Your Eminences, Your Graces,
Most Reverend and Holy Brothers,
Esteemed Professors and Fellow Participants of
This International Symposium
Fathers, Brethren and Children in the Lord,

Today’s celebration of this Feast-Day Divine Liturgy has special ecclesiological and theological significance. For it propels straightaway our faculties of memory and our very hearts to Golgotha, and indeed to Christ, Who was lifted high up and died upon the Cross, and then Arose for the salvation of the whole world.

The sacred hymnographer cries out in his ecstasy of praise: “O what a strange wonder! Today the All-Holy Cross – a life-giving plant – is raised on high and shown forth, and all the ends of the earth give glory! But all the demons quake in terror. O what a gift has been granted to mortals!” Today, as we look with our eyes upon the Holy and Blessed Wood of the Cross, let us chant with our whole soul and heart: “O Cross, the Guardian of the whole world! O Cross, the beauty of the Church! O Cross, strength of Monarchs! O Cross, buttress of the Faithful! O Cross, the glory of the Angels and the destruction of demons!”

And although the Gospel Reading of the Feast relates the Crucifixion of Christ upon Golgotha, nevertheless even on the Cross, the Light of the Resurrection of Christ begins to dawn. The Cross is bound to the Resurrection, just as the Risen Christ’s bears in His Body the marks of the Cross!

Cross and Resurrection; together they make up the life of true Christians, who can be discerned through their character that is marked by a Cross-and-Resurrection experience. The Cross, as a fact of the Cross-and-Resurrection experience, is the sign whereby we recognize Christ and the true Christian. Any “Christ” without the Cross is an “antichrist”, and any “Christian” without the Cross is a false Christian.

This Cross-and-Resurrection experience is encountered in and pervades Orthodox Theology, which though apophatic, is in no way agnostic. This experience is no mere empirical, rather is an objective and moral crucifixion the entire psychosomatic make-up of the human person. Likewise, this Cross-and-Resurrection ethos is encountered in the Church, in Her sacramental, administrative and spiritual life. For the Mysteries are fulfilled through the Grace of God, which is itself granted through the type and form of the Cross. Indeed, it is through the Cross that divine energy shared. The Church’s administrative structure, which results from the Holy Eucharist, is synodical and hierarchical, commencing from the Patriarchal Throne, in which we have the honor to find ourselves, and where every addiction to honors and self-will is crucified! And it is lived in Her spiritual life as sacrifice and offering, as self-emptying and exceeding, through Christ, the temperament and “garments of skin” of corruption and mortality.

The Holy Eucharist, which comprises the center of ecclesiastical life, is the manifestation of the Cross-and-Resurrection ethos. For it is in the midst of the Divine Liturgy that we cry aloud: “Thine own of Thine own do we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all and for all!” Thus we show our self-emptying and our oblation, the existential crucified and living experience of the Orthodox Christian, one who is imbued within with the spirit of the Holy Eucharist. We are members of a Crucified and Risen Church, and we minister to the faithful Christians with cruciform offering, being crucified daily, enlightened faintly and energetically by the Unwaning Light that has dawned from the Life-giving Tomb of Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven.

And on this day we proclaim the inauguration of the International Scientific Symposium being held in honor of our predecessor in this Most Sacred Throne, our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom. Indeed, we commence this Symposium not only from this Throne bear his name, but in the presence of the Sacred Relics of this Glorious Father of the Church, whose relics bear witness to his spiritual presence among us, but also in the sacrificial and resurrectional atmosphere of the Holy Eucharist.

In this Symposium, we have in attendance Clergy and Lay, Shepherds and teachers of the Church, all gathered in great thankfulness for the Great Golden-Mouthed Father – all of them brethren and beloved children of the Mother Church. Your presence brings great joy to us, as we eagerly await to hear the findings of your studies, that we might glorify the Triadic God even more so on account of your work.

We consider the fact of the symposium to be an opportunity to bring before you certain sermons of the Divine Chrysostom concerning the Cross and the Crucifixion, the very foundation of the Church’s life.

