Lord? Are we stronger than Him” (1 Cor. 10:22)? God has established: who dares to shake? You do not know His power. “He looks at the earth, and it shakes” (Psalm 103:32); He commands, and the wavering is established. If He established the wavering city, then all the more can He establish the Church. The church is stronger than heaven: “heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). “And I say to you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). 2. If you don’t believe the word, believe the deeds. How many tyrants there were who wanted to defeat the Church! How many frying pans! How many furnaces, animal teeth, sophisticated swords! And they didn’t win. Where are the warring parties? They fell silent and fell into oblivion. Where is the Church? She shines brighter than the sun. Their deeds have disappeared, but her deeds are immortal. If Christians were not defeated when they were few in number, then how can you defeat them when the universe is full of piety? “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” And quite rightly, because for God the Church is more desirable than heaven. He did not receive a heavenly body, but He accepted the flesh of the Church. Heaven is for the Church, not the Church for heaven. Don't let anything that happened bother you. Lend me this - unchanging faith. Don’t you know that Peter, walking on the waters and having a little doubt, began to drown not from the disorderly movement of the water, but from weakness of faith? Did we come here by human definitions? Did man bring us so that man could destroy us? I say this not out of pride - let it not be - and not out of vanity, but wanting to confirm what is wavering in you. The devil wanted to shake the Church after the city calmed down. Damned and most insidious devil, have you not overcome the walls, and are you hoping to shake the Church? But is the Church within the walls? The Church is made up of many believers. Behold, how many solid pillars, not bound with iron, but held together by faith! I do not say that such a great multitude is stronger than fire; even if there was one, you would not defeat him. You know what wounds the martyrs inflicted on you. Often a gentle, unadulterated girl is [tormented]; it was softer than wax, and became harder than stone. You whittled her ribs, but you didn’t steal her faith. The nature of the flesh weakened, but the power of faith did not become impoverished; the body was exhausted, and the soul became young; the composition was exhausted, but piety remained unchanged. You have not overcome one woman, and you hope to overcome so many people? Do you not hear what the Lord says: “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20)? And where so many people are bound by love, is He really not there? I have a pledge from Him; After all, do I rely on my own strength? I own His Scripture. This is my rod, this is my support, this is my serene haven. Even though the universe may be indignant, I hold to His Scripture; I read it; these letters are my wall and safety. What letters? “I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matthew 28:20). Christ is with me and whom should I fear? Even the waves that rise against me, even the seas, even the wrath of the rulers, all this is more insignificant to me than a spider’s web. If my love for you had not held me back, I would not have refused to go anywhere today. I always say: “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10); Let it be not what this or that one wants, but what You want. This is my stronghold, this is my immovable stone, this is my indestructible rod. If God wills it to be so, so be it! If He wants me to be here, I thank Him. As He pleases, I thank him for everything. 3. Let no one confuse you; pray earnestly. The devil did this to stop your zeal for the priesthood. But he was not successful in this; we found you even more zealous and ardent. Tomorrow I will go to worship with you. Where I am, there you are; where you are, there I am: we are one body; the body is from the head, and the head is not separated from the body. We are separated by place, but united by love, and death itself cannot separate us; even though my body has died, my soul lives and remembers the people. You are my fathers: how can I forget you? You are my fathers, you are my life, you are my praise. If you succeed, I become famous; my life, my wealth is stored in your treasury. A thousand times I was ready to be killed for you, and I do not consider this a merit on my part, but the fulfillment of a duty, because: “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). A thousand times I was ready to be killed, and a thousand times to be beheaded. For me, this death is a transition to immortality; these intrigues for me are a means to achieve security. Is it because of money that I am subjected to intrigues so that I may grieve? Is it for sins that I should complain? No, for my love for you, for the fact that I do everything to bring you to safety, so that no one gets into the flock, so that the flock remains unharmed. This is enough to earn me the crown. What would I not tolerate for you? You are my fellow citizens, you are my fathers, you are my brothers, you are my children, you are my members, you are my body, you are my light, even much sweeter than this light. Do the sun's rays bring me anything like your love? The sun's rays benefit me in this life, and your love weaves a crown for me in the future. This I speak in the ears of those who listen; and which ears are more diligent than yours in listening? You have been awake for so many days and nothing has tired you; neither length of time, nor fears, nor threats have weakened you; in everything you turned out to be courageous. And what am I saying: turned out to be? You did what I always desired: you despised the affairs of this world, renounced the earth, moved to heaven, freed yourself from bodily bonds, labored in blissful love for the truth. Here are my crowns, here is encouragement, here is consolation, here is my anointing, here is life, here is the guarantee of immortality! 