Поучение на день памяти святого Иоанна Златоуста, месяца ноября, в 13 день («Христова уста, Павлова уста; Павлова уста, Златоустаго уста; Златоустаго уста, Христова и Павлова уста» (Цветная Триодь, на утрени в ночь святой Пасхи, перед словом Златоустого)

We, the male sex, are ashamed that the now celebrated lamp of the world, like our holy father John Chrysostom, was called Chrysostom not by us, but by a woman, our beloved listeners! We are ashamed that a woman preceded us in this. The male sex is silent, but the female sex in the middle of the church exclaims loudly: “Spiritual Teacher, moreover, I will say, John Chrysostom! You have deepened the well of your holy teaching, but the ropes of our mind are short!” And from then on he was nicknamed “Chrysostom,” but not by us, but by a woman. The Antiochians have wine! It was they who were late, it was their wife who warned them, who exclaimed in their cathedral church. For at that time Saint John was not yet the Patriarch of Constantinople, but a hieromonk in Antioch under His Holiness Patriarch Flavian. There were so many husbands in the church, and everyone was silent, and only one wife exclaimed: she calls John Chrysostom. I think that the Antiochians will say: “We looked at the spiritual order and expected that the priests would give John a new praiseworthy name. After all, their job is to name names, and besides, we have a command from them to remain silent in church and listen to what they say. Therefore, the spiritual rank is to blame for the fact that the name “Chrysostom” came not from them, but from the lips of a woman. And the spiritual rank will say: “Who can get ahead of his wife and in what? Who will do something faster than his wife? Didn’t the wives warn the leading clergy, the apostles Peter, James and John, by coming before them to the tomb of Christ? We were still discussing within ourselves what to call such a great teacher: the mouth of Paul, or the mouth of Christ? And she suddenly, unexpectedly screamed and called him Chrysostom.” We should shout at this woman herself and remind her of the apostolic word: “Let women keep silent in churches” (1 Cor. 14:34). Be quiet, wife, in church, don't shout! It's none of your business! Wait until the spiritual rank calls him Chrysostom, do not preface him! But it is dangerous, for no matter how she shames us, telling us in the words of the Gospel: “If you remain silent, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). You are silent, how can we not cry out to us? Have you forgotten that it was the wife who praised the Lord Christ Himself first of all: “One woman, raising her voice from among the people, said to Him: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nourished You!” (Luke 11:27). And if the word of that wife is not rejected, not humiliated, but accepted even into the Holy Gospel and written as exceedingly excellent in Luke’s gospel, then do not, says the wife, degrade my word, call this teacher with me Chrysostom: let him be “Chrysostom”! What will you say, Saint Metaphrastus, writer of the life of Saint John, with your comrades? He says: although the wife spoke this word, God Himself called him this name. From now on, let him be called Chrysostom! So be it! Let us kiss your golden lips, great saint of God! We accept and praise your new praiseworthy name “Chrysostom,” which was given to you, although by a woman, but by God-inspired lips, as speaking from the Holy Spirit. We joyfully celebrate your memory. Look down on us from above, cover us with your blessing and allow me, a sinner, to talk about your golden lips with my mortal lips; Let the listeners who love you listen to this with love. May God save that wife who gave Saint John the beautiful name befitting him, “Chrysostom”! Truly, God spoke through her mouth, for this name was given for a reason. But how were these lips golden? Why are they gold? My wife did not interpret this, she left it to us to interpret it for ourselves. So let's interpret. Who does not know that the lips of St. John Chrysostom were not made of real gold and were not gilded with real gold, that they were the same made of flesh as ours? For he was “flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones” (cf. Gen. 2:23). His honest lips were called golden not because they were made of gold, but because of the grace of God-inspired wisdom that emanated from his lips, as the Holy Church sings to him: “Grace was poured out on your lips, Reverend Father, and you were the shepherd of the Church of Christ, teaching the verbal sheep.” The lips became golden according to the power of God’s wise teaching. Make a mouth of the finest gold and see what comes of it? Will they tell you anything? Nothing. In order to reveal this spiritual gold more clearly before us, that is, the divinely inspired wisdom on the lips of Saint Chrysostom, and in order