John Chrysostom: "Our Image" Proves Trinitarian Conversation

Well, who is it to whom He says, Let us make a human being? Wonderful counselor, figure of authority, mighty God, prince of peace, father of the world to come, God's only-begotten Son in person. It is to Him that He says, Let us make a human being in our image and likeness - not "my" and "your" but ours, indicating one image and one likeness. Now, God and angels do not have the one image and the one likeness: how could there be one image and likeness of master and servants?

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 2 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 46-47 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Interpretation of Scripture Falls to Believers

Let us make a human being in our image. Let the Jew give heed: to whom does God say, Let us make? The text is from Moses, from Moses in whom they claim to believe, though in fact they lie. For proof that they lie and do not believe, listen to Christ talking to them and saying, "If you believed Moses, you would believe in me." [John 5:46] Now, while the books are from them, the treasure of the books now belongs to us; if the text is from them, both the text and meaning belong to us.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 2 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 44-45 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy Both Important

Now, God is glorified not only through right teachings but also through a blameless life; in the words of Scripture, "Let your light shine in people's sight so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, p. 36 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Scripture is our Patristic Inheritance

Shun the venom of wickedness, hate the baleful potions, and take great care to cling to the inheritance you received from the fathers, faith and instruction from the divine Scriptures.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, p. 34 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

N.B. In context, "instruction from the divine Scriptures" simply means taking the statement "In the beginning God made heavens and earth" at literal face value, something the Manicheans apparently did not do.

John Chrysostom: Scripture Superior to Human Reasoning

In other words, let us abandon such reasoning and return to the unassailable rock, In the beginning God made heaven and earth. Rest on this foundation lest someone embroil you in the confusion of human reasoning: "The reasoning of mortals is worthless, and their designs insecure." [Wisdom 9:14] So do not forsake what is reliable by entrusting the salvation of your soul to what is unsteady and insecure; instead, stay firm in what you learned and to which you are committed, and say, In the beginning God made heaven and earth.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, p. 33 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Shun the Man Who Rejects Scripture

A Manichean comes and says, Matter is uncreated; say to him, In the beginning God made heaven and earth, and immediately you have overthrown all his conceit. But he does not believe the statement of Scripture, you retort. On these grounds also, then, shun and avoid him as a madman: anyone who does not believe in God who has manifested Himself, and instead represents truth as falsehood -- how does he not patently demonstrate his madness, his unbelief?

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, p. 30 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Progressive Revelation and the Harmony of the Testaments

Just as with teachers, you see, the teacher who receives the child from the mother teaches it the elements first, whereas the one who receives it from another teacher leads the pupil to a higher level of teaching, so too was it in the case of Moses and Paul and John: Moses came upon our nature when it was just weaned and knew nothing, and so he taught it the elements of the knowledge of God, whereas John and Paul, receiving them from master Moses, as it were, led them on to the higher level of teaching, reminding them in brief of what had preceded. Do you see the relationship of both Testaments? Do you see the harmony of the teaching? Did you hear of the creation of materials things in the Old and David speaking of spiritual thins, "Because He spoke, and they were created"? Likewise in turn in the New, they spoke of the invisible powers, and spoke also of material creation.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 29-30 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Moses' the Deliveryman, not Author of Letters

At the beginning, then, God communicates directly with human beings as far as it is possible for human beings to hear. This is the way He came to Adam, this the way He rebuked Cain, this the way He was entertained by Abraham. But since our nature took a turn for evil, and separated itself by a lengthy exile, as it were, at long last He sent us letters as though we were absent for a long time and He intended to reestablish the former friendship through an epistle. While it was God who sent the letters, it was Moses who brought them.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, p. 26 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: General Revelation of Sun and Sky

The sky is beautiful, but the reason it was made was for you to adore its maker; the sun is brilliant, but it is for you to worship its creator. If, on the contrary, you are bent on stopping at the wonder of creation, and becoming attached to the beauty of the works, light has become darkness for you -- or, rather, you have turned light into darkness.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 1 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, p. 24 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Poor can have more than Rich