4 1. But I see some of those who convinced me to stick to my beliefs. Many favorable affairs turn into adverse ones; and I have already fallen under the malice of those to whom I seemed jealous. Some, attacking the way of life, achieve victory with their attacks, thanks to the diversity of views [on this subject]; others, however, did not threaten themselves, but took the side of the former. Now is the time to speak of my sorrow. The law remains in force, but the legislator is defeated. Children! I am testified by your love: I see intrigues that raise war and insult God; I see the struggle lost and the hero grieving; I see conviction truly weakened, and intrigues triumphant. They tell me: you baptized after eating. If I did this, let me be anathema, let me not be considered at the head of bishops, let me not be with the angels, let me not be pleasing to God. However, even if I baptized after eating the food, I did not do anything indecent. Listen carefully to what I say and what I won’t stop saying. Speaking is not burdensome for me, but useful for you. But let's return to the subject. They say that I baptized after eating food. Let Paul be deposed because he baptized the jailer after supper. I dare to say: let Christ himself be deposed because He gave communion to His disciples after Vespers. No, we have this in due order and respect; these are the bright deeds of the world; this is the praise of the people. This is my crown, and your flesh. You know, beloved, that they still want to depose me because I did not spread carpets, did not put on silk clothes, and did not indulge the gluttony of others. The spawn of the asp still flourish; the seed of Jezebel still remains; but grace also labors with Elijah. Let us remember the wondrous and rich messenger of life, i.e. John, a poor man who did not even have a lamp, but who had the lamp of Christ, whose head was desired by Eve's co-servant, who was an obstacle to the saints, who persecuted the prophets, who insidiously preached fasting, who knew a dance worthy of the name of a viper, who danced during an unfinished feast. She did not wish for life, did not wish for a lot of money, or royal dignity, or abundance in anything else. But, tell me, man, what did she want? Human heads. What am I saying? Not just a man, but an evangelist. However, even having received her head, she did not win. She demanded the head and cut it off, receiving the satisfaction of her lawless desire on a platter. Look and marvel at the power of God. The innocent was denounced and was beheaded; but the truncated one is in the right hand of Christ, and she was subjected to inevitable punishment. [Now] again the seed of that [Jezebel], this thorny plant is revealed and prospers. But, while Herodias demands the head of John, we rejoice not with the rejoicing that is expressed by the movement of the legs, but with the inspired rejoicing of Mary. John again calls out and says: “You must not have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18). 5. What else can I say? The present time is a time of tears. Everyone strives for disgrace, and everything is subject to the judgment of time. Everything is valued in gold. Meanwhile, Saint David speaks and cries: “When wealth increases, do not set your heart on it” (Psalm 61:11). And who, tell me, was the person who uttered this saying? Did he not sit at the height of the royal throne? Was he not invested with royal power? But he was not inclined to steal; his thoughts were not aimed at the destruction of piety; He cared not about treasures, but about military squads, and did not please his wife. Avoid your wife and gatherings that are alien to you; do not give bad advice to your husbands, but do not confirm what is said. Have we extinguished your flame? Has your heart softened? However, I know that Mariam’s daughters will benefit; others were full without wine and drunk with the love of money, as blessed Paul cries and preaches: “for the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). So crazy women block their ears, and instead of good seed, they grow thorns. But I exhort you, do not allow our seed to be cast, as it were, on a stone. We are the field of Christ, from whom we will hear: “good and faithful servant, ... enter into the joy of your master”; but how could it not have been said instead: “wicked servant” (Matthew 25:23, 26)! I exhort you, let your life be enlightened before men, let us not be overwhelmed by our own salt, but let us glorify and give thanks - the rich to the rich, the poor to the man-loving and poor-loving Christ, the strong to His mighty hand. This is about you. But God allows me to endure what they plan against me, perhaps in order to frighten me with disasters, because victory is certainly accompanied by labor and the crown is prepared by exploits. So the divine Paul said: “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; but now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:7–8). May the Lord of all vouchsafe this crown to you forever! Amen. This and the following paragraphs raise doubts about their authenticity.