to better recognize it, let us contrast its spiritual wisdom with the foolish wisdom of the world. For opposite things, placed side by side, show their strength better. Put soot next to snow, a simple pebble with a diamond, dirt with gold, and you will sooner see the advantage of a good thing and the insignificance of a bad one. So, let us put the wisdom of this world next to spiritual wisdom and see more clearly the spiritual shine of spiritual gold, spiritual wisdom. There is spiritual wisdom, and there is worldly wisdom. Both of these wisdoms are described in the letter of the holy Apostle James as follows: “Whether any of you is wise and understanding, prove this in fact by good behavior with wise meekness. But if you have bitter envy and contentiousness in your heart, do not boast or lie about the truth. This is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, spiritual, demonic. But the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, modest, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy” (James 3:13–15, 17). And since all things are better understood from example than from reasoning, let two examples of two wisdoms stand before our eyes: spiritual, I say, and worldly. Let the image of the first holy wisdom be the now celebrated teacher of the universe, Saint John with fleshly and so-called golden lips. Let the image of the second, worldly wisdom, be placed opposite the first with lips that are truly golden and made of material gold. What image is this? A Babylonian idol made by Nebuchadnezzar and placed in the field of Deir. Didn’t that idol have golden lips, all golden, and what was the use of his lips? They were mute. So many people bow to him in Babylon, trumpets and timbrels sound, they call him God, they please him with praise, but he is silent and does not know himself, like a soulless idol. The three youths turn away from him, blaspheme him, call him an idol and not a god, but he doesn’t say a word to them: “he has a mouth, but does not speak” (Ps. 113:15), a dumb idol. Be you, idol, with your golden lips not gold, but dirt. But your sweetly speaking lips, Saint John, although made of flesh, may they be gold. Gold in Divine Scripture is a sign or image of wisdom. The Proverbs of Solomon says: “Knowledge is better than choice gold,” and also: “Blessed is the man who has acquired wisdom, because the acquisition of it is better than the acquisition of silver, and the profit from it is greater than from gold; it is more precious than precious stones, and nothing you desire can compare with it” (Prov. 8:10, 3:13 et seq.). Let us heed: in spiritual interpretation, gold is only a sign or image of wisdom, and not wisdom itself. And therefore, when Saint John is called Chrysostom, this expresses his wisdom emanating from his lips, and not that his fleshly lips turn into material gold. According to the understanding of this world, gold is wisdom itself. He who has gold is wise. In the world, gold floats everywhere: gold prevails in courts, gold justifies the guilty, gold seeks mercy from nobles, gold acquires good friends, gold successfully receives an honorary command, gold adorns even the ugly, gold elevates to high ranks, gold makes the simpleton wise and the ignorant famous. In a word, gold is the wisdom of this world! Gold is an eloquent rhetorician, and you, beggar, although you are wise, remain silent! But do not boast, golden wisdom of this world! Your stupidity will soon be known and exposed when the Babylonian idol is exposed. Let us turn again to the Babylonian idol, but not to the one that was placed on the field of Deira, but to another one, seen in a dream, and we will see in it the stupid, albeit golden, wisdom of this world. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, sees in a dream vision a great idol, which has a golden head, a silver chest and arms, a copper belly, iron legs, and the rest of the legs are clay. What did this idol signify? I look at the interpretation of Saint Metaphrastus, in the life of the holy prophet Daniel, and I see: gold signifies the Babylonian kingdom, silver signifies the Medo-Persian kingdom, for just as two hands were made of one silver, so two kingdoms, Median and Persian, were united into a single monarchy; copper denotes the future Greek kingdom; iron means the Roman kingdom, and just as there were two legs made of iron, so the Roman kingdom had two parts: eastern and western; clay meant the destruction of all earthly kingdoms before the terrible Day of Judgment, after which a single eternal heavenly kingdom will come. Here I will ask about two things: why was the formation of all monarchies, all the kingdoms of this world, revealed to Nebuchadnezzar not in reality, but in a dream? And why not in the form of some living person, but in the form of an idol? You don’t need to look far for answers, reason itself answers: that’s why the formation of all the monarchies under heaven was revealed to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, and not explicitly, that all the kingdoms of this world are passing away like a dream, according to David: “He brought them down when they became proud. How they came to ruin! Suddenly they disappeared, they perished for their iniquity, like the dream of one who awakens” (Ps. 72:18–20). Just as a sleeping person, awakening from sleep, forgets what he dreamed and does not tell, and if he remembers something and tells another, he soon forgets, so former monarchies have passed by as if in a dream, and we listen to the story about them as a story about a past dream. There was a Babylonian, Mysian, and Persian monarchy, and it was proud, for it was rich in gold and silver, and now it no longer exists: “He deposed them when they became proud.” Where is she? “It was in desolation”, and you can no longer find its place. “Disappeared, perished, like the dream of one who has awakened.” There was a Greek and Roman monarchy, and it was proud, for it was brave and strong, like copper and iron, it was - and now it no longer exists: “He deposed them when they became proud.” Where is she? “It was in desolation”, and you can hardly find its place. “Disappeared, perished, like the dream of one who has awakened.” There are still many monarchies in the Middle Kingdom. There are, but God knows how long they will last! But in the end the time will come when they too will not be, when they too will pass, “like the dream of one who awakens,” for our life flows like a dream. The holy Apostle James says well: “What is our life? A vapor that appears for a little while and then disappears” (James 4:14). To another question: why the formation of all kingdoms and monarchies is shown under the image not of any person, but of the idol Nebuchadnezzar, we answer this way: for the manifestation of the foolish wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this world, as stated above, lies in gold, in wealth. He who is rich is also wise; everyone listens to him, honors him, pleases him, and his word is considered something great. Isn't it true? Let St. Paul testify to this, who writes to Timothy: “Admonish those who are rich in this present age, so that they do not think highly of themselves” (1 Tim. 6:17). Let us listen: who is arrogant? The rich of this world. Therefore, the wisdom of this world is wealth. The idol was rich: he had plenty of silver and gold, copper and iron, but he was stupid. Why stupid? Let us examine him from head to toe and see his stupidity. The head is golden, but brainless, empty, there is no mind in it. The eyes and ears are golden, but he is blind and deaf. The lips are golden, but silent; hands are silver, but they don’t give anything to anyone; the belly is copper, but without breath; the shins are iron, and will not budge. The stupidest thing is that all this wealth, gold and silver, copper and iron, stands and is established on feet of clay. Let it be on stone, or at least on wooden oak, so that it can stand for a long time, but can it stand on clay for a long time? Stupid rich idol! He looks up, philosophizes, but does not see his feet falling soon. Your fall is near, idol! You will stagger, for you are standing on clay! But he won’t even look. You are stupid, idol, with your golden head. The idol is stupid from head to toe, that is, this world, unreasonable from the beginning to the end of its existence! The first monarchies, depicted in silver and gold, were rich, but they were stupid because they did not know God. The middle monarchies were brave, clad in copper and iron armor, but stupid, because they did not believe in God, did not know God, and therefore died for their iniquities. What can we say about the latter? They are almost clay, close to destruction, for the end is already “at the door” (Matthew 23:33; Mark 13:29), you will find a little intelligence in clay too! Look for yourself, worldly wisdom, drowning in wealth, pleasures and sinful passions, at its idol-like stupidity! You have a golden head, but you don’t think about the dust of the earth! You have eyes, but your clay feet, I say, your death and decay in the grave, you do not see! You have ears, but you don’t hear the trumpet of the word of God, the trumpet of death, the trumpet of the Last Judgment! You have a mouth and speak not good, but only evil, nasty, crafty, treacherous! Your hands and feet, everything, I say, your deeds are untenable, they deserve not the mercy of God and salvation, but perhaps the wrath of God and destruction. But it’s time for us to turn our eyes away from the idol and look at the living and after death image of spiritual wisdom - at the saint of God, Saint John Chrysostom, who is now celebrated. I love the old printed book, the Colored Triodion, for the very reason that