E02628: John Chrysostom, in his Homily on Martyrs, delivered during a festival, probably at Antioch, advises his audience to abstain from taverns and drinking after the service, and invites them to pray at the tomb and the relics, and to anoint themselves with holy oil. Written in Greek, probably at Antioch (Syria), 386/397.
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posted on 2017-03-29, 00:00authored byerizos
John Chrysostom, Homily on Martyrs (CPG 4359; BHG 1187)
The feasts of martyrs are not celebrated only on the designated feast days, but in the life-style of the faithful. Living a pure life is like celebrating the martyrs every day.
‘Thus the person who keeps their life free of filth and blemish celebrates a festival every day, constantly holding a feast, even if it is not on the day or at the shrines of martyrs, but while sitting at home. For it is possible to celebrate a festival of martyrs on one’s own too. And I am saying these things, not in order that we may stop visiting the tombs of the martyrs, but so that, when we do visit them, we may encounter them with the appropriate zeal, and show the same reverence not just on their days, but also apart from these. For who would not admire our gathering today, this splendid theatre, this fervent love, the warm disposition, the unrestrained desire? Almost the entire city has hastened to come out here, and the fear of his master has not kept the slave, nor the need of his poverty the poor man, nor the infirmity of their old age the elder person, nor the delicateness of her nature the woman, nor the delusion of his property the rich man, nor the madness of his power the magistrate. Nay, the yearning for the martyrs has removed all this inequality, and the infirmity of nature and need of poverty, and has dragged her, with one single chain, as it were, such a great crowd [………]
But, so that we may keep this flame not only now, but also always, and after this spiritual theatre is dismissed, let us return home with the same reverence, not discharging ourselves to taverns and brothels, and drunkenness, and revels. You have turned the night into day by your holy vigils. Do not turn the day into night by your drunkenness and debauchery, and your obscene songs.
[………] Consider how laughable it is, if, after such a festival, after vigils, after listing to the Holy Scriptures, after partaking of the Divine Mysteries, and after spiritual edification, a man or woman is seen spending their day at a tavern.’
‘But do you wish to indulge? Stay by the tomb of the martyr and pour out the fountains of your tears there, mortify your mind, draw a blessing from the tomb. Take it as an advocate in your prayers, and immerse yourself perpetually in the accounts of that man’s fights. Embrace the coffin (soros), attach yourself onto the sarcophagus (larnax). Not only the bones of the martyrs, but also their sarcophagi brim with plenty of blessing. Take holy oil and anoint your entire body, your tongue, lips, neck, eyes, and you will never fall into the wreck of drunkenness. For the oil, by its fragrance, reminds you of the feats of the martyrs, and it bridles all wantonness, and confines it within plenty of perseverance, and it overcomes the maladies of the soul. But do you wish to spend time in orchards and meadows and gardens? Not now, with such a great crowd around, but on another day. For today is a time for fights, today is the time of viewing contests, not one of indulgence or comfort.’
The purpose of attending the martyrs’ feasts is to learn how to struggle, by the observation of the martyrs struggles. It is necessary to return from the festivities with decency.
Text: Migne, PG 50, 661-666. Translation and summary: E. Rizos
Condemnation of other activity associated with cult
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Women
Officials
Slaves/ servants
Crowds
Cult Activities - Relics
Bodily relic - bones and teeth
Contact relic - oil
Source
John of Antioch, bishop of Constantinople, who came to be known as Chrysostom (the Golden Mouth), was born in 344/354 in Antioch on the Orontes where he studied under Libanius. He joined the Nicene Christian community of Antioch, led by bishop Meletios of Antioch, and was ordained priest by Meletios’ successor, Flavianos in 386. Acquiring a great reputation as a preacher, John was appointed as bishop of Constantinople in 397. Clashing with the bishop of Alexandria Theophilos and the empress Eudoxia in 403/404, Chrysostom was deposed and banished to Cucusus in Cappadocia and died in Comana of Pontus in 407.
There is no critical edition of this text, which survives in 21 Manuscripts:
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/7139/
Discussion
The date and occasion of this homily are unknown, but the themes dominating the text suggest that it belongs to the Antiochene period of Chrysostom. It seems that one of the main shrines of that city, most probably the Koimeterion, was surrounded by taverns, and people tended to stop for drinks when visiting the church, especially during festivals. Of special interest are Chrysostom’s explicit references to embracing and kissing the sarcophagus of the saints and to the use of holy oil. Finally, his references to the acts of worship of the feast seem to include a Eucharist.
Bibliography
Text:
Migne, J.-P., Patrologia Graeca 50 (Paris: Imprimerie Catholique, 1862), 661-666.
Translation:
Mayer, W., and Allen, P., John Chrysostom (The Early Church Fathers Series; London: Routledge, 2000), 93-97.
Further reading:
Downey, G., Ancient Antioch (Princeton, 1961).
Drobner, H.R., The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 327-337.
Kelly, J.N.D., Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom. Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995).