“To Bishop Kyriakos, also being in exile himself”

[In this letter of his - Epistle 125 – the blessed John Chrysostom (the “golden-mouthed” saint) uses all the power of his penmanship to encourage and support Bishop Kyriakos, who was also dethroned uncanonically and exiled during the same period].

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To Bishop Kyriakos, found in exile:

Come now, let me again remove the wound of faintheartedness and let me dispel the thoughts that formed this fog.  Because what is that which worries you and makes you agonize?  That the calamity is terrible and the shipwreck is saddening which has befallen the Church?  I too am aware of it, and no-one says otherwise.

However if you wish, I will reproduce the image of what happened.  We have a sea that was agitated, from within its very depths.  The sailors, instead of holding onto the rudders and the oars, have wrapped their arms around their knees, and full of astonishment at the unavoidable evil, did not look up at the sky or at the sea or the dry land, but instead lay on their mattresses, lamenting and weeping!”

[In order to vividly depict the turmoil that had been created within the Church, the blessed Chrysostom usually resorted to the image of a sea tempest;  see also Epistle 4 to Olympias].

And such things certainly take place at sea.  But now, in our sea, the tempest is worse and the waves even more terrible.  However, you should beseech Christ our Master, Who does not impose Himself on the tempest with a  trick, but can calm the storm with a single gesture. 

[ref. Mark 4:39: “Be quiet, silence yorself!”].  

But even if you have begged Him many times and have not been heeded, do not become negligent, for that is how the loving God usually acts. Could He not have saved those three youths from being thrown into the blazing furnace?  Instead, after being taken captive and exiled to a barbarous land and alienated from their paternal inheritance and had become disillusioned by everyone, with nothing left to them, it was then that Christ, our true God, had miraculously scattered those flames;

[ref. Dan. 3:1-33].  

because the flames - unable to bear the virtue of the righteous ones - leapt out and burnt those who had been standing around the Chaldeans’ furnace.  And that was how the furnace for those youths was a Church; and by calling out to all of Creation - both visible and invisible, the angels and the heavenly powers - and after having invoked all of them - they cried out: “Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all, for ever!”   

[ref.Azariah’s prayer and the hymn of the three youths, verse 34].

Can you see how the patience of the righteous ones had both transformed the flames into dewdrops and had put the tyrant to shame, making him send letters to all of the inhabited earth?  “Great is the God,” he had said, “of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!

[ref.Dan. 3:28 : ‘And Nebuchadnezzar the king responded, saying: ‘ Blessed is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His angel and freed His servants, because by trusting in Him, they disregarded the king’s edict, preferring to give up their bodies to the fire, rather than serve or worship any other god other than their God.’]

[also ref.Dan.31,33 : ‘Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, tribes and languages that dwell on all the earth: ‘May peace be multiplied among you. It pleased me to declare to you that the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me were great and powerful.  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. ]

See also  how severely he had decided for anyone who should happen to speak against them, inasmuch as  they would have their houses confiscated.

[ref.Dan.3:29:  ‘And I am issuing a decree:  Every people, tribe, and language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be eliminated, and their houses shall be left as spoils, for there is no other god who could have freed them in such a manner.]

Do not be fainthearted, then, nor be negligent. For I, too, when departing from the city, did not care about any of those things, but I instead told myself: ‘If the queen wants to exile me, she will exile me. The earth is the Lord’s,  as is the fullness of it’.”  

[ref.Psal.23:1]

And if she wants to saw me into pieces, she will saw me; I have Isaiah as an example;

[The prophet Isaiah, according to one tradition, had been sawed to death - to which Saint Chrysostom alludes here].

If she wants to throw me into the sea, I bring Jonah to mind.

[ref.Jonah 1:15: “And they took Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea became still from its raging”].

If she wants to throw me into a blazing furnace, I have the three youths who suffered the same.

[ref.Dan.3,1-33].

If  she wants to throw me to the beasts, I remember that Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den.  

[ref.Dan.6,1-28].

If she wants to stone me, she will stone me; I have Stephen as an example - the first martyr.

[ref.Acts 7,59: “and they stoned Stephen, who was calling upon Him and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’."]