it contains such praise to St. John Chrysostom, calling him the lips of Christ and Paul: “Christ’s mouth, Paul’s mouth; Pavlov's mouth, Chrysostom's mouth; Chrysostom’s mouth, Christ’s and Paul’s mouth!” If Saint John is the mouth of Christ, then truly the mouth is golden, for Christ Himself is spiritually called the golden Head, as it is said about Him in the Song of Songs: “His Head is pure gold” (Song. 5:11). Why is our Lord called the golden Head? We know that He did not wear gold on His head. It is not surprising that Shulamith once said these words about her beloved Solomon, for he, being a king, wore a golden royal crown on his head. Our Lord, who had His kingdom not of this world: “My kingdom,” He says, “is not of this world” (John 18:36), instead of a worldly golden crown, had a crown of thorns on His head. Why is it said that His head is golden? Interpreters of Divine Scripture say that this is done to reveal to us God’s wisdom, which arranged our salvation, for the apostle says about Him: “We preach Christ crucified, God’s power and God’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:23–24). Just as great and precious things are bought with gold, so God’s wisdom, Christ, having shed His Blood for us, bought us liberation from hell and the inheritance of the eternal kingdom, according to the words of Scripture: “We were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18–19). And just as gold prevails over everything in this world, so in the world above all else does God’s wisdom prevail. Being the preacher of God's Wisdom, Saint John, the mouth of this golden Head, truly, is himself golden, truly, Chrysostom. And why Saint John Chrysostom is the mouth of Christ is clear from the following. God once said to His prophet Jeremiah: “If you extract something precious from something unworthy, you will become like My mouth” (Jer. 15:19). In the Syriac translation this passage reads: “If you bring out the worthy from the unworthy, you will be like My mouth.” “That is, if you make a sinful person righteous, if you lead him out of his sins onto the saving path of repentance, if you separate him from the goats, from the part of the sheep, and bring him to the sheep that will stand at My right hand, if you do this, you will be My mouth,” says the Lord Almighty. And since Saint John Chrysostom, the preacher of repentance, led many sinners to repentance with his preaching and excommunicated them from the goats, joining them to the sheep of Christ, and now does the same with his inspired books, then he truly is the mouth of Christ. The mouth of Christ raised the dead with a word: the daughter of Jairus, the son of a widow, the four-day-old Lazarus, who were dead in body. He who preaches the word of God and teaches repentance resurrects souls who have died in sins. Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov discusses this as follows: “The preaching of the word of God is more powerful than prayer. For it is a greater miracle to turn a sinner to the path of repentance through the word of teaching than to raise the dead. In the resurrection of the dead, the flesh rises and dies again, but in the resurrection of the sinner the soul rises and lives differently. If you want to be convinced in practice that what has been said is the truth, look: God raised Lazarus bodily, and what Lazarus did after his resurrection, Scripture is silent about that; God resurrected the soul in Paul, and what did Pavlov’s soul do? She performed many miracles and powers through her teaching.” This is what Saint Gregory says. And since Saint John Chrysostom, like Saint Paul, resurrected many souls from sinful death and continues to resurrect them with his writings, he truly is the mouth of Christ and together the mouth of Paul: “Chrysostom’s mouth, Christ’s and Paul’s mouth.” The Holy Apostle Paul spoke from the mouth of Christ and became the mouth of Christ. Saint Chrysostom speaks from the lips of Pavlov, as Archdeacon Proclus saw, looking into the well. When Saint John wrote interpretations of the Epistles of Paul, now called discourses on the Apostolic Epistles, Saint Paul was seen standing behind him, who, leaning towards the ear of the writer, seemed to inspire him with the words being written down. So, Saint Chrysostom, who wrote and spoke from the mouth of Paul, became the mouth of Paul, Paul’s, and at the same time Christ’s. Paul drew a stream of Divine wisdom and teaching from Christ, and Chrysostom from both - from Christ and Paul, and therefore “Chrysostom’s mouth, Christ’s and Paul’s mouth.” O golden-tongued, golden-tongued, golden-tongued John! Say with your golden lips, together with Paul’s lips, a prayer word about us to our golden Head, the Head of the Church, Christ, so that He will remember us with His Divine lips in His kingdom and say to us: “Come to Me, you blessed” (Matthew 25:34)! Amen.