The Golden-Mouthed Father, in his Sermon on the Cross, hails the festal celebration of Its honor when he says: “Today our Lord Jesus Christ is on the Cross and we bring forth the feast, so tat we may learn that the Cross is a both a spiritual feast and celebration. For the Cross, which was formerly a designation of judgment, is now a thing of honor! Formerly a symbol of condemnation, how a matter of salvation! This has delivered us from error! This has given light to those dwelling in darkness! This has reconciled us to God, though we were belligerent and rebellious. Those who were estranged have been welcomed home, and those who were far off, have been brought close. This Cross has become the destruction of hatred, the guarantee of peace, the treasury of myriads of blessings for us!”

In another of his Homilies, he compares closely the Precious Cross with the Tree of Knowledge which was in Paradise, and sees the One as the corrective to that first sin of the Ancestors. The Holy Father teaches: “That Tree (of Knowledge) led unto death; for after the transgression, death entered in. But the This Tree (of the Cross) has bestowed immortality. The one cast us forth from paradise; but the other raises us upward to Heaven. The one, for the sake of a single transgression laid such a punishment upon the liable Adam; the other while making tens of thousands of burdensome sins to vanish has granted us boldness before the Master. Do you see the difference between them – the Two Trees? Do you see the wickedness of the devil, the indolence of man, and the philanthropy of the Master?”

The first Adam tasted of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil and he died both spiritually and physically, and removed from God, he transmitted death to his descendents. But the second Adam, the Christ, brought back fallen man to God through the Life-bearing Tree of the Cross, and He has transmitted, to those bound unto Himself, the Resurrection, peace and immortality, understood not only as participation in that-which-is and is-forever, but most importantly – participation in that-which-is forever-good.

When we look upon the Cross, we look upon the One Crucified upon It, the Lord of Glory, the God-Man Christ, our King. As King, Christ sacrificed Himself for His People, and this is His own recognition of true authority and Kingdom. The Holy Chrysostom admits: “Therefore I name Him King, because I see Him crucified, for it is the property of a King to die for his subjects.”

The Cross of the Lord is a cause of pride for us. Thus does the Holy Father comment in his sermon on the Apostles Paul’s words: “Nay, I should never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). Chrysostom says that truly “the Cross is our boast,” not only because of what has already taken place, but because through the Cross a Christian lives out a double mortification. In one hand, the first mortification is nothing less than death to the praise of others, the protection of others, glory, riches, all of those things that seek to be lustrous – “these truly have become dead to me!” And the other mortification? It is the same death for the world, because it desires not those things are connected to it and are expressed by it. And Chrysostom concludes: “There is nothing more blessed and happy than this mortification; for it is the sum and substance of the blessed life.”

We also ought to be crucified daily, as we live the life of the Gospel, doing theology in an Orthodox manner and by experience. We ought to participate in the Holy Eucharist by emptying ourselves, serving the People of God sacrificially and in love, giving God the glory for everything that has happened in our lives. Living in such a way is living theologically, because true theology is when we confess the Crucified and Risen Christ. Those who have been crucified with Him become like the noble Thief, who was shown to be a great theologian through his saving confession; wherefore the Divine Chrysostom says: You have seen the philosophy of the thief, his understanding, his instruction; in a flash he flew from the Cross to Heaven!”

In the Church, we practice theology with the mindset of the noble Thief. And if, as people bearing flesh and living in this world, we are at times unsuccessful, still do we make this saving confession and hope for salvation. We love the Church, the Body of the Crucified and Risen Christ, and we respect Her, granted that the greater sins are those that are called “ecclesiological.”

This was the way that the Divine Chrysostom lived and conducted his life, and a Christian and as a Shepherd. He faced injustice and contempt; he tasted the wormwood and the gall. He lived in deserts, exile, and fell asleep in the Lord full of thankfulness and glorifying God. Hus he was shown to be a teacher in word and deed, a shepherd who sacrifices his life for the sake of the Great Shepherd and his flock, spending himself every day for the service of Christ’s people.

And if we are crucified with Christ, so shall we also boast and rejoice  spiritually, because the Cross brings the morning light to the Resurrection and leads to it. Crucified ourselves, we shall be free from fear and insecurity, from dependency on and the domination of the world. The theology of liberty, of love, and of peace proceeds from the Cross, because the Cross is the “cathedra” the See of Orthodox theology. The Golden-Mouthed Father confessed this belief: “Therefore, we fear not the fiery darts of the devil; for we have found the fountain of life. Neither are we afraid of the wolf, for we know the Good Shepherd.” For He said: ‘I Am the Good Shepherd.’ For which cause we no longer tremble at the tyrant, for we have found our refuge in the King.”