If she wants to take my head, she will take it; I have John the Baptist as an example. If  she wants to take my possessions, she will take them.

[ref. Job 1:21: Naked I came out of my mother’s belly and naked I shall depart from here”].

I am counselled  by the apostle, who says: “God does not take into account the characteristics of a person,

[ref.Gal. 2:6]

also, if I were to instead please people more, I would not be a servant of Christ;

[ref.Gal. 1:10].

And David also arms me well, who had said: “I spoke of Your commandments before kings, and I was not ashamed and spoke boldly.”

[ref.Psal. 118:46].

Many had invented things against me and had claimed that I gave Holy Communion to some who had previously eaten food.

[One of the slanders that they hurled against Saint Chrysostom].

If I had indeed done these things, may my name be erased from the book of Bishops and not inscribed in the book of the Orthodox faith; for if I did do them, Christ will also expel me from His Realm. But since they say thus against me anyway and quarrel, let them also depose Paul, who after dinner had baptized his entire family.

[ref.Acts 16:33: “And taking them at that hour of the night, he washed the wounds, and he was baptized - he and all of his own - immediately.”]

[The meal at the home of the Philippian jailer, whom the Holy Chrysostom alludes to here, took place after his baptism and that of his family].

Well, let them also depose the Lord Himself, Who had given communion to the apostles - after the Supper.

[ref.Luke 22:14-20].

They also insist that I had slept with a woman;

[Another serious slander against Chrysostom by his enemies].

Disrobe my body then, and you will see the mortification of my members. Consequently, they had done all that out of envy.

But are you grieved, brother Kyriakos, that those who exiled me speak boldly in the marketplace and are followed by a multitude of satellites? Well, remember again the rich man and poor Lazarus: who  of the two had  experienced sorrows in this life, and who had spent his time with pleasures? Was the rich man touched by poverty? Was it not the athlete and victor who was finally transported to the bosom of Abraham? How did wealth benefit the other one, who only enjoyed life in his purple and linen garments?”

[ref.Luke 16:19: “There was a certain rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen.....]

Where did all the rich man's staff-bearers go? Where did his bodyguards go? Where did the horses with the  golden bridles go? Where did the guests and the royal dining table go? Wasn’t he carried away to the grave, bound up like a robber, with his soul departing naked from this world, and later crying out with his empty voice: ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I am in agony inside this fire?”

[ref.Luke 16:24]

Why, o rich man, do you call Abraham “father”, whose life you did not emulate? He would welcome every person into his house!

[This is the obvious reference by Saint Chrysostom to the well-known hospitality of Abraham, in Gen.18:1-8]

Whereas you did not care about even one poor person.  Is it not cause for mourning and weeping, that he who had so much wealth was not judged worthy of a drop of water? For by not giving even crumbs to the poor man, he naturally did not deserve a single drop of water. During the winter he would not sow almsgiving, so when summer came, he did not reap anything.

And it also was the Master’s providence to juxtapose that example of  “hell” for the irreverent man, opposite the example of “repose” for the righteous one, such that they could both see and recognize each other. Because in time, every martyr will indeed recognize their tyrant, and every tyrant the martyr that they had tortured.

[ref.Gen.3.24: “...and He expelled Adam, and made him live opposite the Garden of Bounty...”]

And these are not my words; listen to Wisdom who says: ‘Then shall the righteous stand with great boldness in the face of those who had  afflicted them...’  

[ref.Wisdom Sol. 5,1].

Because, just as when a traveler walking in a heatwave comes across a clean spring while parched with thirst, or sits at a table with various foods and - albeit overcome by great hunger is hindered by someone stronger than him to not  touch the table or enjoy the delicacies – he will feel great sorrow and sense punishment; because, while sitting at the table he cannot enjoy the foods, and like the one sitting by the spring cannot drink water - it is thus on the day of Judgment that the wicked will see the saints rejoicing, while they instead will not be able to enjoy that royal table. Therefore, by wishing to punish Adam, God made him toil the earth that faced directly opposite the Garden of Paradise, so that, by seeing every day and hour that desirable place from which he had been expelled, he would always feel sorrow in his soul. So if we cannot encounter one another here, there will be no-one there to hinder us from living together, and also able to see those who had exiled us - just like Lazarus with the rich man and the martyrs with their tyrants.

