Глава вторая. Служение Иоанна Златоуста в сане диакона и пресвитера в Антиохии (381–398 гг.)

Having accepted the sacred rank of deaconate, John again returned to the world, but no longer as its slave, but as an Actor in it. In the days of his youth, he was carried away by the various delights and pleasures of ordinary worldly life; Now, as a minister of the Church, he came out to fight these delights and, filled with spiritual courage, began to fulfill his ministry with zeal. The duties of a deacon at that time were very complex. In addition to fulfilling the bishop's instructions and serving in the church, he had to especially take care of the various needs of the weak and poor Christians. He had to visit the sick and console the dying, help the poor and find funds for their maintenance. The position was difficult, requiring complete selflessness and love, but at the same time it was also an excellent school for preparing for the highest pastoral service. In the desert, John, caring about the salvation of his own soul and not seeing all the infirmities and disasters depressing suffering humanity, could weaken in his love for mankind, since, without seeing the unfortunate in front of him, it is not difficult to completely forget about them. His current service again placed him in the midst of real life and opened before his eyes this whole world, full of tears and suffering. And earlier, as a lawyer, he could get acquainted with the other side of worldly life; but there his very occupation prompted him to take the side of the strong and rich in their litigation with the weak and poor; now he acted as an insurmountable defender of these latter, and he often had to fight the greed of the rich, tame their predatory attacks on the meager treasury of the poor, protect the disadvantaged from the oppression of greedy and heartless officials and thus, if possible, make the lives of those toiling and burdened, whom the Savior Christ especially called to himself, easier. Thus, John accepted a double upbringing: upbringing in the desert, which strengthened his spirit and purified his heart to the ability to contemplate the Divine, and upbringing in public life, which shows people in their weaknesses, misfortunes, untruths and vices. The picture is sad, but familiarity with it was necessary for him in the service ahead of him, and it was she who made him into the true shepherd and benefactor of the suffering that he later became. The first silver that he gave to the poor was his own, and from that time until his death he called nothing his own and considered everything that he had to belong to the poor. Church teaching, which belonged to the presbyters, was not connected with the rank of deaconry, and the very duties of this primarily charitable ministry did not provide time and opportunity for such teaching. But, without speaking with verbal teaching, John did not abandon written teaching, and several of his remarkable arguments date back to this time, such as “Three Words to the Ascetic Stagirius,” in which he gave one of the friends of his youth consolation in the despondency that had overwhelmed him, proving that everything in human life is under the guidance of God’s Providence, and therefore everything is directed for the better and precisely to the shame of the original misanthrope - the devil; as well as the discourses “On Virginity” and “To the Young Widow.” Both of these reasonings are filled with the most sublime thoughts, and the latter is all the more heartfelt because in it John could refer to the example of his own mother, who found sufficient consolation for herself in widowhood, completely devoting herself to maternal care for the worthy upbringing of her son. In all these discussions, John acted as a strict zealot for bodily purity, and they contain everything that can serve to strengthen the spirit in the fight against the temptations of the flesh. Finally, one can think that at this time he published in its final form the book “On the Priesthood”, which, at first written only for his friend Vasily and circulated in a close circle of friends, was now published for the edification of all ministers of the church and all Christians in general. John served in the rank of deacon for five years. Meanwhile, the pious Bishop Meletius ended his life full of trials, and in his place, Presbyter Flavian, respected by everyone for his pastoral teaching, was elected. The new bishop had long been acquainted with John, who was his student at the Antiochian school, and, seeing in him a most useful figure for the Church, elevated him to the rank of presbyter (386). John was at this time about 39 years old, and he, having reached the age of a perfect man, with full consciousness of the importance of his high ministry, entered into the administration of his new position. He had a lot of work ahead of him. If anywhere, then it was in Antioch that shepherds were needed who would have enough courage and zeal to fight against the many obstacles on the path to a truly Christian life. Antioch was one of the largest and richest cities in the East. At this time, there were up to 200,000 souls in it, of which half were pagans and Jews, and half were Christians. Paganism, which was living out its days, had its most prominent representatives here, who, not wanting to recognize the obviously triumphant victory of Christianity, tried to oppose it with pitiful scraps of their learning and philosophy and at the same time imperceptibly renew paganism itself, interpreting it in a more sublime sense than in which it was usually understood. The pagan schools were taught by rhetoricians and philosophers famous at that time, from whom even Christians studied, and many of the latter could not help but become infected with the views of their teachers. On the other hand, the Jews, strong with their wealth and industry, kept the population in their hands and, as haters of Christianity, were not averse to sometimes entering into an alliance even with pagans in order to one way or another strike at the hated religion of the Cross. Then the very common life of Christians with pagans and Jews, with whom they had to be connected by numerous business, trade and industrial interests, naturally left a kind of stamp on them, and they could no longer have that integrity and spontaneity of religious mood that exists in a city inhabited only by Christians. A huge part of them were still semi-pagans. They accepted Christianity as a religion, followed its external instructions and regulations, but were still little imbued with its spirit, and in life there were many morals and customs with echoes of paganism. Under the influence of such a mixture of beliefs, teachers constantly appeared among Christians who wanted to comprehend and remake Christianity with their own minds, like pagan philosophers and rhetoricians. From here, disputes and strife arose between different teachers, various directions and parties were formed, which often waged a fierce struggle among themselves, bringing extreme turmoil into church life. Some teachers directly acted as preachers of heresies and various errors, became the leaders of schisms, and all this together made the Antiochian church like a ship, tossed by incessant winds. There were representatives of various heresies - Arians, Anomeans, and Gnostics in their various forms, there were leaders of schisms, and the pastors of the church had to fight all these enemies of the true faith. But along with religious sentiments there were also moral and social ones. If religion was not pure, then morality could not be high. Of course, there were highly pious people, fully worthy of their title, but the majority led a semi-pagan life, indulged in