We also, preaching from the this Throne of the Divine Chrysostom at the commencement of this Symposium in his honor, a Throne dyed red by the blood of martyrdom and shining brilliantly in the glory of our God-placed Fathers and predecessors, we wish to all that your participation in the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ might be unto the life and service of each of you.

Truly, we rejoice with an unspeakable joy for the organizing and commencement of the International Scientific Symposium, under the general heading, “Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople” on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of his falling asleep in the Lord. We are happy that this Conference under our aegis and with our blessing.

We rejoice because in our See, this sacred and sanctified Throne, we behold beloved and dear persons who will speak on the various themes within their own academic competencies, through their presentations give a picture of this great personality of our Church, the Divine Chrysostom. We are certain that the academic competency of the speakers, and indeed the love of the participants for the Mother Church – the Ecumenical Patriarchate – shall comprise a successful outcome of the Symposium for a more complete consideration of the personality, teaching and work of the great Hierarch of our Ecumenical Throne, who made this Throne famous through his word, and his holy way and manner of life.

Above all these things, we rejoice most abundantly because in our midst we possess the one who blesses and sanctifies us – the great preacher of the faith – “the one of golden tongue,” and not only this, but of golden heart as well. John: “the great high priest and shepherd, innocent and righteous, preacher of repentance, a golden mouth exhaling Grace,” as it says in the sacred hymn. He is the one who sought out the wisdom of God saying, with the wise Solomon “O God of our Fathers and Lord of mercy… grant unto me the wisdom that is near unto Thy thrones” (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-4). Indeed, he found this wisdom and through it adorned the Archiepiscopal and Patriarchal Throne and brought acclamation to the things of the Church.

The various subjects of this Symposium are designed to shed light yet more on the personality of Saint John Chrysostom and to cover different aspects of his brilliant yet much troubled life. This life began in Antioch and went on to arrive at the Queen of Cities, as we call this City, but it went on to Armenia, where he died righteously like a martyr. According to his biographer, Saint John was “a smart young man” and from his childhood he distinguished himself above all others in his studies, especially at “the age of eighteen when he rebelled against the sophists of style, became manly in his mindset, and took up the study of sacred things.” Ultimately, this Saint of God became great “in deed and word,” a preacher of Divine Grace, a wondrous liturgist, a God-illumined shepherd, having all the virtues and outward manifestations of the Prophets, the Apostles, the Fathers, the Ascetics and the Martyrs for the faith.

By way of introduction, should we speak of this blessed man and most holy Hierarch of the Holy Mother and Great Church of Christ, who has adorned Her so greatly, we must underscore certain points, without by any means exhausting them.

First of all, we consider it the greatest honor and blessing that Saint John Chrysostom is our predecessor in the See of this Ecumenical Throne, New Rome, the reigning Queen and Great City of the Equal-to-the-Apostles and pious Emperor Constantine who was glorious and famous. Consequently, we are the successor of this blessed Hierarch in the administration of this church and at the same time of all the oikoumene of the Orthodox Church, by means of service and kenotic oblation. As is well know to all, to those near and to those afar off, this Throne has been consecrated not only by the Decisions of the great Ecumenical Councils, but by the God-bearing and deified Saints, and by those who have ascended upon that Throne, amongst whom the Holy Golden-Mouthed father is numbered. These things comprise a confirmation of the stability of this Throne, which produces blessings for all and an example for us.

According to the sacred hymnographer: “It was fitting for the Queen of cities to boast of John as her Hierarch, just as a kingly ornament and a trumpet made of beaten gold which sounds forth to all the ends of the earth the dogmas of salvation.” Especially does the hymnographer present the Church to cry out to John “as a rejoicing bride:” “I have taken my fill from thy golden, flowing waters, delighted by thy libations glowing with honey-colored light.” Truly, the Church has been sated by the golden Sermons of the holy and sacred Father, Sermons teeming with wisdom and power, with the Grace of God and human eloquence, became this blessed and happy Man of the Church was “eloquent and grandiloquent” “a golden, joyous, and God-inspired instrument of the Church.”