So, do not be sorrowed, but remember God, Who (through the prophet) says: “Hear me, you who know judgment, my people; who has My law in your heart; do not be afraid of the shaming by men, nor be defeated by their wickedness; for like a garment it will be devoured by Time, and like wool devoured by a moth; but my righteousness will remain for eternity, and my salvation for generation to generation”.

[ref. Isa.51,7].

Imagine also the Lord Christ Himself, who from His infancy was persecuted and exiled to a barbarous land;

[ref. Matt. 2,13-15],

He possesses the world, and yet, He became an example for us to not lose heart during trials. Remember the Passion of the Savior, how many humiliations He endured for our sake, when some called Him a Samaritan, and others a demoniac and a glutton and a false prophet. Why did they say: “Behold, a glutton and a drunkard”?

[Matthew 11:18-19 and Luke 7:33-34]

and that “By the prince of demons he casts out demons” ?

[Matthew 9:34].

What else had He not suffered - when they went to crucify Him and when they spat on His face? And what about when they donned His cloak and crowned Him with thorns and worshipped Him by mocking Him and causing Him all kinds of humiliation, and about when they slapped Him, when they forced vinegar and gall on Him, when they struck His head with a reed, and when the bloodthirsty dogs dragged Him here and there? And what about when they led Him naked to the Passion and all His disciples had abandoned Him - and even when the one had betrayed Him, another denied Him and the others fled, and He had stood alone, naked in the midst of that crowd? Because the feast was the reason that had gathered them all at that time. And when they crucified Him as a criminal among criminals and He was hung, deprived of a burial, and they had not even taken Him down from the Cross, until someone asked to bury Him? Remember that He was considered unworthy of proper burial and that a serious accusation was leveled against Him - that His disciples had allegedly stolen His dead body and that He had not risen from the dead?

[ref. Matt. 27:27-44 and 57-60. 28:11-15; Mark 14:66-72; 14:16-20 and 26-28]. 

Remember also the apostles, who were being persecuted from everywhere and were in hiding, unable to appear in the cities. Remember that Peter was in hiding at Simon the tanner;

[ref.Acts 9,43: “And it came to pass, that he tarried several days in Joppa with one Simon - a tanner”]

and Paul also in hiding, at the home of a woman who was a seller of purple cloth, because they did not have the courage to resort to any of the wealthy;

[ref.Acts 16,14-15].

but how afterwards everything turned out well for them. Likewise now, do not be troubled. For I too have also heard of that loquacious Arsakios, whom the queen had installed on the (patriarchal) throne,...

[Queen Eudoxia, after the second exile of the Holy Chrysostom in 404 AD, had installed on the throne of Constantinople, as she herself writes, Arsakios, who was very old (over 80). During the period of patriarchy of Arsakios, on account of his old age and his mild character, the enemies of the blessed Chrysostom had done many things unhindered, to the detriment of the great Father’s followers.] 

...who had also pressured all the brothers who did not want to have communion with him. In fact, many of them I think had also died in prison. Because that sheep-imaged wolf may have the form of a bishop, however he is an adulterer; because just as a woman is characterized as an adultress when -albeit her husband is alive- she engages in relations with another man, he likewise is an adulterer - not a carnal one but spiritual – because while I am still living, he has snatched from me the throne of the Church.

And I had written all these things to you from Kukusos, when the queen ordered that I be exiled.  Many -however- crushing events had happened to me on the road, but I did not care about anything.  However, when I approached the land of the Cappadocians and in the region of Taurus of Cilicia, I was met by many groups of men, holy fathers, but also of multitudes of monks and virgin maidens shedding endless flows of tears. And they wept on seeing me going into exile, saying among themselves ‘it would have been preferable for the sun to hide its rays, rather than the mouth of John to be silenced’.  These things disturbed me and worried me, because I saw everyone weeping for me. For all the other things that happened to me, I did not care in the least.  I was very well tended to by the bishop of the city, and he showed so much love for me, that if it were possible, he would have handed over even his throne to me – if we weren’t upholding the Canon.

Translation AN