E04187: Theodoret of Cyrrhus in his Ecclesiastical History mentions the restoration of the memory of *John Chrysostom (bishop of Constantinople, S00779) and the transfer of his relics to Constantinople. The relics are welcomed by a sea-borne procession, and the emperor Theodosius II prays to the saint, requesting forgiveness for his parents. Written in Greek at Cyrrhus (northern Syria), 444/450.

Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Ecclesiastical History, 5.38-39.2

Οὗτος τὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ πάνυ προσηγορίαν πρῶτος τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς διπτύχοις ἐνέταξε. Χρόνῳ μέντοι ὕστερον καὶ αὐτὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου τὰ λείψανα εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν μετεκόμισαν πόλιν. καὶ πάλιν ὁ πιστὸς ὅμιλος, ὡς ἠπείρῳ τῷ πελάγει διὰ τῶν πορθμείων χρησάμενος, τοῦ Βοσπόρου τὸ πρὸς τῇ Προποντίδι στόμα ταῖς λαμπάσι κατέκρυψε. (39.) Τοῦτον δὲ ἐκείνῃ τῇ πόλει τὸν θησαυρὸν ὁ νῦν βασιλεύων προσήνεγκεν, ὁ τοῦ πάππου καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν λαχὼν καὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν φυλάξας ἀκήρατον. οὗτος ἐπιθεὶς τῇ λάρνακι καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ τὸ μέτωπον ἱκετείαν ὑπὲρ τῶν γεγεννηκότων προσήνεγκε, συγγνῶναι τοῖς ἐξ ἀγνοίας ἠδικηκόσιν ἀντιβολήσας. Πάλαι μὲν γὰρ ἐτεθνήκεσαν οἱ τούτου γονεῖς, κομιδῇ νέον ἐν ὀρφανίᾳ καταλιπόντες.

'He [Alexander of Antioch] was the first to inscribe the name of John the great in the ecclesiastical diptychs. At a later time, the master’s remains (leipsana) themselves were conveyed to the imperial city. Once again the faithful crowd, turning the sea as it were into land by their boats, covered the mouth of the Bosphorus towards the Propontis with their torches. (39.) This treasure was brought to that city by the present emperor who has both inherited the name of his grandfather and preserved his piety in its entirety. He gazed upon the coffin and laid his head against it, offering a supplication on behalf of his parents and imploring him to pardon them for the injustice they had done him in their ignorance. His parents had died indeed very early, leaving him an orphan in extreme youth.’

Text: Hansen 1997.
Translation: E. Rizos.