Translation of the Relics of Our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom (438)

The great teacher of the Church universal, John Chrysostom, died in 407 in the town of Comana, on the road to his place of exile. John, who fought unyieldingly against the enemies of Christian morals, had many enemies. Among his enemies one was exceedingly powerful, the Empress Eudoxia. It was at her insistence that the holy hierarch was removed from his flock.

The untimely death of John Chrysostom greatly grieved the Christians. They asked Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, to intercede with the king for the holy father’s relics to be brought to Constantinople. Eudoxia’s son, the Emperor Theodosius II (408–450), gave his consent, but those sent to Comana to bring back the holy relics could not move the hierarch’s coffin at all. The emperor realised his error and wrote a letter in which he asked the saint to forgive his mother’s sins and his own. When the letter was read at the holy coffin, it became light and was lifted easily. The translation of the relics of John Chrysostom from Comana to Constantinople took place in 438. The holy relics were placed in the church of the Great Martyr Irene. When the patriarch opened the shrine, the hierarch’s body proved incorrupt. The king knelt before it and with tears asked for mercy. In the morning the coffin was carried to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The people cried out: “Take your throne, holy master!” And the patriarch and the clergy standing by the coffin saw the hierarch open his lips and say: “Peace be unto all!”