Chrysostom Quotes

If there were no tribulation, there would be no rest; if there were no winter, there would be no summer. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

You can set up an altar to God in your minds by means of prayer. And so it is fitting to pray at your trade, on a journey, standing at a counter or sitting at your handicraft. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The Holy Scriptures were not given
to us that we should enclose
them in books, but that we should
engrave them upon our hearts. ~ John Chrysostom

Reading from St. John Chrysostom that the life of a bishop should be more perfect than the life of a hermit. The reason he gave was that the holiness which the monk preserves in the desert must be preserved by the bishop into the midst of the evil of the world. ~ Fulton J. Sheen

There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Every family should have a room where Christ is welcome in the person of the hungry and thirsty stranger. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

For if you change from inhumanity to alms giving, you have stretched fourth the hand that was withered. If you withdraw from theaters and go to church, you have cured the lame foot. If you draw back your eyes from a harlot ... you have opened them when they were blind ... These are the greatest miracles. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The pastoral labours of the archbishop of Constantinople provoked and gradually united against him two sorts of enemies; the aspiring clergy, who envied his success, and the obstinate sinners, who were offended by his reproofs. When Chrysostom thundered from the pulpit of St. Sophia against the degeneracy of the Christians, his shafts were spent among the crowd, without wounding or even marking the character of any individual. ~ Edward Gibbon

Prayer is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Just as those who are deprived of light cannot walk straight, so also those who do not behold the ray of the Holy Scriptures must necessarily sin, since they walk in the deepest darkness. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

result,1 the first focuses on ~ John Chrysostom

Nothing is more powerful than meekness. For as fire is extinguished by water, so a mind inflated by anger is subdued by meekness. By meekness we practice and make known our virtue, and also cause the indignation of our brother to cease, and deliver his mind from perturbation. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

You say you don't mistrust me, yet you quote Chrysostom - Hell is paved with priests' skulls ... ~ John Geddes

A man does not possess all the gifts, lest he think that grace is nature. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Let the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbor. ~ John Chrysostom

To destroy the fetus 'is something worse than murder.' The one who does this 'does not take away life that has already been born, but prevents it from being born.' ~ Saint John Chrysostom

When one is required to preside over the Church, and be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also. ~ John Chrysostom

Shall I tell you of their plundering, their covetousness, their abandonment of the poor, their thefts, their cheating in trade? ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Therefore, not only are their passions satanic, but their lives are diabolic. So I say to you that these are even worse than murderers, and that it would be better to die than to live in such dishonor. A murderer only separates the soul from the body, whereas these destroy the soul inside the body ... There is nothing, absolutely nothing more mad or damaging than this perversity. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

An insult is either sustained or destroyed, not by the disposition of those who insult, but by the disposition of those who bear it. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Every man is the painter and the sculptor of his own life. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

It may here be observed, that all who are offended by us are exposed to our view. But the rich man sees Lazarus not with any other righteous man, but in Abraham's bosom. For Abraham was full of love, but the man is convicted of cruelty. Abraham sitting before his door followed after those that passed by, and brought them into his house, the other turned away even them that abode within his gate. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

We will live eternally with Peter, Paul, Austin, Chrysostom, Jerome, Wickliffe, Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, Beza, Bullinger ... Latimer(69) [.] ~ Richard Baxter

It is not the man who is responsible for the offerings as they become Christ's Body and Blood; it is Christ Himself who was crucified for us. The standing figure belongs to the priest who speaks these words. The power and the grace belong to God. 'This is My Body,' he says. And these words transform the offerings. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Before they committed the crime of crimes, before they killed their Master, before the cross, before the slaying of Christ, [Jewish sacrifices were] an abomination. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Let there be no mistake in your mind as to the special character of the man who has come to Christ, and is a true Christian. He is not an angel, he is not a half-angelic being, in whom is no weakness, or blemish, or infirmity - he is nothing of the kind. He is nothing more than a sinner who has found out his sinfulness, and has learned the blessed secret of living by faith in Christ. What was the glorious company of the apostles and prophets? What was the noble army of martyrs? What were Isaiah, Daniel, Peter, James, John, Paul, Polycarp, Chrysostom, Augustine, Luther, Ridley, Latimer, Bunyan, Baxter, Whitefield, Venn, Chalmers, Bickersteth, M'Cheyne? What were they all, but sinners who knew and felt their sins, and trusted only in Christ? What were they, but men who accepted the invitation I bring you this day, and came to Christ by faith? By this faith they lived; in this faith they died. In themselves and their doings they saw nothing worth mentioning; but in Christ they saw all that their souls required. The invitation of Christ is now before you. If you never listened to it before, listen to it today. Broad, full, free, wide, simple, tender, kind, that invitation will leave you without excuse if you refuse to accept it. There are some invitations, perhaps, which it is wiser and better to decline. There is one which ought always to be accepted: that one is before you today. Jesus Christ is saying, "Come! Come unto Me. ~ J.C. Ryle