passions and all kinds of amusements indecent for Christians. For them, theaters or circuses were more attractive than churches. And at the same time, there was little Christian love for others. As in general in large industrial cities, and especially in ancient times, the most miserable poverty huddled next to untold riches. Next to the magnificent palaces and chambers of the rich, who did not know how and with what to satisfy their lusts, lived the poor, who were unsure of the future and often died from hunger and disease - and these opposite extremes were all the more striking because antiquity was generally little familiar with charity: the poor and needy were left to take care of themselves in their ill-fated fate. Various social unrest naturally resulted from this, and if the rich tried to satisfy their greed by all kinds of oppression of the poor, then, in turn, the latter, at every opportunity, tried to take revenge on their oppressors, and Antioch was repeatedly a witness to bloody riots, in which all the wildest passions were played out to an extraordinary degree, finding rich food in the diversity of the population according to religion, tribe and condition. Valiant and selfless shepherds were truly needed to steer well the ship of the Church under such trouble. This is exactly what John was. Himself a native of Antioch, he knew his hometown with all its good and bad sides, he knew not only by appearance, but also penetrated into all the secrets of its inner life. There could not have been a better shepherd for Antioch. The pious Bishop Flavian was fully aware of this and, valuing his student as an irreplaceable assistant, he granted him the widest freedom of activity and, mainly, freedom of preaching. In the rank of deacon, John was engaged only in charitable affairs; now he acted as a church teacher and immediately discovered his extraordinary talents. Already the first sermon he preached precisely on the occasion of his ordination to the rank of presbyter made an indelible impression on the large gathering of worshipers who arrived at the celebration of the ordination of their beloved deacon. But this sermon spoke more about the preacher’s modesty and extraordinary humility than about his merits. But the further, the more the talent of the new preacher developed, and throughout the diverse and multi-tribal Antioch, greedy for all sorts of news and rumors, word quickly spread that a preacher had appeared who was worth listening to. And the church where he served and preached was always filled with listeners who listened to John’s inspired speeches with amazement and delight. The Antiochians loved eloquence and therefore highly valued rhetoricians like Livanius. But now they heard an orator who far surpassed this famous rhetorician, and surpassed him in the very power and persuasiveness of his speeches. Livanius, with his pompous eloquence, artificial turns of phrase and sonorous phrases, could captivate and delight the ear, but did not touch the heart. On the contrary, his student, without resorting to any artificial verbiage and without being carried away by the ringing of phrases, amazed with the extraordinary vitality of his speech: every word of his breathed with strength and life, because it was taken from a reality known to everyone and explained with examples that were equally understandable to both a highly educated patrician and the most humble farmer. Such sermons had never before been heard in Antioch, and its inhabitants listened with amazement to the words of the preacher, who completely captured their hearts, so that they either trembled at the depiction of the horrors of God’s wrath, or rejoiced with the hope of infinite mercy. When the inspired preacher exposed the vices of his city - he castigated the greed and unmercifulness of the rich, the baseness and rebellion of the poor, the vanity and rapacity of officials, the emptiness and depravity of women, then those standing in the church could not help but blush and shudder from the consciousness of their depravity, and when the preacher concluded his inspired word with a call to repentance and correction, with the promise of higher help in this holy In fact, the listeners could not stand it and interrupted the preacher’s speech with deafening applause. The Antiochians were especially surprised by the fact that John did not read his sermons, but delivered them from the fullness of his heart, and conducted lively oral conversations with his listeners. Never before had anything like this happened in Antioch, and no one had ever preached the word of God without a book or scroll. John was the first such extraordinary preacher. Such grace flowed from his lips that his listeners could neither be amazed nor satiated by his conversations. Therefore, cursive writers did not fail to appear in the church, who took notes for the preacher and passed on and sold their notes to numerous people who wanted it. His sermons became the subject of general conversation, and they were read even at feasts and celebrations, and many memorized them. When it became known that this sweet-talking rhetorician would conduct a conversation, the whole city began to move: merchants left their trade, builders - their construction, lawyers - their courts, artisans - their crafts, and everyone rushed to the church. Listening to John was considered a special happiness, and everyone competed in coming up with words of praise to him: some called him “the mouth of God and Christ,” others - sweet-talking, others - mellifluous, and thus, already at that time, the voice of the people as the voice of God created for him that nickname - Chrysostom, under which his name is immortalized in history and the Church of Christ. Tradition has also preserved the very incident in which this nickname occurred. Not limiting himself to moral instructions, John sometimes spoke with dogmatic teachings about the sublime truths of religion and often delved into such theological wisdom that turned out to be inaccessible to many listeners. On one such occasion, one simple woman, reverently listening to the stream of speech of the great preacher, could not penetrate into the meaning of these words, sweet to the ear, and with purely feminine impatience shouted to him from among the people: “Spiritual Teacher, or better to say, John Chrysostom, you have deepened the well of your holy teaching so much that our short minds cannot comprehend it!” The people picked up the name expressed by the woman and, seeing in it an indication of God, decided from now on to call their beloved preacher Chrysostom 5 . This incident, by the way, did not go unnoticed by John himself. He became convinced that it was useless to address the people with “intricately woven words,” and after that he always tried to decorate his conversations with simple and moralizing words so that even the simplest listener could understand him and receive spiritual benefit. John’s sermons had all the more power and significance because his gift of speech was also combined with the gift of miracles, so that many sick people received from him not only spiritual consolation, but also physical healing. If in general John loved to preach the word of God, so much so that not a week passed during which he did not say one or another conversation, and sometimes he preached two or three times a week, then on special occasions his zeal intensified even more and his inspiration flared up even more. The first years of his presbytery service included the celebration of the memory of Archbishop Meletios, highly revered by Antioch. He died in 381 in Constantinople, and at the same time his ashes were transported to Antioch, but due to unfavorable circumstances, only after