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John was called "Chrysostom" ("Golden Mouth") because of his eloquence. He was a priest of Antioch,
and an outstanding preacher. (Audiences were warned not to carry large sums of money when they went to hear him speak, since pickpockets found it very easy to rob his hearers -- they were too intent on his words to notice what was happening.)
His sermons are mostly straightforward expositions of Holy Scripture (he has extensive commentaries on both Testaments, with special attention to the Epistles of Paul), and he emphasizes the literal meaning, whereas the style popular at Alexandria tended to read allegorical meanings into the text.
He loved the city and people of Antioch, and they loved him. However, he became so famous that the Empress Eudoxia decided that she must have him for her court preacher, and she had him kidnapped and brought to Constantinople and there made bishop.
This was a failure all around. His sermons against corruption in high places earned him powerful enemies (including the Empress), and he was sent into exile, where he died.
Along with Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus, he is counted as one of the Four Great Eastern (or Greek) Doctors of the Ancient Church. The Four Great Western (or Latin) Doctors are Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great.
written by James Kiefer
I have been talking recently with a friend about how people apply a Rule to their lives, I wanted to share how my blogging friend Kerry developed this for himself from conversations we had a couple of years ago. I recommend any person in exploring the Rule of St Benedict, it isn't just for professional clergy or Monks and Nuns.
I liked the simplicity of Kerry's foundation. He bases his personal Rule on 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, which reads ...
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need."
Then he asked himself the following questions.
1) How do I live this rule for myself personally?
2) How would this rule be lived by a group or a small community?
These are powerful questions which he engaged Here. I would like to hear from those who would consider those questions in their own life. These are timeless issues, that I feel all Christians should consider.
Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to You, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly Yours, utterly dedicated unto You; and then use us, we pray You, as You will, and always to Your glory and the welfare of Your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lord our Governor, Whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to Your merciful care, that, being guided by Your Providence, we may dwell secure in Your peace. Grant to incoming President Obama wisdom and strength to know and to do Your will. Fill him with love of truth and righteousness, and make him ever mindful of his calling to serve this people in Your fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
It is interesting and informing to remember that before Constantine, being a Christian was dangerous, unpopular, and joining the Church was difficult and only for those most committed. Constantine made becoming a Christian popular, politically astute, and being part of the culture you were born in, it no longer carried the risk it once did.
Maybe like being an American, we are born here, and this particular area of the world SHOULD be Christian. After all we don’t want Muslim or Buddhist members of Congress, now do we? We don't want being a Christian to mean anything, or cost us anything at all, I suppose. I know it doesn't cost ME anything; in fact, it is a bonus for me. Ask the Sunni guy i work with, how does he like the looks, the whispered conversation.
Anyway after the Emperor had changed Christianity from a despised,
persecuted sect into the main State Religion, many sincere Christians
felt the need to make more of a commitment to the service of Christ,
than the State Church offered, and their longing resulted in the
beginnings of the Monastic tradition. This trend had begun before the
conversion of Constantine and the changes in Church life that came
with it, and was strongly reinforced by the new reality. Men chose
seek Christian commitment by leaving their homes and the society they
knew, going into the desert, and becoming hermits, devoting themselves
to solitude, fasting, and prayer. Antony of Egypt, often mentioned as
the founder of Christian monasticism is one of the great examples.
What we know of the life of St. Antony of Egypt comes to us from St.
Athanasius. He tells us that Antony was born of wealthy Christian
parents at Comus, Egypt in the year 250. His well to do parents died
when he was around eighteen or twenty, leaving him with a younger
sister to care for.
As Athanasius tells us, about six months after his parents death, Antony stopped in a Church and heard the Gospel of Matthew 19:21 being read, "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." It just so happened that on the way to Church that day, Antony had been mediating on this very verse and after hearing it again, he felt this was directed at him personally. So Antony did what so few of us do, he provided for the care of his sister, he gave his land to the tenants who lived on it, gave his other wealth to the poor, and became a hermit (Monk). Antony lived alone for twenty years in the desert, praying and reading, and doing manual labor. Somewhere around 305, he gave up his solitude to become the head of a group of monks, living in a small cluster of huts or cells, devoting themselves to communal singing and worship, to prayer and study. All of this was done under Antony’s direction and guidance. They did not totally abandon those they left behind, being very careful to pray for their fellow Christians, and working with their hands to earn money so that they could give it to the poor.