The highest point of philosophy is to be both wise and simple; this is the angelic life. ~ John Chrysostom

The desire to rule is the mother of heresies. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Why not learn to enjoy the little things-there are so many of them. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Do you fast? Then feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the imprisoned, have pity on the tortured, comfort those who grieve and who weep, be merciful, humble, kind, calm, patient, sympathetic, forgiving, reverent, truthful and pious, so that God might accept your fasting and might plentifully grant you the fruits of repentance. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Sin makes man a coward; but a life in the Truth of Christ makes Him bold. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

In Sermons on the Statutes, Saint John Chrysostom reiterates this point saying: Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful. Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip. Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism. For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers? May He who came to the world to save sinners strengthen us to complete the fast with humility, have mercy on us and save us. ~ Michelle Allen Bychek

And all men are ready to pass judgement on the priest as if he was not a being clothed with flesh, or one who inherited a human nature. ~ John Chrysostom

By the beginning of the fifth century Catholic Christians lived as subjects of an empire they could no longer consider alien, much less wholly evil.
[...] By the beginning of the fifth century few who dealt with the government firsthand - certainly not Chrysostom and finally not Augustine either - would have identified it with God's reign on earth. ~ Elaine Pagels

Fasting is a medicine. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

When an archer desires to shoot his arrows successfully, he first takes great pains over his posture and aligns himself accurately with his mark. It should be the same for you who are about to shoot the head of the wicked devil. Let us be concerned first for the good order of sensations and then for the good posture of inner thoughts.' ~ Saint John Chrysostom

If repentance is neglected for an instant, one can lose the power of the Resurrection as he lives with the weakness of tepidity and the potential of his fall. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Such is friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as bright bodies emit rays to a distance, and flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell. With friends even poverty is pleasant. Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts; they only can know who have experienced. A friend is dearer than the light of heaven, for it would be better for us that the sun were exhausted than that we should be without friends. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Hell is paved with priests' skulls. ~ John Chrysostom

Feet were made, not given for dancing, but to walk modestly, not to leap impudently like camels. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

There are many poor men and poor women: set apart some one constantly to remain there: let the poor man be though but as a guard to thy house: let him be to thee wall and fence, shield and spear. Where alms are, the devil dares not approach, nor any other evil thing. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

"He passed over his fall, and appointed him first of the Apostles; wherefore He said: ' 'Simon, Simon,' etc. (in Ps. cxxix. 2). God allowed him to fall, because He meant to make him ruler over the whole world, that, remembering his own fall, he might forgive those who should slip in the future. And that what I have said is no guess, listen to Christ Himself saying: 'Simon, Simon, etc.'" ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. ~ John Chrysostom

If a man cannot learn well a melody on pipe or harp, unless he in every way strain his attention; how shall one, who sits as a listener to sounds mystical, be able to hear with a careless soul? ~ John Chrysostom

It brings comfort to have companions in whatever happens. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

When the Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels, who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

A friend is more to be longed for than the light; I speak of a genuine one. And wonder not: for it were better for us that the sun should be extinguished, than that we should be deprived of friends; better to live in darkness, than to be without friends ~ John Chrysostom

Endurance is the queen of all virtues. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

I beg that, chiefest of all, you will remember constantly that not to share our own riches with the poor is a robbery of the poor, and a depriving them of their livelihood; and that that which we possess is not only our own, but also theirs. ~ St John Chrysostom

Whether, therefore, we receive what we ask for, or do not receive it, let us still continue steadfast in prayer. For to fail in obtaining the desires of our heart, when God so wills it, is not worse than to receive it; for we know not as He does, what is profitable to us. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Let us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

This is the highest point of philosophy, to be simple & wise; this is the angelic life. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

For You are holy, our God, and to You we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever... ~ John Chrysostom

Wine was given us by God, not that we might be drunken, but that we might be sober. It is the best medicine when it has the best moderation to direct it. Wine was given to restore the body's weakness, not to overturn the soul's strength. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Do not the angels differs from us in this respect, that they do not want so many things as we do? Therefore the less we need, the more we are on our way to them; the more we need, the more we sink down to this perishable life. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The test of sincerity of one's prayer is the willingness to labor on its behalf. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

A man's readiness and commitment are not enough if he does not enjoy help from above as well; equally help from above is no benefit to us unless there is also commitment and readiness on our part. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

That is true plenty, not to have, but not to want riches. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great. ~ John Chrysostom

For nothing so much disturbs the mind, though it be done for some beneficial purpose, as to innovate and introduce strange things, and most of all when this is done in matters relating to divine worship and the glory of God. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

