Part 5: Condemnation, exile, repose
When the people discovered that the saint was gone, a great uproar ensued in the city. A number of people were killed, and others wounded. The people went about looking for Theophilus, hoping to stone him, and learning of this, Theophilus secretly fled the city and sailed directly for Alexandria, the other members of his party escaping to wherever they could. The shouts of the people could be heard everywhere: in the churches and in the squares they denounced the unjust condemnation of their great luminary. Surrounding the imperial palace, they raged and lamented, begging that John be returned to his throne. Then, one night, before the disturbances had ceased, a fearful earthquake struck, and all were filed with terror. The Empress especially was stricken with fear and trembling, for her palace and bed-chamber were shaken even more than the other buildings, and parts of them collapsed. Seeing this, the people cried out with a loud voice: “If John is not returned, the entire city will collapse!”
The Emperor feared both God’s punishment and an uprising of the people, so he immediately sent the Empress’ eunuch Brissonus to John. Meanwhile, the Empress had already entreated Arcadius to return John to the city, because she was overcome by fear of the earthquake and the clamor of the people. One after another, messengers were sent to beg the saint to return, and the Sea of Marmara was filled with boats. As the blessed one was returning, the inhabitants of Constantinople learned of his coming. All went down to meet him with lit candles, and the sea was black with boats which had sailed out to meet the saint. John landed outside the city but did not wish to enter it until an inquest concerning the causes of his expulsion had been made at a great council. The people, however, insistently demanded that their pastor be returned to his throne and continued to revile the Emperor and the Empress openly. Compelled by the people, John at length entered the city and was escorted to the church with great honor, to the chanting of psalms and hymns. After praying to God, he ascended his throne, blessed the people, and began to instruct them; and all rejoiced at his return. Thus was the band of John’s foes scattered to the winds, and his enemies were silenced and put to flight.
Saint John resumed the helm of the Church of Christ, guiding her in profound peace. He nurtured his rational flock with his sweet teaching, and the whole Church rejoiced in its great adornment, pastor, and teacher. But within a short time a fresh storm arose to trouble the saint.
Not far from the Church of Holy Wisdom, a silver statue of the Empress Eudoxia was set upon a column which stood in a wide square. The people began to gather around this pillar and to make merry, and all manner of games and festivities were held near it. John saw in this revelry, which took place next to the church, an affront to God’s temple, and in his usual manner rebuked those who had set up the statue and given permission for the festivities to be held. When the Empress heard report of his words, she took offense at them and again concluded that it was directly against her that John spoke, since her former grievances were still fresh in her mind. She was moved to anger once more and again began to plot how she might have a council convened to condemn John. John learned of this and spoke these words concerning her in a homily: “Again Herodias rages; again she is angered! Again she claps her hands and dances; again she seeks the head of John!”
The saint’s words were relayed to the Empress, who went to the Emperor, weeping bitterly and asking that a council be called to condemn the Patriarch. An edict was sent by the Emperor to his bishops, inviting them to return to the Imperial City and try John. All those who had taken part in the first trial returned, except for Theophilus, who, mindful of how he had scarcely escaped the wrath of the people, feared to go back. In his place, he sent three bishops to the council, and with them the decrees the Arians had composed against Saint Athanasius the Great, intending that they be used to condemn John for having returned to his throne after he had been expelled from his see. Thus, it was on the basis of heretical and unjust canons that John was convicted, for no other accusations against him could be found, and Theophilus’ bishops did not question the saint on any other count. They charged him only with having returned to his throne before another council was convened. To this Saint Chrysostom replied: “I was not present at my trial, nor did I dispute with my adversaries, nor did I see the accusations made against me, nor was I sent a copy of the decision of the court. The Emperor drove me out, and it was he who brought me back. The decree that you wish to use to condemn me was composed not by the Orthodox but by Arians, whose intention was to depose the great Athanasius.” But Theophilus’ bishops paid no heed to the saint’s words, and deposed him.
With the arrival of the great and holy feast of Pascha, the Emperor, at the insistence of the bishops, sent word to John, saying, “Be gone from the church! You have been condemned by two councils, so I cannot enter the church until you have departed.”
