afterwards bishop of Mopsuestia. Remote from the haunts of men, Chrysostom passed these years in solitary perusal of the Bible, and in rigorous austerities which exhausted his strength so much that he was obliged to return to Antioch and begin another mode of life. Soon after his return he was ordained deacon by Meletius in 381. In 386 he was ordained presbyter by Flavian, bishop of Antioch, from which time his reputation became increasingly great. His sermons were powerful, exciting, and edifying, pervaded by great earnestness and zeal, so that his hearers felt christianity to be a vital system that purifies the principles as well as reforms the conduct. Men learned to fear, while they admired, the bold champion of the gospel, who did not hesitate to attack prevailing corruptions, in whatever rank of society they appeared, with intrepid front. It was here that he preached his famous "Discourses of the Statues"—after an uproar of the city, in which the statues of the Emperor Theodosius, and of the empress, and the two princes Arcadius and Honorius, were insulted and thrown down. But he was not destined to spend the energies of his life in his native city. He was transferred to a more splendid and influential place, though one which was unhappily full of dangers and disquietude. By the influence of Eutropius, who chanced to be one of his hearers on a certain occasion, he was called to the bishopric of Constantinople, on the death of Nectarius in 397. A stratagem was employed to induce him to repair to the imperial city, where all the preparations had been made for his elevation to the patriarchate. The eloquent and successful preacher was not easily drawn away from his native Antioch. It required all the authority of the Emperor Arcadius to induce him to accept the offered see. Perhaps it would have been better had the conscientious man been allowed to follow his own wishes. An imperial mandate to Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, to consecrate Chrysostom bishop of Constantinople, could not be resisted, and the dedication took place accordingly in February, 398; though Theophilus, too, was secretly opposed to the measure. As soon as he began his labours in this new sphere, it was felt by all classes that an unsparing reformer had come amongst them. In 400 he was engaged in endeavouring to settle disputes among the churches of Asia, at Ephesus, whither he went at the request of the clergy of that city. He deposed thirteen bishops of Lydia and Phrygia, and settled various disorders which had arisen in that church. But his measures created bitter enemies and a formidable party was organized against him, consisting of nobles and ecclesiastics, with whom the Empress Eudoxia herself was leagued. Had it not been for this ambitious and covetous woman, the pious bishop would have suffered less at the hands of his persecutors. But she too thought herself aimed at by the uncompromising advocate of truth, and winced under his reproofs. Theophilus of Alexandria, Chrysostom's old adversary, who had fostered all the machinations of his enemies, came to Constantinople in the year 403. A synod was assembled at a villa near Chalcedon, known by the name of the Oak, where various charges were preferred against Chrysostom, most of them false and unfounded. When the deputies of the Oak synod presented themselves before the illustrious accused for the purpose of citing him to their tribunal, forty bishops from various countries were with him—friends who knew his value to the church of Christ. Justly did they pronounce the court an incompetent one; but he whom they so much respected declared his readiness to appear before the assembly, provided four bishops, who were his determined enemies, should be excluded from the number of judges. This condition was refused; and therefore Chrysostom did not appear, though thrice summoned. Sentence of deposition was then passed upon him. The Emperor Arcadius himself had sent a message to the synod, urging it to that course; nor need we wonder at such a proceeding on his part, since his weak mind was in entire subjection to his queen. Among the charges mentioned was that of high treason, which they left to the emperor to deal with. At first Chrysostom was unwilling to leave his office unless by force; but seeing that the people were greatly excited, and seemed disposed to detain him in opposition to the imperial authority, he surrendered in three days to those who were empowered to carry him into exile, and was conducted by them to a small town in Bithynia. In a few days, however, Chrysostom was solicited to come back—the empress having despatched a letter to that effect. His reappearance in Constantinople diffused general joy; and although unwilling to resume his office till a regularly-constituted synod had fully and formally reinstated him, he was persuaded by his flock to enter upon his duties at once. In the meantime, he still demanded the calling together of such a synod; till, in the short space of two months, his affairs assumed a different aspect. Having preached against the indecent festivities which were held near his church at the dedication of a silver statue erected to the empress, she was provoked, and tried again to effect his ruin. It is said that her rage knew no bounds, when Chrysostom began a discourse with the words, "Once more Herodias maddens—once more she dances, and once more demands the head of John." If he used this language, it was certainly rash and imprudent. Again, therefore, the synod of Theophilus proceeded against him, alleging that he had not been reinstated in his see by an ecclesiastical court like that which had deposed him, but by the secular power only; and according to a canon of the council of Antioch in 341, he was incapable of administering the episcopal functions. Thus the venerable man was again deposed and sent into exile. In 404 he set out under a guard of soldiers for Nicæa, where he did not stay long, but prosecuted his journey to Cucusus—a desolate city on the borders of Armenia, Isauria, and Cilicia, which was the appointed place of banishment. It is remarkable that the very day he left Constantinople, the great church was set on fire and burned, together with the palace adjoining. In the remote place of his banishment the devoted bishop suffered much, both from the severity of the climate and the threatened invasions of robbers. But his spirit was unchanged. He had the same zeal for the highest welfare of his fellow-men. His friends in Constantinople, persecuted as they were for his sake, were not forgotten. He corresponded with and advised them in religious matters. In the christian widow Olympia he continued to take a lively interest. Priests and monks were despatched to preach the gospel to the Goths and Persians, and to superintend the churches of Armenia, as well as of other regions. Towards the end of the year 405, an invasion of the Isaurians forced him to fly to Arabissus, whence, by order of the emperor, he was conveyed to Pityus, a little town in Pontus, near the eastern border of the Euxine sea, on the very verge of the Roman empire, and in a most inhospitable region. The journey, however, proved too long and fatiguing for the aged saint worn out with labours and sufferings. The fatigues of travelling on foot, the heat, and the rough treatment he received from the guard of soldiers, brought on a fever, of which he died in a few hours at Comanum in Pontus, September 14, 407. His last words were those of Job with which he was so familiar, "Praise be to God for all things," (δόξα τῷ Θεῷ πάντων ἕνεκα.) In 438 the body of the saint was brought back to Constantinople, and deposited with great pomp in the temple of the holy apostles. The Greek church celebrates his festival on the 13th November; the Latin on the 27th January.
Chrysostom was the most eloquent though not the most learned of the fathers. As a preacher he excelled all his contemporaries; nor had he, perhaps, any equal in the use of that impassioned eloquence which befits the pulpit, till the time of Jeremy Taylor. He was accustomed to address crowded audiences; and with such applause were his homilies received, that the church of St. Sophia became a sort of theatre to which multitudes of pleasure-loving men and women resorted as to a place of amusement. His language is pure, his style highly figurative, his diction copious and diffuse, but often overwrought and strained. As a commentator, he belongs to the school of historico-grammatical interpreters. He was more of the practical, ethical divine than the logical theologian, conserving rather than advancing theology. The character of Chrysostom presents a fine combination of qualities rarely seen together in so great strength. He was sincere, openhearted, generous, beneficent pure-minded, simple in his manner of life, hospitable, and without guile. He maintained no outward pomp like other court bishops, but spent the greater part of his income in charitable and benevolent acts. The epithet "Chrysostom" (Golden-mouthed) was given him on account of his eloquence, but not till after his death. It is an honourable and just tribute to his oratory. In person he is described as short in stature, with a large bald head, deeply-wrinkled forehead, hollow cheeks, and sunken eyes. The works of Chrysostom consist of commentaries, homilies, liturgies, treatises, and epistles. The most valuable are the homilies on