five years did the Antiochians get the opportunity to properly honor the memory of their revered saint. And this solemn honoring, in all likelihood, took place under the influence of John himself, who deeply revered the memory of Meletius as an archpastor, who especially contributed a lot to his spiritual revival and strengthening. The honoring took place in the first year of John’s presbyteral ministry, and on the occasion of this celebration he delivered a speech of praise, in which, with a genuine sense of reverence for the memory of the deceased archpastor, he depicted his significance for the church, as well as the love of his flock for their pious archpastor. Their reverence for him reached the point that children were given names in his honor and his image was worn by many on rings, on seals, on cups and on the walls of palaces, so that the great saint, even after departing from this world, continued to live with his flock. The speech made an indelible impression on everyone, and the name of the sweet-voiced preacher became inseparable from the name of the great Antiochian saint. But soon the Antiochians were to become even more convinced of what a great shepherd they had in the person of John. Two years of his pastoral ministry in Antioch passed. The Great Lent of 388 was approaching, and the great preacher was looking forward to a rich harvest in the field of popular repentance. But suddenly an event happened that should have directed his thoughts to another subject. The population of Antioch has long been distinguished by rebellion, and popular passions more than once flared up with terrible force. The same thing happened now, and on an extraordinary scale. The empire had already enjoyed peace for almost ten years under the wise leadership of Theodosius, who, having ascended the throne under the most difficult circumstances, when barbarians threatened from everywhere, with his courage managed to secure the state from the outside and improve it internally. As a tender father, four years before, he elevated his son Arcadius to the rank of Augustus, and since the fifth anniversary of this important event for his son was approaching, he decided to celebrate it in the most solemn way throughout the entire empire, and in order to save money, he added to this a celebration in honor of the tenth anniversary of his own reign (although there was still a year left before its fulfillment). Such celebrations were usually associated with large expenses, since generous gifts were distributed to all troops - five gold pieces per person. In order not to burden the state treasury, Theodosius decided to make do with collections from large, rich cities, which during his peaceful reign had accumulated enormous wealth. But these cities turned out to be the least grateful and had no desire at all to bear the costs of the national celebration. Alexandria was the first to rebel against the imperial edict, followed by Antioch. When the imperial edict on the tax was read in Antioch, the local senators, forgetting their dignity, jumped up from their seats and, running into the street, began shouting that the new tax would ruin Antioch and force its inhabitants to sell their property, their wives and children. These complaints fell like sparks on flammable material. In Antioch, as in all large cities, there were a mass of homeless wandering people who were ready to take advantage of any opportunity to rebel, and they immediately began to move, and the entire population became agitated after them. The excited crowd first went to the house of Bishop Flavian to ask him to petition for the abolition of the tax; but since he was not at home, the ever-increasing crowd began to riot in the city, destroyed one of the richest public baths and then, with furious shouts, moved to the house of the governor, or praetor. The ruler, unexpectedly captured by this rebellion, considered it best to hide through the secret doors of the house, and the crowd broke into the praetorium itself. Then a majestic sight opened before her eyes: in the most prominent places silently stood statues of Emperor Theodosius himself, his wife (already deceased), Empress Flacilla, their son Arcadius and other members of the imperial house. The crowd felt an involuntary reverence for these silent images of imperial greatness, and the more prudent began to exhort the people to disperse. But the matter was spoiled by several naughty boys who, without realizing the gravity of their crime, began to throw stones at these statues, and when one of the naughty boys hit one of the statues accurately, the charm of the crowd was destroyed and the blow of the stone served as a signal for a new explosion of crowd violence. "Down with tyrants!" - the crowd roared and, with ferocious screams, began to break and smash the imperial statues, which then dragged through the streets with various mockeries and, disfigured, were thrown into the Orontes River. But as soon as this vile riot took place, the people themselves came to their senses and, realizing the heinousness of their crime, fell into terrible despondency, rightly expecting severe punishment. The crime was truly great. Emperor Theodosius could forgive everything, even the insult inflicted on him, but not the insult inflicted on his beloved wife Flacilla, whom he mourned. The Antiochians could well have expected terrible vengeance from the offended emperor. He could burn and destroy Antioch, and mercilessly execute its inhabitants or sell them into slavery. Just the thought of what had happened filled everyone with horror and numbness. But what to do now? Who can protect the Antiochians from the vengeance they deserve? No one but God, and the people rushed into the church crying, wringing their hands and beating their chests in despair. If ever, then it was now that he needed a word of consolation, and everyone was eager to hear it from the lips of the Chrysostomed John. The valiant shepherd did not remain indifferent to the plight of his flock, but the crime committed was so great that even his golden lips closed before him. Struck by inexpressible grief, he remained silent for a week, as if wanting to give the people's soul a deeper sense of all the madness and sinfulness of the rampage he had committed. Finally, already on Saturday or Sunday of Cheese Week, he appeared to the people with deep sadness on his brow and did not fail to address them with words of pastoral consolation and edification, and now, more than ever, the people felt all the sweetness of the inspired speeches of their beloved sweet-talking preacher. “What should I say or what should I talk about? - he began amid the sighs and tears of those gathered. – Now is the time for tears, not speech; sobs, not words; prayers, not sermons. The deed is so great, the wound is so incurable, the ulcer is so deep that it is beyond any medicine and requires the highest help. Let me mourn the present disaster. For seven days I was silent, like Job’s friends; let me now open my mouth and mourn this common calamity. Who wished harm on us, beloved? Who envied us? Where does this change come from? There was nothing more glorious than our city; now nothing became more pity for him. The people, so quiet and meek, always submissive to the affairs of the rulers, now suddenly became furious, so that they committed such riots that it is indecent to even talk about. I’m crying and sobbing now - not from the importance of the threatened punishment, but about the extreme madness of what was done. My voice is broken from crying, I can barely open my lips, move my tongue and pronounce words...” The cries of the people and especially women and children interrupted and drowned out these stunning words of