This great ecumenical teacher and hierarch died in the city of Comana
in the year 407 on his way to a place of exile. He had been condemned by the
intrigues of the empress Eudoxia because of his daring denunciation of the
vices ruling over Constantinople. The transfer
of his venerable relics was made in the year 438, thirty years after the death
of the saint during the reign of Eudoxia's son emperor Theodosius II (408-450).
St John Chrysostom had the warm love and deep respect of
the people, and grief over his untimely death lived on in the hearts of
Christians. St John's disciple, St Proclus,
Patriarch of Constantinople (434-447), during services in the Church of Hagia Sophia,
preached a sermon praising St John.
He said, "O John, your life was filled with sorrow, but your death was
glorious. Your grave is blessed and reward is great, by the grace and mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and
place! Love has conquered space, unforgetting memory has annihilated the
limits, and place does not hinder the miracles of the saint."
Those who were present in church, deeply touched by the
words of St Proclus, did not allow him even to finish his sermon. With one
accord they began to entreat the Patriarch to intercede with the emperor, so
that the relics of St John might be brought back
to Constantinople.
The emperor, overwhelmed by St Proclus, gave his consent
and gave the order to transfer the relics of St John. But those he sent were unable to
lift the holy relics until the emperor realized that he had sent men to take
the saint's relics from Comana with an edict, instead of with a prayer. He
wrote a letter to St John, humbly asking him to
forgive his audacity, and to return to Constantinople.
After the message was read at the grave of St John,
they easily took up the relics, carried them onto a ship and arrived at Constantinople.
The coffin with the relics was placed in the Church of Holy Peace (Hagia Eirene). When
Patriarch Proclus opened the coffin, the body of St John was found to be incorrupt. The
emperor approached the coffin with tears, asking forgiveness for his mother,
who had banished St John.
All day and night people did not leave the coffin.
In the morning the coffin was brought to the Church of
the Holy Apostles. The people cried out, "Father, take up your
throne." Then Patriarch Proclus and the clergy standing by the relics saw St John open his mouth and
say, "Peace be to all." Many of the sick were healed at his tomb.
The celebration of the transfer of the relics of St John
Chrysostom was established in the ninth century.
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