Memorial of St. John Chrysostom

St. John Chrysostom1 has been called the saint of “joy in suffering.”2   While in exile at the end of his life, he writes, “A dark and terrible storm surrounds me, a deep night and shadows that grow thicker, frightening shipwrecks—and yet I remain calm and tranquil, as though I were safe within the harbor.” 

Where did John find such peace and joy in the midst of suffering?  Partly from his mother. She bore two children. One died very young, and shortly after John’s birth, her husband died leaving the young mother a widow at the age of 20.  She resolved not to marry again, devoting herself to raising John.  Later in life he writes, “No words can describe the troubles which come upon a young woman who is suddenly plunged into overwhelming grief and burdened with responsibilities too great for her sex and age, at a time when she has only just left her father’s house and is inexperienced in the ways of the world.” 

But his mother’s strong faith taught John “enthusiasm for the good, steadfast moral energy, zeal for justice and truth and constancy in faith.” After her death, when John was 19, he became a monk because, he writes, “We live in so depraved an age that if someone were to compare the words of the Gospel with what in fact goes on in the world he would infer that men are not followers of Christ but his enemies … And the worst of it is that they don’t know it.” Much like our own times. 

But the joys and asceticism of monastic life did not remain John’s vocation.  He was ordained as bishop of Constantinople and was thrown into the great controversies of his day, especially the denial of Christ’s divinity by the heretic priest, Arias.  Later on, John was taken captive and after a forced death-march to the remotest part of the empire, he died in exile writing about “joy in suffering.”

So, how can we also find joy in suffering like John Chrysostom and his saintly mother?  It is, like them, by having a strong Catholic faith and love of God.

  1. Attwater, Donald, St. John Chrysostom, Pastor and Preacher, Harvill Press, London 1959.
  2. Cross and Crown, v. 11, 1959, p. 425, by Bruno H. Vandenberghe, O.P.