Chrysostom. But he did not leave his flock in this desperate state and taught them words of consolation, with which he wiped away bitter tears, moderated the pain of their hearts and calmed everyone with hope in God’s mercy. You must always rely on God in everything. “A Christian,” he said, “must differ from the infidels and, encouraged by hope for the future, stand above the attack of human evils. So, beloved, stop despairing. We ourselves do not care so much about our salvation as God, who created us, cares about us.” With a relieved heart, the people went home. Meanwhile, his elderly archpastor was already taking care of him. When messengers galloped from Antioch to Constantinople with news of the rebellion and with their stories could set the emperor up for the most terrible, merciless vengeance, the elderly Saint Flavian decided to do everything possible to soften the royal anger. He was already advanced in age and weak in body; but, despite this, he decided to personally go to the capital in order to soften the righteous anger of the emperor with his intercession. The path was long and difficult, especially for the elder 6; but he, like a true shepherd, was ready to lay down his life for his sheep and actually immediately set off on the road, even trying to warn the messengers. Unfortunately, deep snow delayed him in the Taurus Mountains, and the messengers arrived before him; but he did not lose heart and, overcoming all obstacles and difficulties, continued on his way until, with a trembling heart, he arrived in the capital. No one could guess how this petition of the loving, selfless elder archpastor would end. Therefore, the people were in an unusually languid state, and it was during this terrible languid time that John was the true comforter of the suffering people. Day after day, almost continuously for twenty-two days, he spoke with words of edification and consolation before his unfortunate flock, and the people listened with reverent attention to their golden-mouthed shepherd, who in his famous “Conversations on Statues” either with extraordinary vividness depicted the horrors and riots he had experienced, arousing shame and indignation among the people at his own madness and causing tears of repentance, then with genuine features depicted the infinity of God's mercy, thereby awakening the sweet hope of mercy. And each time the people left the church with more and more purified and calmed hearts, giving thanks to the Lord God for the immeasurable happiness of having such a great and truly good shepherd-preacher. John continued his conversations with the Antiochian people throughout almost the entire Great Lent, and they provide striking evidence of the spiritual communication in which the famous shepherd lived and acted. Since everyone’s minds were occupied with the same question, such as whether the elderly archpastor would have time to arrive in the capital, how the emperor would receive him, and what the outcome of his petition would be, the golden-mouthed preacher was entirely occupied with these same thoughts, and every news either about Flavian’s journey or about his petition served as the starting point for his conversations, which were therefore listened to by everyone with a trembling heart and deep attention. Meanwhile, the denouement was approaching. The messengers got ahead of the elderly Flavian and, before him, conveyed to the emperor the news of the rebellion and the insult inflicted on him. The Emperor immediately sent special authorized dignitaries to carry out the strictest investigation. And now these dignitaries have already arrived in the city and began not only to carry out an investigation, but also to carry out reprisals. The city was declared deprived of the rights and benefits assigned to it, numerous arrests were made of the perpetrators, of whom there were so many that there was no room for them in the dungeons, and they were locked up in a huge fence without a roof. The entire population fell into despondency and despair, and, apparently, there was no hope of salvation from anywhere. But when the plenipotentiary dignitaries on the third day of their reprisal were driving to the place of their public meeting, some strange people with emaciated, lean faces blocked their way. These were the surrounding hermits who, having heard about the terrible disaster that befell Antioch, left their caves and came to the city to provide all possible assistance to the unfortunate. Having nothing to do with this sinful world and fearing no one except God, they boldly appeared before the authorized dignitaries and begged them to grant mercy and forgiveness to Antioch. One of them, the little weak old man Macedonius, acted and spoke especially fearlessly. Grabbing the cloak of one of the dignitaries, he forced him off his horse and, when he got off, began to convince him and the other plenipotentiary to ask the emperor for mercy and forgiveness for the unfortunate city. After all, the emperor is a man, and he can understand how dangerous it is for a man to destroy people like him. Will he be able to resurrect those who fall victim to his wrath? Let him remember the wrath of God. The dignitaries were amazed by these words of the extraordinary hermit, deeply respected by the people, and, promising to intercede with the emperor, they moved further to the praetorium, where crowds of people sentenced to death were already awaiting them with trepidation. But here they encounter a new obstacle: at the very gates of the praetorium they are met by a host of bishops and presbyters, among whom John Chrysostom was in the most prominent place, and these true shepherds declare that they will not allow dignitaries into the praetorium until they receive from them promises to pardon the condemned; they can only enter the praetorium through their corpses. And then, hugging the knees of the dignitaries, they either with humble prayers or threats of the terrible wrath of God for inhumanity moved them so much that they said forgiveness, the rumor of which instantly spread throughout the huge crowd of people, and everyone, both shepherds and flocks, thanked them with tears of joy for such mercy. One of the dignitaries, the noble Caesarius, immediately went to Constantinople to report everything that had happened and to intercede with the emperor on behalf of the unfortunate city. While he was hastily driving towards the capital, at this time the elderly Flavian made every effort to achieve an audience with the emperor and ask for mercy for his criminal flock, but his efforts remained in vain. The angry emperor did not want to hear about the elder bishop’s petition for the criminal city and did not give an audience. The deeply distressed archpastor had already despaired of the success of his cause, when Caesarius arrived and, explaining the state of affairs to the emperor, persuaded him to have mercy on the foolish city, which had already suffered enough punishment for its madness. The emperor hesitated and did not give a final decision. But it was then that Flavian was admitted to him, who finally softened the sovereign’s anger. Humbly presenting himself before the emperor, he stood at a distance with a deeply dejected look and did not dare raise his eyes. The sight of the venerable archpastor, so suffering for his flock, touched the kind heart of Theodosius: he himself approached the bishop and, in a more excited than stern voice, began to reproach the Antiochians for ingratitude for all the numerous rights and advantages that were given to them. Flavian, with deep emotion, but at the same time with self-control, explained to the emperor all the folly of the actions of the senseless mob, which deserves pity more than