Let us consider all this precisely, therefore, and go through it with all the others ("Give a wise person the opportunity," Scripture says, remember, "and they will become wiser"), calling constantly to mind also the fact that not even from the abundance of possessions will anything else accrue to the owners than worries, troubles, fears and dangers. Let us not think we have less than the rick: if we are vigilant, we shall have even more, both in the matters that concern God and in all those of this life. After all, you will find enjoyment and security, a good reputation, health of body, solid spiritual values, sound hope, and not readily sinning among the poor to a greater extent than among the rich.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 132 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Criticism of Providence is Ad Hoc

It is likewise easy to reduce them to silence independently of this by another tack, namely, from their own words of accusation. I mean, why is it, tell me, that you criticize God's providence? because one person has more money and one less? So what? If we were to demonstrate the equal lot befalling all people in basic matters and far greater ones that constitute our lives, would you concede God's providence?

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 128 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Scriptures are an Inexhaustible Treasure Trove

The question, you see, is not the number of things said and the number of days it has taken, but whether we are approaching the end of our treatment. Those who find a treasure, remember, even should they take many objects from it, do not desist until they have exhausted it, as it is natural for them to make it their own, not by taking many objects but by leaving nothing behind. Now, if those mad about money adopt such zeal in connection with things that perish and do not last, much more should we behave like that in regard to the divine treasures, not desisting until we have exhausted all that becomes obvious to us. I said what becomes obvious since it is beyond us to exhaust everything: the efficacy of the divine thoughts is an ever-flowing stream, never failing or running dry.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 124 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Searching the Scriptures is Safe

Do you not see that even people wanting to find precious stones do not find what they are after by sitting on the beach above the surface counting the waves? Instead, they dive to the very depths, though great effort is involved in the search, considerable risk in the discovery and little gain after the discovery. I mean, what great contribution does the discovery of precious stones make to our life? Would that it did not introduce great evils: nothing so overwhelms our life and turns everything upside down as a frenzy for possessions.

While people like that, however, still risk body and soul for daily sustenance and brave the waves, here by contrast there is no risk, the effort is not so extreme - instead, it is rare and light for the added reason of retaining what is found; people generally think that what it is easily found is of no great value. In the ocean of Scriptures there is no buffeting from the waves: this ocean is calmer than any harbor, there is no need to descend into the gloomy caverns of the deep, nor commit the safety of one's person to the rush of irrational waters. Instead, here there is a strong light brighter than the sun's rays, there is deep peace, no tempest in the offing, the value of what is found so great as to defy description. Instead of being lethargic, then, let us take to the search.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Sermon 3 on Genesis, in St. John Chrysostom, Eight Sermons on the Book of Genesis, pp. 52-53 (2004), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Deposit the Seeds of Warning with the Bankers of Nominalism

It was all to no avail, apparently, for us to appeal to those who joined us in the previous assembly, urging them to remain in their paternal home, and not attend and then absent themselves along with those who appear before us only on a feast-day. Or rather it was not to no avail: even if none of them was convinced by what was said, yet our fee is paid up and the requirements of a defense before God have been met. This is the reason the speaker, whether the people pay heed or not, must case the seed and deposit the money so that the debt with God may not longer be in his name but in the bankers'. That is what we in fact did by accusing, reproving, exhorting, admonishing. We brought to mind, remember, the son who had squandered his substance and returned to his father's him and we highlighted all the hardship, the hunger, the shame, the reproaches, and all the other things he endured in foreign parts in our wish to bring them to a better frame of mind with this example. Far from stopping short at that point, we brought out also the father's affection for them, not insisting on their liability for indifference but receiving them with open arms, offering pardon for their failings, opening the door, laying the table, clothing them in the robe of teaching, and providing them with every other form of attention. On their part, however, they did not imitate that famous son or condemn themselves for their former departure, nor did they stay in the paternal home; instead, they absented themselves again.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 121-22 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

Andreas of Caesarea: Woman of Revelation 12 is not Mary

Rev. 12:1 And a great sign was seen in heaven, a woman who had been wrapped in with the sun, and [the] moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;