What gnats are compared with humans, so is the whole creation compared with God. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Since it is likely that, being men, they would sin every day, St. Paul consoles his hearers by saying 'renew yourselves' from day to day. This is what we do with houses: we keep constantly repairing them as they wear old. You should do the same thing to yourself. Have you sinned today? Have you made your soul old? Do not despair, do not despond, but renew your soul by repentance, and tears, and Confession, and by doing good things. And never cease doing this. ~ John Chrysostom

Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider's web. ~ John Chrysostom

We ought not, as soon as we leave church, to plunge into business unsuited to church, but as soon as we get home, we should take the Scriptures into our hands, and call our wife and children to join us in putting together what we have heard in church. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

What the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Charity is indeed, a great thing, and a gift of God, and when it is rightly ordered likens us unto God himself, as far as that is possible; for it is charity which makes the man. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. But regard must be had to this, after what sort each man fills his seat; for not the seat makes the Priest, but the Priest the seat; the place does not consecrate the man, but the man the place. A wicked Priest derives guilt and not honour from his Priesthood. ~ Thomas Aquinas

But now, instead of organs, Christians must use the body to praise God. ~ John Chrysostom

I am a Christian. He who answers thus has declared everything at once-his country, profession, family; the believer belongs to no city on earth but to the heavenly Jerusalem. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

God measures out affliction to our need. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Is it not excessively ridiculous to seek the good opinion of those whom you would never wish to be like? ~ Saint John Chrysostom

In the matter of piety, poverty serves us better than wealth, and work better than idleness, especially since wealth becomes an obstacle even for those who do not devote themselves to it. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The slave should be resigned to his lot, in obeying his master he is obeying God. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

I exhort and entreat you all, disregard what this man and that man thinks about such things, and inquire from the Holy Scriptures all these things. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Every trace of the old philosophy and literatureof the ancient world has vanished from the face of the earth. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Laughter has been implanted in our soul, that the soul may sometime be refreshed. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

To love Christ -means not to be a hireling, not to look upon a noble life as an enterprise or trade, but to be a true benefactor and to do everything only for the sake of love for God. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Dost thou wish to receive mercy? Show mercy to thy neighbor. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus ... for the Eucharistic table takes the place of the crib. Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

How many there are who still say, 'I want to see His shape, His image, His clothing, His sandals.' Behold, you do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him! You want to see His clothing. He gives Himself to you, not just to be seen but to be touched, to be eaten, to be received within ... Let all of you be ardent, fervent, enthusiastic. If the Jews stood, shoes on, staff in hand, and eating in haste, how much more vigilant should you be. They were about to go to Palestine; ... you are about to go to heaven. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

A comprehended god is no god. ~ John Chrysostom

Words would be superfluous if we had deeds to show for Them. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

I was always exceedingly delighted with that saying of Chrysostom, "The foundation of our philosophy is humility"; and yet more pleased with that of Augustine: "As the orator, when asked, What is the first precept in eloquence? answered, Delivery: What is the second? Delivery: What is the third? Delivery: so if you ask me concerning the precepts of the Christian religion, I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility. ~ John Calvin

What shepherd feeds his sheep with his own blood? But Christ feeds us with His own Blood and in all things unites us to Himself. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The rich man is not one who is in possession of much, but one who gives much. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Imagine your anger to be a kind of wild beast, because it has ferocious teeth and claws, and if you don't tame it, it will devastate all things even corrupting the soul. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own wealth, but theirs. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Why do you beat the air and run in vain? Every occupation has a purpose, obviously. Tell me then, what is the purpose of all the activity of the world? Answer, I challenge you! It is vanity of vanity: all is vanity. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

You cannot pray at home, like you can at church, where there is a great multitude; where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the unions of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of priests. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Thus, knowing that Judas would not be turned aside from his treachery, Christ did not desist from trying to turn him from his faithlessness, by counsel, by warnings, by kind treatment, by threatening, by every kind of instruction, and by continually checking him by His words as by a rein. This He did to teach us that, although we know beforehand that the brethren will not be persuaded, we must to all in our power, since the reward of our admonition is sure. ~ St John Chrysostom

Where dance is, there is the devil. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the common good ... for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for neighbors. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Almsgiving above all else requires money, but even this shines with a brighter luster when the alms are given from our poverty. The widow who paid in the two mites was poorer than any human, but she outdid them all. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

The drunken man is a living corpse. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

Woman -a foe of friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone or seated in your shop ... while buying or selling ... or even while cooking. ~ Saint John Chrysostom

I know my own soul, how feeble and puny it is: I know the magnitude of this ministry, and the great difficulty of the work; for more stormy billows vex the soul of the priest than the gales which disturb the sea. ~ John Chrysostom