anger, and asked for mercy for his unfortunate city. The Emperor, of course, can burn and destroy Antioch, and it is indeed worthy of even more severe punishment; but he must remember that above him there is a Heavenly King, who commanded mutual mercy to all people, saying: “If you forgive people their sins, then God will forgive you your sins.” The speech of the elderly bishop made a strong impression on the emperor. His heart softened, and he exclaimed that if the Lord of the world, who descended to earth and was crucified by those to whom He brought the greatest benefit, prayed to His Heavenly Father for His ardent enemies, saying: “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34), then all the more should people forgive the insults inflicted on them. The emperor gave a complete pardon to the city and hurried Flavian to quickly go to Antioch and, with his news of the pardon, bring the city out of its terrible state of fear for the future. “Hurry quickly,” said the emperor, “go and comfort them. At the sight of their helmsman they will forget all their troubles.” The elder thanked the emperor for the Christian mercy he had shown to the city and hastily set off with the good news, with which he arrived at Easter. If this bright holiday of redemption was generally joyful for Christians, now it was even more joyful and solemn for the Antiochians. The news of the pardon preceded Flavian, and when he approached the city, the entire population poured out to meet him, and he was solemnly, as if in triumph, brought to the city. The whole city rejoiced unspeakably at the valiant saint, who so selflessly interceded for his people, but most of all John, who did not fail to utter an enthusiastic word on the occasion of the arrival of the dear archpastor. “Blessed be God,” he said to the excited listeners, “who has made us worthy to celebrate this holy holiday with great joy and gladness, who has restored the head of the body, the shepherd to the flock, the teacher to his disciples, the high priest to the priests. Blessed be God, who has done immeasurably more than we have asked or thought; for it seemed sufficient to us to be temporarily delivered from threatening troubles, but the merciful God, far surpassing our requests with His gifts, returned our father to us sooner than we could have expected.” And then Chrysostom told in detail the whole story of the saint’s intercession for his people and, in conclusion, exhorted the people never to forget this terrible test. The event described is remarkable in many respects, but it is especially remarkable in that it reveals in full force what influence Christianity had in softening the morals of that time. The outcome of this event weaves an unfading wreath on the foreheads of its main figures, and all of them were Christians, shepherds and devotees of the Church of Christ: the intrepid elderly bishop, who was not afraid of either the difficulties of the long journey or the wrath of the emperor, just to intercede for his people; selfless hermits who, abandoning their serene residence in the silent desert, came to the rebellious city to save human souls; and especially the greatest shepherd and teacher of this people, who day after day delivered wondrous conversations, which during this terrible time of anguish and horror were tirelessly heard, either as the threats of a righteous judge, or as the caresses of a deeply loving father, and made a stunning, indelible impression on hundreds of thousands of the population. And these speeches resonated in the hearts of not only Christians, but also pagans. On the occasion of the turmoil, public baths, theaters and other places of pleasure and entertainment were closed, only Christian churches were open, and in one of them the speech of a sweet-tongued preacher constantly flowed like a golden stream. If before the pagans, out of love for eloquence, were not averse to listening to the famous Christian teacher, whom the famous rhetorician Livanius once admired, now, in times of public disaster, they went en masse to listen to Chrysostom in the hope of finding consolation for their suffering soul. And they listened in amazement as the Christian preacher with irresistible force exposed the vices and follies that distinguished their large and dissolute city, as he, like a trumpet, called everyone to repentance and correction. From the words of the preacher, the pagans were undoubtedly convinced of how vain and fleeting earthly honors and riches are, how they are unable to satisfy the demands of the heart and save life in times of danger and disaster, and how much higher is the Christian hope, which places the goal and highest good of life in the undying treasures of the afterlife. They heard here that virtue is the only unperishable good, and sin is the only real evil, that for a virtuous person death is only a transition to a happier or more blissful life, and that the disasters of the earth are useful in the sense that they purify and elevate souls. And this world, in which there is so much vanity and disasters of all kinds, received new interest in their eyes when they heard from the famous Christian preacher that there is an eternal and omnipotent Creator, who, like a father, cares for all people, extending His providence even to the point that without His will a hair does not fall from the head, and before them in all its grandeur the whole superiority of the Christian faith over their gloomy pagan superstition, which did not give man, was revealed. enlightenment in life and proper moral strength for correction. Then many of these involuntary listeners of Chrysostom, fully convinced of the vanity of their idolatry, accepted the faith of Christ and were baptized. And Chrysostom happily reports that soon after Flavian’s return he was busy “confirming in the faith those who, as a result of the disaster, came to their senses and abandoned their pagan delusion.” Thus, the terrible event, which revealed in all its horror the savagery of human nature when it succumbs to passions, at the same time, through the inscrutable ways of God’s Providence, served as the reason for the triumph of Christianity, and the kingdom of God on earth was replenished with many members who had hitherto been in the darkness of pagan error. The terrible events experienced by Antioch required so much extraordinary mental stress from the selfless shepherd that it adversely affected his health and he was ill for some time; but, having recovered from his illness, he again took up his pastoral ministry with the same zeal, and Antioch enjoyed the inspired teaching and edification of its golden-talking presbyter-preacher for another ten years. Not only from week to week, but, one might say, from day to day, the Antiochian church had the great happiness of listening to the conversations of the golden-tongued shepherd, who did not tire in his pastoral service and, having himself deeply studied the books of Holy Scripture, taught his listeners in it, revealing to them the secrets of God’s miraculous economy about the salvation of people. Possessing an amazing ability to respond to all phenomena of social life and to all movements of the human soul, St. John did not ignore a single outstanding event of his time or a phenomenon in the life around him, and as soon as something happened that led the people into embarrassment or dismay, into fear or despondency, John immediately spoke with his word, and the people rushed in masses to listen to him in the confidence that if anyone, then only his beloved shepherd John could dispel all fears and perplexities and establish the desired calm. Whether there was one of those earthquakes that so often visited Antioch, whether pagans and Jews were