John sent messengers back to the Emperor with this reply: “It is Christ the Saviour Who has entrusted the Church to my care; therefore, I cannot abandon it unless I be driven out by force. The city is yours, and all are under your authority. Do you wish to separate me from the Church of Christ? Send your servants to drag me away, so that I will have an answer before God. If you do this, I shall not be leaving the Church of my own will but because I have been driven out by the imperial authority.”
Hearing this, the Emperor was at first uncertain what he should do; but then, at the prompting of John’s enemies, he sent the high official Marinus, who managed the Empress’ estates, to remove the great teacher from the Church by force. Nevertheless, Saint John was permitted to remain at the patriarchal residence for a time: he spent two months there without leaving his cell, waiting for the Emperor’s decree condemning him to be published.
During this time, John’s enemies hired a man to murder the saint. The man pretended to be demonized so that his evil intention might remain hidden. After obtaining a sword with which to commit the deed, he awaited a convenient time, but before he could accomplish the crime, the people learned of his plan. They dragged him before the Eparch of the city to be questioned, but John sent his bishops to ask that the man be set free, so delivering him from interrogation under torture. At another time, the slave of a certain Elpidus, a presbyter, was hired for fifty pieces of silver to slay the saint. He was hurrying toward the patriarchal palace to commit the murder when he was halted and asked where he was going in such haste. The slave refused to answer and struck his questioner with his sword. Another man saw this and cried out, and the slave stabbed him and a third man who was at hand. A tumult arose, shouts were heard in the patriarchal palace, and the slave took to his heels. As he was being pursued, he was met by a man coming out of a public bath. This man attempted to seize him, but the slave struck the man, who fell to the ground, fatally wounded. After this, the people began to guard John closely by day and night. They remained posted around the patriarchal residence, relieving one another in shifts, because they knew that the saint’s adversaries sought his life.
The imperial decree ordering Saint’s John exile was issued on the feast of Pentecost. At that time a certain nobleman advised John to leave the city secretly, lest the people rise up against the soldiers who were to take him away. “Otherwise,” said he, “you will be guilty of causing much bloodshed, for according to the decree you are to be taken by force. If the people resist, a massacre will result.”
Hearing this, John summoned a number of the bishops and clergymen who were devoted to him and also the blessed deaconess Olympia. He exhorted them to stand firm in the Orthodox faith, while they wept bitterly for him. He also began to weep in his sorrow at leaving them. Finally, he bade them farewell, and departing unnoticed by a side door, made his way to the harbor where the soldiers were waiting for him. They placed him in a small boat and sailed to Bithynia, from there setting out on the remainder of their journey.
On that same day, after John had departed, a fire broke out upon the altar of the cathedral church of Constantinople. It was clearly not caused by man but by the wrath of God, for it broke out suddenly and rose up to the ceiling of the church, then spread throughout the building. After this a strong wind arose, drew the flame out of the church, through the air, and into the market place. The fire formed itself into a bridge and arched over into the palace where the proceedings against Saint John had taken place. The palace was entirely consumed. It was truly a wondrous sight to behold: the flame, as if alive, twisted itself about as though it were a snake, setting fire to distant buildings, while those near the church remained untouched. Because of this, it was clear to all that it was not chance but God’s anger over the banishment of Saint John Chrysostom that was the cause of the fire.
In the course of three hours, from the sixth till the ninth hour of the day, many of the ancient and most splendid buildings of the city were reduced to ashes. Statues, arches, and columns without number were also destroyed, and incalculable riches were lost in the flames. Yet not one of the inhabitants of the city died, so the people said that God was punishing the city by fire for the unjust exile of His favorite. But John’s enemies maintained the opposite and cried, “It was John’s supporters who set the church afire!” As a result, the Eparch of the city, who was a pagan, seized many people and subjected them to torture. Several of them died, but, nevertheless, the cause of the conflagration could be traced to no man; for it was the wrath of God that brought down the fire.
The blessed John was forced to endure much torment at the hands of the soldiers on the way to imprisonment. They had received orders from the Empress to afflict him in every manner possible during the journey so that he would perish more quickly. Therefore, they sat him on an ass unbroken to the saddle and drove the beast along quickly, covering in a single day a journey which ought to have taken two or three. They gave the saint no rest or peace whatsoever along the way, compelling him to sleep in common, filthy inns, sometimes in the houses of Jews, and performing many vile acts in his presence. Nowhere was he permitted to enter a church. Moreover, they harassed, reproached, and reviled him, and took from him the money given him to buy food during the journey.