Antony also came to the aid of the Church outside of his desert community. When the Roman Emperor Diocletian began persecuting Egyptian Christians in 303, word reached Antony out in the desert, and he with several other monks traveled to Alexandria to minister to those persecuted. He was so respected that even the Roman authorities left him alone to evangelize, and ease the suffering of the prisoners. In fact, in 321, under Emperor Maximinus (the rule of Constantine wasn't fully established over the whole Roman world) he offered himself as a martyr but was refused.
Antony lived to the age of 105, never ceasing to deepen his relationship with God. Near the end of Antony's long life, Arius (a former deacon in Alexandria) began to spread his heresy that Christ was created, thereby not co-equal with God, the Father. Many Egyptian Christians were swayed by Arian teachings and fell away from the Church. Athanasius, Bishop of the Church in Alexandria and a famous defender of orthodoxy, called Antony to the Alexandria fight against the Arian heresy. After this, he returned to the desert, never to leave it again.
Antony expended great effort in teaching others about God and encouraging their total commitment to the teachings and values taught by Jesus in the Gospels. His biography was written by St. Athanasius, who said of him: "Who ever met him grieving and failed to go away rejoicing?"
*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.
O God, Who by Your Holy Spirit enabled Your servant Antony to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil: Give us grace, with pure hearts and minds, to follow You, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
The feast of Aelred has new meaning since becoming a Postulant in the Br. of St. Gregory. My minister provincial is Br. Aelred, and a wonderful man, who consistently shows the way of Christ to me and challenges my status quo. This has increased my interest in this Saint.
Aelred was born in 1109 or 1110 in the north of England, probably in Hexam. Since he was both
the son of a Priest (some were married in those days) and of noble
descent, he was sent to Durham to be educated. After his time there,
David, King of Scotland invited him to his court to continue his
education and be a companion to the young Prince Henry. King David and
many members of the court highly esteemed Aelred, and felt his meekness
was one of his most visible virtues. After some time, he was made
Master of the Household of the King of Scotland, quite a post for such
a young man. Success in the court of a king of this world did not
satisfy Aelred's heart, and at the age of 24 he entered the Cistercian
monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire.
In spite of the weakness of
his physical body, Aelred determined to bear cheerfully greatest
disciplines of the Cistercian Order. He spent much of his time in
prayer, reading, and studying. His heart was so focused on the love of
God that he said that it made him feel tha all the Cistercian
austerities were sweetness and light.
His abbot, William, was a disciple of St. Bernard, encouraged him to write his first work, The Mirror of Charity, which deals with seeking to follow the example of Christ in all things. In 1147 he was elected Abbot of Rievaulx, a post which he held until his death of kidney disease some twenty years later at the age of about 57. Some Monks still take Aelred as a religious name, in fact I know one, Prior Aelred of St. Gregory's in Three Rivers, MI.
His most famous work is called Spiritual Friendship.
At this time many Christians felt that since Jesus had said that "All
who do the will of my Father are my family." then the only kind of
love permissible to a Christian is a type of universal love, no one
attachment could be more important than any other. This was carried to
the extent that in some Monasteries and Convents, where the monks or
nuns walk two by two into chapel or the dining hall or while enjoying
their daily hour of recreation, the Abbot keeps changing partners to
stop anyone from forming a liking for one partner over another. Even
food and drink was to be treated equally, with no preferences. Aelred
wrote against this view, saying that it is quite compatible with the
highest degree of Christian perfection to take special pleasure in the
company of particular friends. He points out that in the Gospels, we
are told that Jesus loved John, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and some
Apostles seemed to be part of an inner circle. This seems to point out
that Jesus enjoyed their company more than that of others.
Towards
the end of his life, ill-health forced Aelred to live in a small hut
near the infirmary at Rievaulx. He could hardly travel anymore but once
in a while was able to visit his friend, St. Godric, while he was
traveling north to oversee the Scottish foundations of his Order.
Aelred died on 12th January 1167 and was buried in the Chapter House at
Rievaulx. Although, he was never formally canonized, a local following,
approved by the Cistercians grew up around him, and he remains a
popular English Saint.
*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.
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