We must know that the holy repose of the divine Chrysostom took place on the fourteenth of September, when the Elevation of the Honorable Cross is celebrated. His commemoration, however, is celebrated today, the thirteenth of November, on which day his recall from his first exile took place, so that, as the Venerable Nikodemos the Hagiorite says, his Service might be chanted in its entirety, as is written in the manuscript of the Synaxarion.
Many composed his Life, the first of whom was Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis (situated at present-day Yalova, on the Gulf of Astacus in the Propontis). Palladius, contending on behalf of the divine Chrysostom, went to Rome on his account, to the Emperor Honorius and Pope Innocent. Other Lives and Encomia were composed in honor of John’s golden head by George of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria, Proclus, Theodoret, who composed five discourses on Chrysostom, as the critic Photios, who read them, testifies; Symeon Metaphrastes, Leo the Wise, an Anonymous author, Sophronios of Jerusalem, John of Damascus, Martyrios, Patriarch of Antioch, Kosmas, the Deacon of the Church of the Holy Apostles during the time of Chrysostom, Nilus the Sinaite, Isidore of Pelusium, Evagrius the Ascetic, Kosmas Vestitor, Niketas Skeuophylax, Niketas of Paphlagonia, Eustathios the Presbyter, Basil the Protothronos, Emperor Constantine the Porphyrogenitos, and Socrates. All these earlier writers number twenty-two.
Many of our own later writers, as well as foreign writers, have also written about the divine Chrysostom. Among them, the most remarkable is the book written by Amedée Thierry concerning the dispute of the Saint with the court of Byzantium, under the title Nouveaux récits de l’histoire romaine, S. J. Chrysostome (Paris, 1856). Likewise, a work similar to the preceding one was published in Greek by "Zoe," under the title Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, ὡς Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως (Athens, 1932).
A Supplicatory Canon with 24 Oikoi to the Great Chrysostom was composed by Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanites. The writings of the divine Chrysostom were published in print in 18 substantial volumes by Abbé Migne in Patrologia Graeca, Volumes 47–64.
The Venerable Nikodemos the Hagiorite also adds the following here:
“I cannot pass over in silence here that event which brings the greatest and particular praise to this golden Saint, as the Anonymous author relates it in his extensive Life. Abdelphios, the Bishop of Arabissus in Cappadocia, who had received the Saint with great hospitality during his exile, entreated God with fervent supplications to show him what glory the divine Chrysostom had been deemed worthy of in the heavens. While Abdelphios was praying, he was seized by an ecstasy; and behold, he saw a luminous man who showed him all the teachers, the Hierarchs and the Venerable Fathers, as well as the choir of all the Righteous who had succeeded in passing from earth to the heavens. Then Abdelphios looked upon all those with joy, wishing to see John as well. But because he did not see him there, he became sorrowful. Then that luminous man said to Abdelphios: 'Why have you become sorrowful?' He replied: 'Because I did not see John of Constantinople in the order of the Hierarchs.' And the one who had appeared said to him: 'Do you mean golden John, the mouth of God? That one who is beyond man? Know that it is not possible for you to see him, because he is where the throne of the Master Christ is.'
Many composed his Life, the first of whom was Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis (situated at present-day Yalova, on the Gulf of Astacus in the Propontis). Palladius, contending on behalf of the divine Chrysostom, went to Rome on his account, to the Emperor Honorius and Pope Innocent. Other Lives and Encomia were composed in honor of John’s golden head by George of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria, Proclus, Theodoret, who composed five discourses on Chrysostom, as the critic Photios, who read them, testifies; Symeon Metaphrastes, Leo the Wise, an Anonymous author, Sophronios of Jerusalem, John of Damascus, Martyrios, Patriarch of Antioch, Kosmas, the Deacon of the Church of the Holy Apostles during the time of Chrysostom, Nilus the Sinaite, Isidore of Pelusium, Evagrius the Ascetic, Kosmas Vestitor, Niketas Skeuophylax, Niketas of Paphlagonia, Eustathios the Presbyter, Basil the Protothronos, Emperor Constantine the Porphyrogenitos, and Socrates. All these earlier writers number twenty-two.
Many of our own later writers, as well as foreign writers, have also written about the divine Chrysostom. Among them, the most remarkable is the book written by Amedée Thierry concerning the dispute of the Saint with the court of Byzantium, under the title Nouveaux récits de l’histoire romaine, S. J. Chrysostome (Paris, 1856). Likewise, a work similar to the preceding one was published in Greek by "Zoe," under the title Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, ὡς Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως (Athens, 1932).
A Supplicatory Canon with 24 Oikoi to the Great Chrysostom was composed by Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanites. The writings of the divine Chrysostom were published in print in 18 substantial volumes by Abbé Migne in Patrologia Graeca, Volumes 47–64.
The Venerable Nikodemos the Hagiorite also adds the following here:
“I cannot pass over in silence here that event which brings the greatest and particular praise to this golden Saint, as the Anonymous author relates it in his extensive Life. Abdelphios, the Bishop of Arabissus in Cappadocia, who had received the Saint with great hospitality during his exile, entreated God with fervent supplications to show him what glory the divine Chrysostom had been deemed worthy of in the heavens. While Abdelphios was praying, he was seized by an ecstasy; and behold, he saw a luminous man who showed him all the teachers, the Hierarchs and the Venerable Fathers, as well as the choir of all the Righteous who had succeeded in passing from earth to the heavens. Then Abdelphios looked upon all those with joy, wishing to see John as well. But because he did not see him there, he became sorrowful. Then that luminous man said to Abdelphios: 'Why have you become sorrowful?' He replied: 'Because I did not see John of Constantinople in the order of the Hierarchs.' And the one who had appeared said to him: 'Do you mean golden John, the mouth of God? That one who is beyond man? Know that it is not possible for you to see him, because he is where the throne of the Master Christ is.'
The Venerable Mark the Ascetic also saw a vision of this kind and heard the same words from Epiphanios of Cyprus, who guided him in the ecstatic vision, the same words that Abdelphios had also heard, as the Anonymous author relates this as well.
Likewise, Gregory of Alexandria, in the Life of Chrysostom, calls him Teacher and Luminary of the whole inhabited world. Theodosius the Younger calls him an Ecumenical Teacher. Leo the Wise, in his encomium addressed to him, calls him the common Father of the inhabited world, and the Anonymous author, in his Life, names him the common provider and protector of the inhabited world. Theodoret, as quoted by Photios, calls him the mouth of the Church and the eye of the pious. Isidore of Pelusium (Letter 156, first section) says of him: ‘John, the wise interpreter and prophet of the ineffable things of God, the eye of the Church in Byzantium and of all.’
Moreover, a Greek Life of the divine Chrysostom is preserved in the Great Lavra, whose beginning is: ‘Beloved, God is true, He who speaks through the Prophet, saying: Many are the afflictions of the righteous.’"
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