rioting, whether there was a division among the Orthodox themselves, whether the eternal question was raised about the relationship between rich and poor, masters and slaves, parents and children - John immediately responded to all these phenomena of current life, and that is why his conversations had a deeply vital character and were equally understandable to all classes of the population. As a result, a deep moral bond was formed between the shepherd and his flock, which represents an ever instructive example of what a true Christian shepherd can be for his flock. John himself depicts this relationship with astonishing directness and frankness, and some features of this relationship are not superfluous to set forth here, since they throw a bright light on the very character of his personality and pastoral ministry in Antioch. When considering the pastoral activity of John from this side, one involuntarily recalls the saying of the divine Chief Shepherd, Who, defining the ideal of relations between shepherds and the flock in the Church of God, said that “the good shepherd knows his sheep, and the sheep know him and listen to his voice” (John 10: 3, 11). In the history of the Christian Church there have been many shepherds who sought to embody this model in their lives and activities, but the most remarkable example of its implementation within the limits of human strength is represented by Saint John Chrysostom. Here we see the amazing spectacle that the heart of the people, so to speak, lived an inseparable life with the heart of the shepherd, who devoted himself entirely to the good of his flock. Such a strong connection was established between them, such boundless love that, apparently, neither a shepherd without a people, nor a people without a shepherd could exist. It was enough for the shepherd, under the influence of natural fatigue or illness, to suspend his conversations or retire for a few days outside the city for rest and refreshment in the desert, for the city to become sad, as if some great misfortune had struck it. But it was enough for John to appear again, and the city came to life again, joyful exclamations were heard everywhere, and it was as if a great holiday was approaching. For his part, the shepherd himself was worried about the same feelings, who also could not live without his flock. “I was only absent for one day,” he said upon returning from one short trip, “and it seemed to me that I had already been away from you for a whole year - I was so sad and bored! By the sorrow you have experienced, you can judge mine. When a small child is torn from his mother's breast or carried away, he spins and looks around, looking for her; so, when I too was torn from your midst, as from a mother’s breast, all my thoughts directed me towards this sacred meeting” 7 . Another time, when due to illness he had to stay hopelessly in his house for several days, upon recovery he said: “Today, being again among you, I experience the same feeling as if I had returned from a long journey. When two friends can't see each other, what's the use if they even live in the same city? Without leaving my home, I was also alienated, as if a great distance separated me from you, because I could not talk with you... In my suffering, what depressed me most of all was that I could not take part in this beloved meeting, and now that I have recovered, I prefer the pleasure of freely enjoying your love to my health. The thirst of fever is never stronger than the desire to see our friends again when we have been deprived of them. As a feverish man thirsts for fresh water, so an absent friend thirsts for his friends.”8 In another circumstance, when John, depressed by tireless labor, went to rest and breathe the mountain air of the desert, letters flew to him from his flock, who begged him to return as soon as possible, and he returned, although his health would still require rest and strengthening. Ascending to his pulpit, he said: “Is it really true that you remembered me in my absence? As for me, I could not forget about you for a moment. Captivated by bodily beauty, everywhere they walk, they carry a favorite image in their thoughts; so we, captivated by the beauty of your souls, carried your image in our hearts everywhere. And just as painters, through the combination of colors, reproduce the appearance of objects, so we, imagining your zeal for our conversations, your love for preaching, your favor towards the preacher and all the goodness that distinguishes you, made from your virtues, like from paints, the image of your souls; contemplating him relieved the boredom of our absence. Sitting or standing, at rest or in motion, in the house or outside it, everywhere and always we were haunted by these thoughts; even our very dreams were occupied with your love, and during the nights, as well as during the day, we fed on the sweetness of these memories, repeating the words of Solomon: “I sleep, but my heart watches” ... (Song. 5:2). I gave in to your insistence, I preferred to return without recovering rather than, while waiting for my recovery, to experience your love... That’s why I got up and came to you” 9 . This is truly a good shepherd, ready to lay down his life for his sheep! But, voluntarily submitting to this extremely strong love of his flock and indulging it in this regard even to the point of neglecting his health, John did not miss the opportunity to reproach his listeners for frivolity and passion for the external beauties of speech, and not for its internal content, which required moral revival. When the listeners, delighted with the fascinating conversations of their favorite preacher, burst into thunderous applause, according to the custom of that time, John sternly told them: “I do not want your applause, nor this noise. My whole desire is that you, after listening silently to what I tell you, apply this instruction to life. These are the praises that I would like... You are not in the theater, not in front of the actors, here is a spiritual school, and you must prove your obedience by your deeds. Only then will I consider myself rewarded for my labors” 10. Of course, many did not like such reproaches, and there were people who were not even ashamed to revile the preacher and confuse the conscience of his flock. John had to spend a lot of time and labor fighting these evil people; but with boundless self-sacrifice he forgave all such slander when it concerned him personally. But his heart was struck with deep sorrow when, for one reason or another, his listeners lost interest in his conversations and became carried away by some new theatrical entertainment. Such phenomena often happened among this ardent, passionate, frivolous and active people, who quickly changed their mood and in one day could ruin what had been created over the years. No matter how dear the golden-talking preacher was to them, they missed him when they had not seen or heard him for several days; but it was enough to set up some extraordinary hippodrome in the theater with its exciting horse races, and the Antiochians left the churches and rushed to watch the dashing races. Such inconstancy and frivolity upset the great preacher to the extreme, and he repeatedly exclaimed with bitterness: “Am I really working in vain? Am I sowing on a rock or among thorns? I'm afraid that my efforts will lead to nothing." 