So many centuries have passed since his glorious departure and still the Church is able once again be deeply satisfied by his Sermons, For when we study his words today; his Homilies and his Writings, we are filled with wisdom and Grace, through their power and piercing qualities, their eloquence and the very power of the Word.

This blessed man shepherded in a God-pleasing way his flock in this City through his instructions, his Sermons and his deeds. The very stones themselves cry out about his philanthropic pastoral competency and ministry. After his ordination, according to his biographer, “he took up care of matters, beginning with a logical examination of the flock from the ground up; but seldom tinged with the use of his chastening shepherd’s staff. After this, with understanding he began the correction of the shepherds – their injustice, their way of living, and their passions. He took special care to rebuild hospitals, and made provision for widows and for worship. He instructed and guided the people, over whom Divine Providence had set him as a Shepherd. No one, who reads of these philanthropic exertions of this glorious Father, can help but be filled to repletion.

Truly, Saint John Chrysostom had all the characteristic marks of a manifest Prophet, and blessed Ascetic, a God-preaching Apostle, and God-inspired Father, a grace-filled Martyr. And to have all these distinctions assembled so harmoniously in one truly sanctified person.  We marvel at the variety of these spiritual gifts, as we study his sacred writings, and we glorify or God in Trinity who has so glorified the race of men,

The sacred hymnographer praises and glorifies the Holy Chrysostom as Prophet, Apostle, Father and Martyr. Truly, does Saint John imitate his same-named John the Baptist and the zealous Elias, as much in his righteous life as in the manner of preaching of repentance and his fiery zeal of spirit. “Thou, O Father, was rightly named and were in the likeness of the Baptist through thy asceticism; as well as in the likeness of Elias the Great through your fasting, purity and zeal, thus taking from both, O Chrysostom!” He also writes: “As a prophet did the sound of your teachings go forth!”

Beyond the prophetic mark, the Holy Chrysostom was “of like mode with the Apostles, by thy providence showing foresight for all.” Indeed, the great Father was shown forth, as the hymnographer says: “a celestial mind, the all-gold mouth of theology, the surety of sinners, the divinely inspired preacher of repentance, the brilliant lamp, and heavenly human.” Inasmuch as the Prophets, Apostles, and Fathers and Martyrs for the truth were so both by their teachings and their lives, so was this man manifested to be a Martyr for the truth, confessing it in every circumstance and enduring frightful things on account of his commitment to the truth – all the way until his martyric and righteous end.

He exercised his ministry in the Queen of cities with an ardent zeal and a huge love for others, so much so that the great, late theologian Father Georges Florovsky called him “a prophet of philanthropy.” Saint John sought to imbue the same spirit that he had lived in the desert among his brothers and sisters. He labored day and night for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the world and sought to transform this same City into the Land of Paradise, a land in which he journeyed toward the Kingdom of Heaven with all his desire.

Within such a perspective on life, St. John was concerned with the poor and homeless, the abandoned and sick. This blessed man preached: And if you are a sinner, come to the Church and speak your sins; and if you are righteous, come inside that you might fall into temptation, for the Church is a harbor for both.”

As the eye of the whole universe, he was concerned that all people should “come to the knowledge of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4) and so he organized missionary ventures into the lands of the Goths, Scythians, Celts, Persians and Phoenicians. He was truly a great and vigilant eye for the entire world. This profoundly inspired man toiled greatly for all people living in every corner of the earth may know the truth, namely Christ, in order that they might enjoy the wealth of His goodness and loving kindness.

His words regarding the Church are unsurpassable; this is why he was called “teacher of the Divine Eucharist,” as well as teacher of the Church. He was indeed a Eucharistic and eschatological Father, given that the Divine Eucharist is intimately connected to the Church and expresses all that the Church herself comprises. He passionately loved the Church and spoke eloquently about it. He preached widely that “nothing is more powerful than the Church … For, it is more supreme than heaven and more spacious than the earth. It never grows old; rather, it forever flourishes.” And he urges: “When you take refuge in the Church, you are not taking refuge in a place but in a doctrine. For the Church is not a wall or roof; instead, it is faith and life. … Remain within the Church, and the Church will not betray you. However, if you leave the Church, it is not the Church that is to blame.” Elsewhere, considering the power of the Church, he confesses: “How many people have battled against the Church, and yet have not prevailed? … Those battling against it have themselves been silenced and surrendered to ignorance, while the Church that has been assaulted rises over heaven itself. Do you not know that the Church stands upon earth but has its citizenship in heaven? For it is more honorable than heaven.”

