St John Chrysostom was a Greek missionary. He was born in 344 at Antioch and died in 407. Secundus, his father, who had the command of the imperial troops in Syria, died soon after the birth of his son, whose early education devolved upon Anthusa, his mother. Chrysostom Studied eloquence with Libanius, the most famou's orator of his time, and soon excelled his master.
After having studied philosophy with Andragathius he devoted himself to the Holy Scriptures, and determined upon quitting the world and consecrating his life to God in the deserts of Syria. He spent several years in solitary retirement, studying and meditating with a view to the church. Having completed his voluntary probation he returned to Antioch in 381, when he was appointed deacon by the Bishop of Antioch, and in 386 consecrated priest. He was chosen vicar by the same dignitary, and commissioned to preach the Word of God to the people.
He became so celebrated for the eloquence of his preaching that the Emperor Arcadius determined, in 397, to place him in the archiepiscopal see of Constantinople (Istanbul). He now exerted himself so zealously in supressing heresy, paganism, and immorality, and in enforcing the obligations of monachism, that he raised up many enemies, and Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, aided and encouraged by the Empress Eudoxia, caused him to be deposed at a synod held at Chalcedon. The emperor banished him from Constantinople, and Chrysostom purposed retiring to Bithynia; but the people threatened a revolt. In the following night an earthquake gave general alarm. In this dilemma Arcadius recalled his orders, and Eudoxia herself invited Chrysostom to return. The people accompanied him triumphantly to the city, his enemies fled, and peace was restored, but only for a short time.
A feast given by the empress on the consecration of a statue, and attended with many heathen ceremonies, roused the zeal of the archbishop, who publicly exclaimed against it; and Eudoxia, violently incensed, recalled the prelates devoted to her will, and Chrysostom was condemned and exiled to Armenia. Here he continued to exert his pious zeal until the emperor ordered him to be conveyed to a town on the most distant shore of the Black Sea. The officers who had him in charge obliged the old man to perform his journey on foot, and he died at Comana, by the way. Here he was buried; but in 438 his body was conveyed solemnly to Constantinople, and there interred in the Church of the Apostles, in the sepulchre of the emperor.
At a later period his remains were placed in the Vatican at Rome. The Greek Church celebrates his feast on the 13th of November, the Roman on the 27th of January. His .works, which consist of sermons, commentaries, and treatises, abound with information as to the manners and characteristics of his age. Research St John Chrysostom
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