Some, on the one hand, had understood this woman entirely to be the Theotokos before her divine birth was made known to her, (before she) experienced the things to happen. But the great Methodios took (it) to be (referring to) the holy Church, considering these things concerning her (the woman) to be incongruous with the begetting of the Master for the reason that already the Lord had been born long before. It is good to remember also these words of the Blessed Methodios who says in his so-called Symposium through the person of the virgin Procle thus: "The woman wrapped in the sun is the Church. That which to us is our garment, to her is light. And that which gold is for us, or glowing gemstones, for her are the stars, the superior and more brilliant stars." And the following: "She stood upon the moon. The moon I regard figuratively (to be) the faith of those who are cleansed of corruption by the washing (of baptism) for the condition of liquid substance is regulated by the moon. She labored and gave birth anew to those carnal-minded into spiritually minded and formed and fashioned them according to the likeness of Christ." And again he says: "We must not think that Christ is him who is to be born. For formerly, before the Apocalypse, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Logos had been fulfilled. John speaks with authority about the present and future things." And afterwards (he mentioned) other things, (and then says), "Therefore, it is necessary to confess that the Church must be the one in labor and gives birth to those redeemed as the spirit said in Isaiah: Before she labored to give birth, she escaped and gave birth to a male. Whom did she escape? Either the dragon, certainly, in order for the spiritual Zion to give birth to virile people." And in continuation, "so that in each one Christ is to be born mentally. Because of this the Church is swollen and in great pain until Christ having been born might be formed in us, so that each one partaking of Christ becomes Christ." Moreover, the Church has been clothed in the Sun of Righteousness And the legalistic light of the moon which shines by night and the alterable secular life like the moon has been mastered under the feet, and round about upon her head (is) the crown of the apostolic precepts and virtues. Since (it is) from the moon that liquid substance depends, the same one (Methodios) also says that by the moon is meant baptism, figuratively called "sea," which (is) on the one hand the salvation for those who are reborn and on the other hand ruination for the demons.

- Andreas of Caesarea, Commentary on the book of Revelation, at Revelation 12:1 (translated by Eugenia Constantinou, 2008)

John Chrysostom: Pray with Conviction that You will Gain your Petition

In saying this, I exhort you unceasingly to keep up the habit of visiting the churches and praying at home in tranquility, and when time allows going on your knees and stretching out your hands. If, however, we are caught up by reason of time or place with a crowd of people, let us not on that account abandon prayer, but in the fashion I mentioned to your good selves pray and beseech God in the conviction of gaining your petition nonetheless with that prayer. I said as much, not for you to applaud and marvel, but for you to practice this yourselves, night time and day time, interspersing the time of work with prayers and petitions. If we manage our affairs this way, we shall both pass this life securely and also attain the kingdom of heaven. May it be the good fortune of us all to attain it, thanks to the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be the glory, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 120-21 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: We are Temples of God

Accordingly, let us not make excuses, claiming a house of prayer is not close by: if we have the right dispositions, the grace of the Spirit made us personally temples of God, and there is ease for us in every respect. Our worship, after all, is not of the kind that formerly prevailed among the Jews, which was long on appearance but short on reality. In that case, you see, the worshiper had to go up to the temple, buy a turtle-dove, get hold of wood and fire, take sword in hand, appear before the altar, and carry out many other requirements. In our case, on the other hand, it is not like that: wherever you are, you have the altar with you, the sword, and the victim, you yourself being priest and altar and victim. In other words, wherever you are, you can set up the altar, giving evidence only of an attentive will, place being no obstacle, time no hindrance; even if you do not go down on your knees, do not strike your breast or raise your hands to heaven, and merely demonstrate an ardent disposition, you have completed the whole of the prayer.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 119 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: How to Pray Without Ceasing

How is it possible, you ask, for a man of the world, tied to the bench, to pray three times a day and betake himself to a church? It is possible and quite simple: even if heading off to a church is not manageable, it is possible even for the man tied to the bench to stand there in the vestibule and pray. After all, there is not such a need for words as for thoughts, for outstretched hands as for a disciplined soul, for deportment as for attitude, since Hannah herself was heard not for uttering a load and clear cry but for calling out loudly inside in the heart: "Her voice was not audible, but the Lord hearkened to her," the text says, note. Many other people also did this in many cases, despite the officer calling out from inside, threatening, ranting and raving, while they stood in the porch making the sign of the cross and saying a few prayers in their mind, and then going in and transforming and soothing him, turning from wild to mild. They were not prevented from praying like this by the place or the time or the absence of words. Do likewise yourself: groan deeply, recall your sins, gaze towards heaven, say in your mind, "Have mercy on me, O God," and you have completed your prayer. The one who said "Have mercy," after all, gave evidence of confession, and acknowledged their own sins: it belongs to sinners to have mercy shown. The one who said "Have mercy on me" received pardon for their faults: the one who said "Have mercy" attained the kingdom of heaven: the one on whom God will have mercy he not only frees from sin but also judges worthy of the future goods.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 118-19 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Woman More Admirable for Virtue