11 Even more distressing was his irreverent behavior in church. “Can I say? The church has become a theater! Women come here dressed with greater indecency and shamelessness than those who commit fornication there. They also attract shameless people with them. If someone wants to seduce a woman, no place, I think, seems more convenient to him than church; and if anyone needs to sell or buy, the church seems more convenient to him than the square. They gossip here, they listen to gossip here more than anywhere else, and if you want to know the news, then here you will learn it more than at the courthouse or in the doctors' waiting room... Is this tolerable? Can we take it down? Every day I am tired and tormented so that you can take away useful edification from here, but you leave with more harm than benefit” 12. But the attack of indignation and anger immediately gave way to love and forgiveness, as soon as the preacher noticed the effect of his reproach. Unable to bear his own severity, he was already in a hurry to make amends for it and asked for forgiveness from his frivolous spiritual children. “I feel,” he said, “that I used too harsh reproaches. Forgive me. This happens to every sick soul. But I say this not from a hostile heart, but from concern for your loving soul. Therefore, I relax my severity” 13. There were cases when the inconstancy and frivolity of the Antiochians drove Chrysostom even more out of patience and he hurled thunders of righteous anger at them, but even among these peals of denunciation and reproaches, the dominant tone of love was always heard. The shepherd severely reproached his flock because he loved them, and they humbly endured his well-deserved reproaches, because she herself loved him. These were two friends, united by inextricable bonds of love and devotion. John’s serious and deep, as well as holy, love for his flock did not at all resemble that deceitful caressing of ambitious people and tribunes of the people who intoxicate the crowd with their flattery in order to more easily subjugate it to the yoke of their autocracy. John was alien to any such flattery, he knew how to speak the bitter truth to the eyes of his listeners; but if I ever expressed love for them, it was from the depths of my sincere heart. What genuine sincerity his following words sound: “I carry you in my heart, you occupy all my thoughts. The people are great, but my love for them is great, and you will not be cramped in my soul. I have no other life but you and concern for your salvation” 14. Being a true exponent of the spirit of Christ, St. John, as a shepherd, mainly cared for those who labored and were burdened, whom the Savior Christ Himself called to Himself with boundless love. His loving heart was especially open to the smaller brethren, and he, like a caring father, delved into all their needs, not only spiritual, but also material, everyday ones. When the situation of the poor residents became especially difficult for some reason, Chrysostom boldly acted as an intercessor for them, and if the reason for the deterioration of their situation was greed or oppression on the part of the rich, then he, as a true people's trustee, strongly reproached the latter, not sparing words to expose their greed and cruelty. At times, John’s sermons were almost exclusively occupied with the situation of the poor inhabitants of the city, so that he was even reproached for the fact that he only talks about the poor, as if others did not deserve his attention and edification. Chrysostom responded to this that the salvation of everyone, rich or poor, is dear to him; but he especially cares about the poor because not only their souls, but also their bodies need the care of a shepherd, which is why the Savior at the Last Judgment will ask whether we fed the hungry or clothed the naked. “Therefore I will not stop repeating: give to the poor, and I will tirelessly accuse those who do not give” 15. And indeed, he never ceased to repeat this call and was the true father of the poor and beggars, that lover of poverty, whose love of poverty made him especially dear to the Orthodox Russian people, who to this day consider poverty and almsgiving to be the main virtue of every true Christian. Mercy of St. John Chrysostom was clearly revealed in his attitude towards the sins and vices of his people. Himself a great and stern ascetic, he was an implacable enemy and denouncer of all sin, an inexorable persecutor of all vices and passions and waged a fierce struggle against them. Vigilantly watching all the movements in both the external and internal life of his flock, he menacingly castigated all deviations from holiness and Christian duty, and his accusatory speeches at times sounded like peals of heavenly thunder, and his listeners trembled, imagining the terrible torment that they had prepared for themselves by their deeds. But this hostility to sins and vices in St. Joan never became hostile to the sinners themselves. On the contrary, the more he hurled thunderous denunciations against sins, the more regret and love he felt for the sinners themselves, seeing in them lost sheep requiring the loving care of a shepherd. Therefore, as soon as he noticed the effect of his threats, he softened his tone, instead of thunder, words of love and encouragement were heard from his lips, and the main subject of his conversation became the infinity of God’s mercy, before which every human sin drowns like a drop in the ocean. His favorite text was the saying of the Savior: “The Son of Man came not to destroy the souls of men, but to save” (Luke 9:56), and, developing its meaning, St. John tried to instill in his listeners the idea that there is no such sinful fall from which a person could not rise, and his reasoning made an all the more powerful impression because it was often confirmed by clear examples not only from the Bible, but also from modern life. “Have you not heard,” he once said, “of that harlot who surpassed all the dead women and who subsequently surpassed all the saints in her piety? I'm not talking about the one in the Gospel, but about the one that was so famous around the time of my birth. Coming from the most corrupt city of Phenicia, she occupied first place in the theater, and her fame spread to Cilicia and Cappadocia. How many rich people has she ruined! How many young people has she seduced? She was even accused of witchcraft, as if her beauty alone, without love spells and magic, was not enough for her passion - to devour her victims. She even caught the Empress's brother in her net. No one could stand against her omnipotence. And suddenly, I don’t know how, or better said, I know that by changing her will, having achieved the grace of God, she broke free from the demonic seductions that captivated her and directed her path to heaven. She, with whom no one could equal in shamelessness on stage, became a model of chastity and, dressed in a hair shirt, spent her life in repentance. In vain did the prefect, prompted by certain persons, want to force her to return to the theater stage, and even the soldiers sent for her could not take her from the refuge of the virgins who sheltered her. Admitted to the holy mysteries, purified by grace, she achieved the highest virtue, never showed herself to her admirers, and was imprisoned in a kind of prison, where she spent several years. So the first will be last, and the last first. Let us hope that nothing will prevent us from becoming great and glorious” 16. Such conversations could have a deeply encouraging meaning for the most stubborn sinners, saving them from despondency and despair and supporting them with hope in God’s mercy. Truly, the following words of the Shepherd Chrysostom can serve as an anchor of salvation for all despairing sinners: “Are you a sinner? – Don’t despair; I will not stop providing you with medicine, for I know what weapon against the devil is - do not despair! If you are in sins, do not despair, and I will never stop repeating: if you sin every day, then repent every day... You are old in sins, renew yourself with