Whenever the saint passed through cities where the bishops were his enemies and the friends of Theophilus, he was subjected to all manner of offense. Some of these hierarchs would not even permit him to enter their cities, and they bribed the soldiers to treat Saint John still worse than was usually the case. In other places, the holy fathers who lived in the wilderness heard that John was passing through on his way to imprisonment, and came forth to meet him. They wept because the great teacher was being sent into exile unjustly, as Saint John himself testifies in his letter written in Cucusus to Bishop Cyriacus. In it he says, “Many woes befell me along the way, but I was in no way distressed by them. When we passed through the lands of Cappadocia and Taurocilicia, whole companies of holy fathers came forth to meet us, as also a multitude of virgin nuns. They shed abundant tears and wept bitterly when they saw how we were being led away into banishment. They said to one another, ‘It would be better for the sun to hide its rays than for the lips of John to fall silent.’ These words troubled me and caused me sorrow, because I saw that they were lamenting for me. But nothing else that happened caused me distress.”
John was taken to Cucusus in Arabia [actually, it is in Armenia-Tr.], where Adelphius, the Bishop of the city, received him kindly into his own home; for that prelate had seen a vision in which God commanded him to offer the saint hospitality. During his stay in Cucusus, John by his teaching converted many unbelieving idolators to Christ. Then an edict arrived from the Empress, ordering that John be sent still further away, to a barren place called Pityus on the shores of the Black Sea, inhabited by unruly barbarians. On the journey the soldiers subjected him to the same harassment as before, hoping to bring about his death more quickly. They forced the saint to travel through rain and in burning heat with his head uncovered, forbade him to enter cities or villages, and sought in every way to make grievous the journey to his new place of banishment.
A few days before his repose, while the saint was standing at prayer by night, according to his custom, the holy Apostles Peter and John, who had appeared to him before, when he was living in the monastery near Antioch, came to him and said, “Rejoice, good pastor of the rational flock of Christ, 0 great passion-bearer! We have been sent to you by our common Master, Jesus Christ, to help and comfort you amid the sorrows and tribulations you suffer for the sake of your purity of conscience. Like John the Baptist, you have upbraided rulers who have fallen into sin, boldly reproving them for transgressing the law of God. Therefore, be strong and of good cheer, for a rich reward has been prepared for you in the kingdom of heaven. We proclaim to you glad tidings of great joy: within a few days you shall depart unto the Lord your God and shall enjoy everlasting rest with us in the kingdom of heaven. Take courage, then, because you have prevailed over your enemies and put to shame those who hate you, and have triumphed over your adversary, the devil. Eudoxia will be riddled with worms and call upon you for help, but she will not find it. She will die amid terrible sufferings, for the illness that will strike her will be sent as God’s punishment and cannot be healed.”
After this the apostles gave John something to eat and said, “Take this; from this time forth you shall require no other food. This will suffice until you surrender your soul into God’s hands.”
John took what they offered him, ate it, and was filed with joy. Then the apostles departed.
There were two presbyters and a deacon who accompanied the saint into exile from Constantinople. Bound to him with the bonds of love, they shared in all his sufferings. These men saw the apostles come to John and heard everything that Saints Peter and John the Theologian said to him. They rejoiced greatly that they had followed into banishment a saint most pleasing to God, whose portion was with the sacred apostles, and that they were deemed worthy to suffer with him.
After several days of travel, the exiles reached Comana. Near the city there was a church dedicated to the holy hieromartyr Basiliscus, the Bishop of Comana, who had suffered for Christ in Nicomedia together with the presbyter Lucian of Antioch during the reign of the impious Emperor Maximian. They passed the night at this church. The following day was the feast of the Elevation of the Precious Cross, and that night, the holy martyr Basiliscus appeared to the blessed John and said, “Take heart, brother John; tomorrow we shall be together!”
The holy martyr also appeared to one of the priests of his church and said, “Prepare a place for our brother John, for he is coming unto us!”
When dawn came, John begged the soldiers not to depart until the fifth hour of the day, but they refused, for they wished to be on their way immediately. As the journey could only be continued by water, they took ship and within a short time sailed over three miles from the city. By God’s providence, however, they soon touched shore again at the Church of Saint Basiiscus, which caused them great perplexity. John again asked them to remain a short time while he prayed in the church. Realizing that it was the power of God that had prevented them from continuing their journey and that it was His unseen hand which had returned them there, the soldiers agreed to John’s request. The saint entered the church, asked for ecclesiastical vestments of a bright color, and changed all his clothing. He gave his garments to those who had been with him on ship, served the Divine Liturgy in the church, and communed of the most pure and life-giving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. After praying for a long time, he gave a final kiss to those present, lay down, and spoke the words he was accustomed to use on every occasion: “Glory be to God for all things!” Then he signed himself with the Cross and uttered his final word: “Amen.”
With this, John surrendered his soul into God’s hands. He reposed on the very day of the Elevation of the Precious Cross, as was fitting, since he bore his cross throughout the course of his whole life, crucified with Christ and crucifying himself to the world. He was laid to rest in the church where he died, together with the holy martyr Basiliscus. Thus the prophecy of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus was fulfilled, for he said to the blessed John, “You shall not reach the place to which they will exile you.” Indeed, it was to Pityus that they were taking John, but he reposed while still in Comana. Thus was the luminary of the Church extinguished; thus did the lips of gold fall silent; thus did the good ascetic and sufferer complete his struggles and finish his course. He remained on his throne for six years and spent three years in exile, being led about from place to place.
The two presbyters and the deacon who had followed the great teacher of the whole world until his last breath wept much for their instructor when he reposed. Then they went to Pope Innocent in Rome and told him in detail how Saint John had suffered and why he had been compelled to endure such tribulation. They also told the Pope of John’s end, how the holy apostles came to him before his repose, what they had said, and how the holy martyr Basiliscus had appeared to the holy hierarch. Innocent listened to all this, marvelling greatly, and grieved when he learned of John’s unjust exile and that the teacher and pillar of the Church had died. The Pope told these things to the Emperor Honorius, who ruled the Western Empire from Rome and was Arcadius’ brother, and both Emperor and Pope lamented bitterly. Together they wrote an epistle to the Emperor Arcadius. For his part, the Pope said, “The blood of my brother John cries out against you, 0 Emperor, as once the blood of the righteous Abel cried out against his slayer, Cain, who was his own brother. You have raised up a persecution against the Church of God in a time of peace and driven out a true pastor of Christ, but John’s blood will be avenged. With John you have also driven out Christ God, betraying His flock into the hands of men who are not shepherds but hirelings.”
Innocent wrote much more to Arcadius, excommunicating him and Eudoxia from the divine Mysteries and anathematizing all who had taken part in the deposition of Saint John. He not only deposed Theophilus but altogether cast him out of the Christian Church. Moreover, he summoned Theophilus before a council, to receive the punishment his deeds merited.
Honorius wrote his brother Arcadius the following: “I do not know,” said he, “by what device or temptation of the devil you were led astray, my brother, placing your confidence in your wife and obeying her and doing what no Christian emperor ought to do. The holy bishops here cry out against you, for you have deposed the great hierarch of God, John, without a trial and in a manner contrary to the canons. Moreover, you imposed upon him a grievous exile, thus bringing about his death.”
At the end of this letter, Honorius called upon his brother to repent and to punish those who had plunged the Church into such turmoil and were guilty of John’s expulsion. When Arcadius received the letter from his brother and the Pope, he was overcome with remorse and fear. He ordered that all who had opposed John be found, and subjected them to various punishments. Some were beheaded with the sword while others were removed from their offices in dishonor. Those bishops who had taken part in Saint John’s condemnation and were still in the Imperial City were seized and cast into the common prison. Among their number was Ischyrion, the son of Theophilus’ brother. To Theophilus himself Arcadius sent a very stern letter, ordering him to make ready to be tried in Salonika and to receive a punishment befitting his evil deeds. Arcadius locked his wife Eudoxia in a separate palace and commanded that only her maidservants be permitted to see her. All her relatives who had conspired with her against the saint were deprived of their possessions, and some were imprisoned and subjected to torture. The Emperor then wrote to Pope Innocent, telling him everything he had done, expressing his repentance, and humbly asking his forgiveness. Arcadius also wrote his brother Honorius, begging him to beseech the Pope to lift his excommunication. Arcadius was granted his request, for the Pope accepted his repentance. Innocent wrote the blessed Proclus, who was then Bishop of Cyzicus, and asked him to receive the Emperor back into communion and to vouchsafe him the Holy Mysteries. The Pope also decreed that John be numbered among the choir of the saints.
