Saint John Chrysostom: Servant for God and Man, Martyr for Jesus Christ

The life of Saint John Chrysostom was one of continuous love: love for God and love for his fellow men. This love singled out the Saint as a servant of God and a servant to men in working out their salvation. His holy life bore constant witness to the love of Jesus Christ, and moreover was sealed with a martyr’s death.

Saint John’s whole life was a hymn of praise and of thanksgiving to God. The phrase that most fully expresses it is one of praise: Glory to God for all things! Whether in conditions of calm or caught up in the storm of persecution and unimaginable injustice, his heart was always filled with praise and thanksgiving. In a letter, he writes: “Glory to God for all things—and I have not ceased repeating these words in the midst of everything that is happening to me.”

The following pages are an attempt to portray the saintly life of the holy Father: a life of ministry, martyrdom, and praise. The sources we consulted in order to apprehend the nobility and saintliness of the ecumenical Father are the blessed letters that he sent from exile to his many spiritual children. There are also the two long and magnificent treatises that the Saint addressed to the faithful of Constantinople, queen of cities, and which are his spiritual testament. In all these texts, the holy Father, without intending to, gives us a picture of himself in the most natural way possible.