Don't be surprised if we are not yet rid of this theme: I can't get this woman out of my mind, so amazed am I at her beauty of soul and charm of thought. I mean, I am attracted by her eyes weeping in prayer, always attentive, her lips and mouth not reddened with some coating but enhanced with thanksgiving to God as hers were; I admire her for her sound values, and I am more amazed that as a woman she had sound values - woman, whom many frequently criticize. "From a woman was the beginning of sin," Scripture says, remember, "and because of her we all die," and again, "Any vice is insignificant compared with a woman's vice," and Paul, "Adam was not deceived, remember: the woman was deceived, and fell into transgression."

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 112 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Early Church Nominalism

I say this to you so that you may speak to those people, overwhelm with these words, draw them away from every wicked habit and persuade them to do everything with the proper attitude. After all, you would not find commendable the zeal in people whose behavior is idle and reckless; I shall establish this from tomorrow's assembly. I mean, when holy Pentecost is celebrated by us, so big a crowd will hasten to attend that our whole place will be packed; but I do not place much importance on size: it comes from habit, not piety. What could be more wretched than those people, in fact, when their indifference involves them in such recriminations and their apparent zeal is devoid of commendation? In other words, the one who takes part in this divine assembly with fervor an desire should do so consistently, and not be amongst those showing up only on feastdays and in turn go off with them, simply driven like sheep.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 111 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Dreadful Excuses for Failure to Come to Church

This is the very reason that we, too, are taking up the matter in their regard with you, so that you may go off and correct them. After all, who would put up with such a slight? We gather here only once a week, and they cannot manage to set aside their worldly concerns even on that day. If you offer a reproof, they at once pretend neediness, daily necessities, pressing occupations, thus proposing an excuse worse than any accusation: what could be more damning than this accusation, that something seems more urgent and pressing to you than God's affairs? Particularly, then, is it the case that, even if this were true, the excuse would be an accusation, as I said; but for you to learn that it is a pretext and pretense and cover for indifference, the day after tomorrow will convict them all of putting up such an excuse, without my saying a word, when the whole city decamps to the racecourse, and homes and markets are left empty for the sake of this lawless spectacle. Here in the church you can see that not even the front seats are taken, whereas there not only the racecourse but also upstairs, private homes, roofs, crannies and countless other places are taken over. Not even neediness, work, bodily infirmity, sore feet or anything else of the kind inhibits this irrepressible frenzy; the elderly betake themselves off there with greater eagerness than the young and healthy, bringing their grey hairs into disrepute, making a mockery of their age and turning their seniority into a laughing stock. Whereas when they attend here they think they are suffering even to the point of choking, and faint when they listen to the divine sayings, claiming cramped conditions and stifling heat and the like, there on the contrary they even endure the sun with head bared, trodden on, pushed, tightly packed together and subjected to countless other inconveniences, and yet feel as though lolling about in a meadow.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 108-09 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: What's More Important than God's Business?

This is what friends do, too: when they do not find the guilty ones, they meet up with their friends so that they may go off and report their words. God did this, too: leaving aside those who had sinned against him, he accosted Jeremiah, who had done nothing wrong, and said, "Did you see what the foolish daughter, Judah, did to me?" This is the very reason that we, too, are taking up the matter in their regard with you, so that you may go off and correct them. After all, who would put up with such a slight? We gather here only once a week, and they cannot manage to set aside their worldly concerns even on that day. If you offer a reproof, they at once pretend neediness, daily necessities, pressing occupations, thus proposing an excuse worse than any accusation: what could be more damning than this accusation, that something seems more urgent and pressing to you than God's affairs?