repentance! But is it possible, you ask, to achieve salvation through repentance? Of course you can. – If I spent my whole life in sins and bring repentance, will I be saved? - Of course, you will be saved, for God’s mercy is immeasurable, and His goodness is inexpressible. Evil, whatever it may be, is human evil, and therefore limited, but forgiving mercy is God’s, and therefore infinite. Imagine a spark falling into the sea: can it remain there or be visible? As a spark is before the sea, so is human evil before the goodness of God; and not even that much, but goodness is much greater. The sea, no matter how great it is, has limits, but the goodness of God has no limits” 17. Being a preacher of mercy and forgiveness, St. John Chrysostom was at the same time the shepherd of the world. He was an enemy of any division and schism, and therefore his heart ached at the sight of the division that existed in his time in Antioch itself between the Orthodox. In his conversations, he often returned to this subject and tried to understand the very root of the evil of division, which lies not in religious jealousy at all, but in selfishness and lust for power. “Nothing divides the church more,” he said, “than the lust for power; nothing arouses the wrath of God more than division in the church. Even if we did the most perfect deeds, if we break the unity, we will be punished, as if we were tearing apart the body of the Lord... Even martyrdom does not atone for such a sin. Why are you suffering martyrdom? Is it not for the glory of Jesus Christ? You give your life for Jesus Christ, and at the same time you plunder the church for which Jesus Christ died." With such exhortations, he greatly contributed to taming the passions of division in the church and finally had the happiness of living until that sweet moment for him when the parties were finally reconciled and the division ceased. In such lively interaction with his flock, Saint John spent the best years of his life. It is to this time that all of his most important works, both conversational and polemical, date back. In his continuous conversations, he interpreted not only individual passages and texts, but also entire books of Holy Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, and these interpretations constitute his main glory as an exegete 18 . His interpretations are distinguished by wonderful clarity, simplicity and vitality, so that they constitute the best example of interpretative work and an inexhaustible source of theological knowledge and religious and moral edification. His best interpretations are considered to be conversations on the Gospel of St. Matthew and on the epistles of St. Pavel. Belonging to the Antiochian school of interpreters, which set as its task, in contrast to the Alexandrian school, a literal interpretation, alien to any mystery, St. John Chrysostom in this regard reached the highest interpretative perfection. Being familiar with the works of the Alexandrian interpreters and having studied the most famous of them, Origen, he took precisely that middle position that constitutes the ideal and essence of Orthodox exegesis. Step by step following the sacred text, he sets out its most natural meaning, first of all given to the mind, and first deduces from it the dogmatic teaching, and then indicates the virtues flowing from it, looking at the latter as teaching in its practical application. And all this is presented with wonderful simplicity, clearly and extremely distinctly. He has nothing that would be simple speculation, a simple passion for teaching, with inevitable subtleties and petty research. Everything he does flows directly from the fullness of his heart and is directed towards the elevation and sanctification of life. He did not write his interpretations or sit in his office, but addressed them in a lively conversation with the people in the church. Hence the animation and vitality of each of his words, which deeply penetrated the souls of his listeners, that fire that was truly capable of igniting the hearts of people. During his long pastoral activity in Antioch, St. John became so familiar and close to his flock that all his thoughts were focused on only one thing: how to better and more effectively edify them, more accurately protect them from errors and more fully reveal to them the truth that faith in Jesus Christ is the source of all good things. He no longer set himself anything higher than this goal and hoped to end his life among them. True, there were times when, extremely tired of his labors and suppressed by grief as a result of the frivolity and folly of his people, he involuntarily cast melancholy glances towards the surrounding mountains, where he had once labored in holy solitude in his youth, where it was so peaceful and joyful to live in the bosom of serene nature in solitude with God, and where indeed many of the “earthly angels,” as he liked to call hermits, continued to lead such a life. Sometimes he, too, temporarily retired to these mountains to rest and refresh himself from the exhausting labors and noisy bustle of city life; but the working life of the shepherd had now taken such possession of him that he could not break with it forever, and therefore, after a short rest, he always returned again to his beloved flock, who also yearned for their absent shepherd, and from the depths of his sincere heart he said: “I see well that I cannot leave this location, and that I must remain here until the end of my days.” 19 But God's Providence judged differently. The great church lamp, once brought out of hidden solitude in the desert and placed on the church candlestick in the midst of a crowded city, gave such a strong and beneficial light around itself that even this city was not enough for it. Its light had to shine throughout the entire universe, and for this the lamp had to be placed even higher, in the very center of the Orthodox Christian world. And it came true. In 397, the elderly Archbishop of Constantinople Nektarios died, and thus the leading see of the Eastern Ecumenical Church became a widow. It was to this glorious pulpit that Divine Providence elevated St. John, in order to make him not only a great saint, but also a great martyr for the truth. Although formally this title was recognized for John only much later (at the Council of Chalcis in the 5th century), in the sense of the popular name it could have been applied much earlier, precisely during his presbytery in Antioch, and the tradition in this case has all the signs of historical authenticity. Antioch is no less than 1200 versts from Constantinople. Discourse on Galatians. II, 11, paragraph 1. Discussion on the parable of the talents, 1. Discourse I on repentance, paragraph 1. On Matt. demon XVII, at the end. On the 1st last, to Corinth. demon XXXVI, paragraph 6. On the 1st last. to Corinth. demon XLIII, 2. On ev. Matt. demon XLVII, 3. The following works of his belong to the Antiochian period of his ministry: Commentaries on individual books of the Old Testament, namely the book of Genesis, the Psalter and the book of the prophet Isaiah; from the New Testament: Commentaries on Hebrews. Matthew (his best exegetical work), on ev. John and on the epistles of St. Paul - to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philemon, Titus and Timothy. In addition to interpretive conversations, many of his other conversations on various occasions and on individual passages of Holy Scripture date back to this time, and among them, the conversations “On Repentance” occupy a prominent place. Among his polemical works, his conversations “Against the Anomeans” belong to this time. On the last to Colossae. demon VII, paragraph 3. You might be interested in: