John was born in Antioch. His father, an army officer, died early, and his upbringing was entrusted to his mother, Saint Anthusa, an intelligent and educated woman. As a youth, he had the good fortune to study under Libanius, from whom he received a broad and solid Hellenic education that prepared him for his future mission as a preacher. Bishops Meletius of Antioch and Diodore of Tarsus guided him toward Christianity. John was about twenty years old when he was baptized.
Soon after, he joined the clergy of Antioch as a lector. He first lived as a monk in community, then embraced the hermit’s life for a time, until poor health forced him to return. Frail all his life, Byzantine icons consistently depict him as small and delicate in stature. Bishop Flavian ordained him deacon and later priest; John would become his right hand in governing the Church of Antioch.
Above all, John excelled in preaching. His extraordinary gift in the pulpit made him beloved by the people, though often feared by the powerful. After the death of Nectarius, Patriarch of Constantinople, the emperor chose John to succeed him.
By temperament reserved and modest, John never sought such high office. Though a gifted preacher and keen psychologist, he lacked the diplomacy needed to navigate court intrigue. Simple and straightforward, he often failed to foresee the twisted interpretations his enemies would give to his actions. Yet he proved himself a great organizer and practical leader: he restructured charitable works, supported missionary outreach to distant lands, promoted monastic life as a means of evangelizing the barbarians, and provided the Gothic Christians in the capital with clergy who could preach and celebrate the liturgy in their own tongue.
His preaching, often lasting more than two hours, was tireless and uncompromising. The people loved him, but his frankness provoked hostility at court. A group of bishops led by Theophilus of Alexandria deposed him illegally, and Empress Eudoxia secured his exile. He was recalled shortly after, when misfortunes struck the palace, only to be banished again within months—this time to Cucusus, on the Armenian frontier. His exile lasted three years. From there, John maintained lively correspondence with his supporters in Constantinople; 236 of his letters survive. The emperor, angered by this support, ordered him exiled still farther, to Pityus on the Black Sea. John died on the journey, on September 14, 407, probably just over fifty years old.
What ensured his lasting fame was his immense literary legacy, especially his sermons preserved by stenographers. In them, John appears above all as a pastor: learned, intelligent, and eloquent. His sobriquet Chrysostom (“Golden-Mouthed”), given three centuries later, was well deserved. Following the Antiochene tradition, he interpreted Scripture with clarity and sobriety, more moral exhortation than speculative theology.
He was buried by the monks of Comana, where he died. Pope Innocent I pressed for his name to be restored to the diptychs of the Church, and in 414 it was done. In 438, Emperor Theodosius II brought John’s relics back to Constantinople, where they were received with immense devotion. Removing his crown, the emperor knelt before the coffin and asked forgiveness in the name of his father, Arcadius. The Council of Chalcedon later declared John a Doctor of the Church.
The Roman liturgy, from the thirteenth century, celebrated his feast on January 27, the day of the translation of his relics to Constantinople. His actual date of death, September 14, coincides with the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