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 4, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 108 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Confession is by Faith and Works

Now, confession is not only through faith but also through works, with the result that should the latter be missing, we run the risk of being punished along with those who deny him. There is not one way of denying, after all, but many and varied, as Paul described them to us in writing in these terms, "They confess they know God, but deny him in practice," and again, "Anyone who does not provide for relatives, especially of their own household, has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever," and again, "Shun avarice, which is idolatry." Since the forms of denial are as numerous, therefore, so too are the forms of confession and much more so. Let us all be zealous in adopting these forms of confessing so that we ourselves may enjoy honor in heaven, thanks to the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 3, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 107 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Holiness is the Way of Heavenly Life

The way of life in heaven is quite the opposite: it brings us great and lasting benefit without any expense. It is not inebriates, you see, but the choir of angels that applauds the one living there. Why mention the choir of angels? The Lord of the angels himself will commend and welcome them. The person commended by God is crowned and celebrated, not for one or two or three days, but for all eternity, and you would never see the head of such a person bereft of that glory; far from being confined to set days, the period of that festival last for the immortality of the future. Neediness could never be an obstacle to sacred ritual; on the contrary, it is possible even for the needy to celebrate this sacred ritual, and especially the needy in that they are freed of all this world's vanity, the requirement being not outlay of money and affluence but a pure and continent mind. From this it is that the dress for that way of life is woven for the soul and the wreath plaited, and so unless it were adorned with the works of virtue, no benefit would come to it from gold in abundance, just as no harm would ensue from poverty if it has its wealth stored within. Let not only the boys but also the girls celebrate this sacred ritual; it is not a case, after all, as in public life, of men alone being called upon to perform these services: this display involves also women, the elderly and the young, slaves and free. After all, where the soul is on show, neither sex nor age nor earthly station not anything else constitutes an obstacle.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 3, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 106 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: No Glass Ceiling for Priesthood

Let us note, however, how she planted him; let us follow the woman, let us enter into the temple with her. "She went up with him," the text says, "to Shiloh with a three year-old heifer." Then the double offering occurred: one was irrational, a heifer, the other rational; while the priest sacrificed the former, the woman offered the latter - or, rather, the woman's sacrifice was better than the sacrifice the priest offered. She was, in fact, a priestess in her very being, imitating the patriarch Abraham and rivaling him for preeminence: whereas he took his son and descended, she let hers stay permanently in the temple - or, rather, he also made the offering in a broad sense; be sure to focus, not on the fact that he took no life, but on the fact that he saw to its completion in his will. Do you see the woman rivaling the man? do you see there was no obstacle on the part of nature to her emulating the patriarch.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 3, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 102 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Prayer is Free & Every Old Testament Story was Written for Us

Let us therefore not be negligent or dilatory, even if we are needy and have fallen victim to extreme destitution. Money does not have to be laid down for us to establish our neediness: this physician requires no payment in cash - only tears, prayers and faith. If you come to him with these, you will receive all that you ask, and will go off in complete happiness. This we can learn from many sources, not least from this woman: though she did not lay out gold and silver, only prayer, faith and tears, she received what she asked and so took her leave. So let us not consider the story to be of no advantage to us: "these things were written down to instruct us on whom the ends of the ages have fallen," Scripture says, remember. Instead, let us get close to her and learn how the complaint was removed, and after its removal what she then did, and to what use she put the gift given by God.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 3, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 99 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Prayer Can Be Made to God Without Intermediary

You, woman, on the contrary, are not on the point of taking a voyage across the seas, or of shifting to foreign parts, or of undergoing any such hardship. Why mention foreign parts? Without even having to set foot over the threshold of your house, you are able to consult your physician in your room and speak to him without an intermediary on any topic you please ("I am a God nearby," he says, remember, "and not a God far off"), and yet do you delay and hesitate? What excuse will you have? what allowance will be made for you when, though capable of finding on all sides a simple and easy release from the evils besetting you, you are slothful and forfeit your own salvation? This physician, after all, can cure not only childlessness but also any kind of ailment at all both of soul and of body, should he so wish. And the hardship, travel, expense and intermediaries, but that he performs the cure even without pain: he does not put a stop to the problem by iron and fire, as the medical fraternity do; instead, he has only to nod, and all the depression, all the pain and the whole complaint recedes and disappears.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 3, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 98-99 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Pagans Pray with Many Words - Christians with Many Repetitions