This blessed man desired the heavenly city, the heavenly home, and so his way of life was eschatological. He lived in this life according to the heavenly citizenship; and he sought after the heavenly homeland, knowing that he was a temporary visitor in this world, repeating the words of St. Paul: “For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Heb. 13:14) And: “Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.” (Phil. 3:20-21)

This is why St. John – whose heart and gold were truly golden – preached to the people: “Do you not know that the present life is a departure? You are not a citizen? You are on a journey. Do not say that you belong to this city, while someone else belongs to another. For no one belongs to a city. The present life is a way. Thus, we are daily on a journey, for as long as our nature continues.”

Yet, just as of all the Saints, so too also of this Saint, “the world was not worthy” (Heb. 11:38). He was fiercely fought by secular people and false brothers, both openly and secretly, by means of manifold crafty and cunning methods, even to the point of exile from his Throne, as he experienced Christ’s beatitude: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in heaven; in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt. 5:11-12)

He indeed proved to be a great shepherd, sacrificing his life for his flock and repeating the word of Christ: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” (John 10:11)

He was slandered and persecuted; finally, he dies in exile as a saint and martyr, glorifying and magnifying God. He lived with precision that which every Hierarch does, in accordance with the example of Christ, being led to Martyrdom and the Cross, being sacrificed themselves for the sake of the flock, even being sacrificed by this flock itself, bearing the Cross of Sacrifice and following the Lamb “wherever it goes” (Rev. 14:4), namely to sacrifice, martyrdom and Golgotha. The holy hymnographer – together with us – chants: “You were unjustly cast from your flock, Holy Father, adding bitter sorrows to your exiles, yet becoming worthy of a blessed end, as a brave Athlete; indeed, having conquered the craftiest of all, Christ crowned you with the laurels of victory.” What is most important is that, throughout his martyrdom and exile, he glorified God, imitating the Apostles, who “rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” (Acts 5:41) This is why the hymnographer again emphasizes the fact that “neither the enmity of the illegal synod, nor the hatred of the insane Empress” could extinguish his virtues.

The Holy Father places the following words of teaching in the mouth of Christ, the Founder and Head of the Church, about love and loving kindness toward humanity: “I am your father, brother, bridegroom, household, nourishment, garment, root, foundation, and everything else that you may want me to be. … I am even a friend, a member, a head, a brother, a sister, a mother, indeed everything; simply remain close to me. I have become poor for your sake, a vagabond for your sake; I have ascended the cross for you and entered the tomb for you; I have spoken to our father above about you, and I have become an intercessor to the Father for you from below. You are everything to me: a brother, a co-heir, a friend, and a member. What more do you want?”

We have such a loving kind Lord, beloved children in the Lord, and He loves us dearly. We are His ambassadors and heralds; and this is how we should behave, both clergy and laity, in these evil days when the love of many has grown cold. We should preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor. 1:23-2:2), but also Risen. We have such a great Father in heaven, interceding for us, and we proclaim with him: “We offer thanks to God both for those things visible, but especially for the invisible.” Indeed, particularly in times of difficulty and before all problems that we encounter, we express from our hearts his concluding doxology, which he offered as his swan song to God and as the essence of his entire life and conduct: “Glory to God for everything.”

We, too, repeat this phrase over and over. Glory to God for raising us to His sanctified and sacred Throne as the successor to this blessed man. Glory to God “for he has graciously granted us the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well, since we have the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” (Phil. 1:29-30) Glory to God for this martyric ministry granted to us for the Church throughout the oikoumene, for “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Cor. 4:7) Glory to God for the Patriarchal honor and ministry bestowed upon us, which we serve “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For, while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So, death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Cor. 4:8-12) Glory to God; for, we have seen and shall listen to you, dearly beloved children of the Holy and Great Church of Christ, “my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown” (Phil. 4:1), as you analyze various aspects of the personality and teaching of our glorious Father among the Saints, John Chrysostom.

“Glory to God for everything.”

“Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor. 13:11)