In fact, we know that it was Saint John’s uncompromising adherence to the precepts of the Gospel that led to his untimely and even tragic death in the year 407 AD.īefore that great drama of ecclesiastical intrigue unfolded in the imperial city of Constantinople, Saint John was a presbyter in the large cosmopolitan city of Antioch. We would find his relentless preaching of the Gospel altogether too challenging, or even too demanding of us as Christians, both in our relationship with God and with one another.
Not all Orthodox Christians know Saint John’s life as well as they should-but all have heard of him and from him! Yet, if Saint John were to be with us today, I rather doubt that he would be “popular”-at least not in the conventional sense of that word. John Chrysostom: Who is the poor man, and who is the rich?Ĭhristians of East and West will agree that one of the premier preachers in the entire history of the Church is Saint John Chrysostom-the “Golden-mouthed.” His “presence,” of course, is most alive in the Orthodox Church as we celebrate the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom on a weekly basis, find his icon adorning the apses and naves of many Orthodox churches, celebrate his various commemorations on the ecclesiastical calendar with some consistency (September 14, November 13, January 30), and read his homilies of a pronounced moral and ethical nature with great appreciation for his wonderful insights to this day.
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