The Greatest Easter Homily from the Greatest Preacher

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The Resurrection Homily of St. John Chrysostom
Let all pious men and lovers of God rejoice in the splendour of this feast. Let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord. Let those who have born the burden of Lent now receive their pay. And those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward. Let anyone who came after the third hour be grateful to join the feast. And those who may have come after the sixth hour, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled from the first. Yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first. He rewards the one and is generous to the other. He repays the deed and praises the effort.
Come you all, enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward. You rich and you poor, dance together. You sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day. You who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly laden, enjoy the royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one, let no one go away hungry.
All of you, enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of His goodness. Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal has been revealed. Let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave. Let no one fear death for the death of our Saviour has set us free. He has destroyed death by enduring it. He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom. He has angered it by allowing it to taste of His flesh.
When Isaiah foresaw this, he cried, “O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world.”
Hades is angered because it is frustrated. It is angered because it has been mocked. It is angered because it was destroyed. It is angered because it has been reduced to naught. It is angered because it is now captive. It seized a Body and, lo! It discovered God!
O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory? Christ is risen and you are abolished! Christ is risen and the demons are cast down. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life is freed. Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead. Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power unto ages of ages. Amen. St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.
Clement of Alexandria wrote: " . . . There is one true Church,…In essence, in idea, in origin, in preeminence we say that the ancient Catholic Church is the only Church. . ."
 
These are some of the most beautiful words put to paper.
 
Imagine the setting. We know that Justinian a century and a half later built the Hagia Sophia but the Church at which St. John Chrysostom held forth was no slouch. It was built by Constantine. Imagine the most beautiful Church in the world with 14 deacons all carrying incense burners with a liturgy lasting 3-4 hours and everyone standing…no pews. Bishop John would preach for 2-3 hours and a strongly voiced deacon would occassionally cry out “Wisdom, be attentive”. This homily was assuredly only a portion of the full sermon. Those were the days.

St. John was given the name “Golden Mouth” because even then his oratorical ability was considered to be the best in all of Christianity. It still is.

CDL
 
GregoryPalamas said:
Imagine the setting. We know that Justinian a century and a half later built the Hagia Sophia but the Church at which St. John Chrysostom held forth was no slouch. It was built by Constantine. Imagine the most beautiful Church in the world with 14 deacons all carrying incense burners with a liturgy lasting 3-4 hours and everyone standing…no pews. Bishop John would preach for 2-3 hours and a strongly voiced deacon would occassionally cry out “Wisdom, be attentive”. This homily was assuredly only a portion of the full sermon. Those were the days.

St. John was given the name “Golden Mouth” because even then his oratorical ability was considered to be the best in all of Christianity. It still is.

CDL
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St. John Chrysostom was an amazing preacher. Read his homiles on John, they are amazing. He was a Syriac Christian too. You can’t beat the Syriac Christians.😃
 
I’d say that since he is the only one given the Surname “Chrysostomos” or “Golden Mouthed” that he is one of if not THE greatest preacher. Except for Our Lord, of course.
 
Didn’t our Lord warn us against comparing one another? Magnificent preacher, but I suspect he would be scandalised if he heard you talking him up this way. The greatest treasure of the saints after obedience is humility.
 
Makes me think the Three Holy Hierarchs…

goarch.org/en/special/listen_learn_share/threehierarchs/learn/

"During the reign of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118), a controversy arose in Constantinople among men learned in Faith and zealous for virtue about the three holy Hierarchs and Fathers of the Church, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. Some argued for Saint Basil above the other two because he was able, as none other, to explain the mysteries of the Faith, and rose to angelic rank by his virtues. Organizer of monastic life, leader of the entire Church in the struggle with heresy, austere and demanding shepherd as to Christian morals, in him there was nothing base or of the earth. Hence, said they, he was superior to Saint Chrysostom who was by nature more easily inclined to absolve sinners.

The partisans of Saint Chrysostom retorted that the illustrious Archbishop of Constantinople had been no less zealous than Saint Basil in combating vices, in bringing sinners to repentance and in raising up the whole people to the perfection of the Gospel. The golden-mouthed shepherd of matchless eloquence has watered the Church with a stream of homilies in which he interprets the divine word and shows its application in daily life with more accomplished mastery than the two other holy Doctors.

According to a third group, Saint Gregory the Theologian was to be preferred to the others by reason of the majesty, purity and profundity of his language. Possessing a sovereign mastery of all the wisdom and eloquence of ancient Greece, he had attained, they said to such a pitch in the contemplation of God that no one had been able to express the dogma of the Holy Trinity as perfectly as he.

With each faction setting up one of the Fathers against the other two in this way, the whole Christian people were soon caught up in the dispute, which far from promoting devotion to the Saints in the City, resulted in nothing but ill-feeling and endless argument. Then one night the three holy Hierarchs appeared in a dream to Saint John Mauropus, the Metropolitan of Euchaïta (5 Oct.), separately at first, then together and, speaking with a single voice, they said: “As you see, the three of us are with God and no discord or rivalry divides us. Each of us, according to the circumstances and according to the inspiration that he received from the Holy Spirit, wrote and taught what befits the salvation of mankind. There is not among us a first, a second or a third, and if you invoke one of us the other two are immediately present with him. Therefore, tell those who are quarrelling not to create divisions in the Church because of us, for when we were on earth we spared no effort to re-establish unity and concord in the world. You can conjoin our three commemorations in one feast and compose a service for it, inserting the hymns dedicated to each of us according to the skill and knowledge that God has given you. Then transmit it to the Christians with the command to celebrate it each year. If they honor us thus as being with and in God, we give them our word that we will intercede for their salvation in our common prayer.” At these words, the Saints were taken up into heaven in a boundless light while conversing with one another by name."
 
Toribus said:
Didn’t our Lord warn us against comparing one another? Magnificent preacher, but I suspect he would be scandalised if he heard you talking him up this way. The greatest treasure of the saints after obedience is humility.
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True Humility is giving God credit for your gifts, not denying you have them. Besides, he isn’t doing the “talking up” that would be bragging.
 
While it is true that only God is the true judge it is also true that He gives us certain insights to guide us to the truth through the work of the Holy Spirit. Most Godly people who know St. John’s sermons have commented that they generally are the best of the best.

CDL
 
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