Even as these things were taking place, God, the Lord of vengeance, Himself began to visit retribution on the enemies of His favorite, John. He permitted grievous punishment to befall them while they were still on earth. Everyone who had risen up against Saint Chrysostom and had reviled him or approved of his exile, whether he was a bishop, clergyman, worldly dignitary, or a simple layman, suffered a grievous death as the blessed Ammon had prophesied. The bodies of some were covered with festering sores which rotted their flesh and caused them to die. The arms and legs of others withered, while the bowels of still others began to putrefy, consumed by a multitude of worms. These last emitted an unbearable stench for many days. One of the unjust judges who condemned the saint fell from a horse and died, breaking the right hand with which he signed the unjust accusation against the blameless John. Another was struck dumb; his hands withered up, and he could no longer lift them to his mouth. Soon, he, too, perished. The tongue of a third, who had reviled Saint John, became twisted, stopping his mouth. Since this man could not speak, he confessed his sin by writing it on a slip of paper. Such were the manifestations of the mighty wrath of God which befell those guilty of sending John into exile!
Innocent, the Pope of Rome, soon died, so Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria was saved from trial and the punishment of men; but he did not escape the judgment of God, the righteous Judge and Avenger. Held in disdain by all on account of his malice against John, he was entirely overcome by grief, went out of his mind, and perished miserably. The legs of Cyrinus, the Bishop of Chalcedon, began to fester, and physicians repeatedly amputated portions of them, to prevent them from rotting. When his legs were cut off at the knee, he expired. The wretched Empress Eudoxia, wounded by grief and shame, began to suffer from a heavy issue of blood. Her flesh swarmed with worms, as the apostles had prophesied to the blessed John, and she gave forth such a stench that those who approached her could not endure the fetid odor of her flesh. She was treated by the most skilled physicians, who sprinkled her with every sort of fragrant scent, but to no avail. She asked the physicians, “Why can you not cure me?” but they did not dare to answer her. Then she said to them, “If you do not know the reason why I cannot recover, I will tell you. God in his anger has sent this affliction to me because of what I did to John the Patriarch.”
Eudoxia returned to Theognostus’ children the vineyard she had taken from them, and to many others she also gave back what she had taken unjustly. Nevertheless, she did not receive healing, but died from her affliction. For thirty-two years after her death the tomb in which she was laid quaked without ceasing, testifying to her iniquity before all. The quaking ceased only when the relics of Saint John Chrysostom were translated from Comana to Constantinople.
After all this had taken place, Adelphius, the Bishop of Arabia, who offered John hospitality at his home in Cucusus, learned of the saint’s repose. He was overcome by sorrow when he heard that the great luminary and teacher of the whole world, who was cast out of his see unjustly, had died in banishment. Therefore, he prayed God fervently and with tears, asking that He reveal to him in which rank of the saints John was to be found. He passed into ecstasy and beheld a radiant, joyful youth, who took him by the hand and led him to a place of light, where stood the choir of the holy teachers of the Church. Although he looked carefully, Adelphius could not see John. After pointing out to Adelphius all the teachers and patriarchs of Constantinople, the youth began to lead him away. Adelphius followed him but was downcast, since he had not seen the blessed John among the Holy Fathers. Then, as he was leaving, a man who stood at the portals stopped him, took him by the hand, and said to him, “Why are you departing in such sorrow? All who come here leave cheerful, even if they were downcast when they arrived. But it is not so with you: you were happy when you arrived but are dejected now.”
Adelphius replied, “I sorrow because I did not see John, whom I love, among the teachers of the Church.”
The man said, “Do you not know that John was a very great preacher of repentance?”
“Yes, I know,” answered Adelphius.
“No one still in the body can see him,” said the man, “for he stands before the throne of God, together with the cherubim and seraphim.”
Adelphius rejoiced to hear this, and glorified God for having revealed this mystery to him. Thus the holy Chrysostom, after suffering many tribulations, torments, misfortunes, and sorrows for the sake of the truth, reached the calm haven of heaven. There, rejoicing with the angels, he glorifies the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the God Who is one in Trinity, Whom we also offer praise, honor, and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.