But how is it that the text says that "she continued" her prayer? Surely the woman's length of prayer was short, for one thing: she did not reach to drawn-out expressions nor extend her supplication to great length; rather, the words she uttered were short and sweet. "Adonai Kyrie Elohi Sabaoth, if you will only look upon the lowliness of your handmaid and remember me, not forget your handmaid and give your handmaid a male child, I will give him as a gift before you til the day of his death. He will not drink wine or strong drink, and iron will not reach his head." What sort of lengthy words are these? So why did he suggest it in saying, "She continued"? She kept saying the same thing over and over again, and did not stop spending a long time with the same words. This, at any rate, is the way Christ bade us pray in the Gospels: telling the disciples not to pray like the pagans and use a lot of words, he taught us moderation in prayer to bring out that being heard comes not from the number of words but from the alertness of mind. So how is it, you ask, that if our prayers must be brief, he told them a parable on the need to pray always, namely the one about the widow who by the constancy of her request wore down the cruel and inhumane judge, who had fear neither of God nor of men, by the persistence of her appeal? And how is it that Paul exhorts us in the words, "Persevere in prayer," and again, "Pray without ceasing"? I mean, if we must not reach to lengthy statements, and must pray constantly, one command is at variance with the other. It is not at variance, however - perish the thought; it is quite consistent: both Christ and Paul bade us make brief and frequent prayers at short intervals. You see, if you extend your prayers to great length without paying much attention in many cases, you would provide the devil with great security in making his approach, tripping you up and distracting your thoughts from what you are saying. If, on the other hand, you are in the habit of making frequent prayers, dividing all your time into brief intervals with your frequency, you would easily be able to keep control of yourself and recite the prayers themselves with great attention. This, in fact, is what she also did, not reaching to long-winded expressions, but unceasingly making her approach to God at frequent intervals.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 2, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 85-86 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Both Sexes of Children a Complete Joy

After God had accepted him, remember, he repaid her with another child - or, rather, not one, or two, or three, or four only, but even many more. Scripture says, "The barren woman bore seven children," and the interest surpassed the giving a small return on the principal, he makes a return many times the amount. Instead of giving her only girls, he made her offspring a blend of both sexes so that her joy would be complete.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 2, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, pp. 84-85 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Hannah's Precious Cargo

The fear of God, in fact, like a steersman seated at the tiller, persuaded her to see out the billows in a noble fashion, and did not cease steering her soul until he brought to the safe haven the vessel loaded with cargo, the womb bearing its precious treasure. She was carrying, of course, not gold or silver, but a prophet and priest; the sanctification of her womb was twofold, being pregnant with such a child, and receiving the beginning of pregnancy both from prayer and from grace above. Now, it was not only that the cargo was baffling and remarkable: the manner of commerce proved even more baffling. I mean, she did not sell it to people, neither to merchants nor to pedlars; instead, once she unloaded it from the vessel she offered it for sale to God, and she made as great a profit as was fitting for her to make as one who had dealings with God. After God had accepted him, remember, he repaid her with another child - or, rather, not one, or two, or three, or four only, but even many more.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 2, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 84 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Barrenness Even More Intolerable in the Old Testament

Blessed is she, therefore, even on on this account, not for being a mother, but for becoming one after not being one: while the former is a common attribute of nature, the latter was the woman's commendable achievement. While she is blessed, therefore, even for those pangs, she is no less blessed also on account of everything before the pangs. I mean, you are all assuredly aware, women and men both, that nothing could be more intolerable for a woman than childlessness; even if she experienced satisfaction in countless other ways, she would never be rid of the pain coming to her from this affliction. Yet if it is so intolerable these days when we are called to much higher values and are on our way to heaven, when no thought for present realities affects us, and instead we are preparing ourselves for a different life and the esteem for virginity is high, think of how great an affliction the matter was considered in those days when there was not the slightest hope of a future nor any conception of it by people of olden times, and instead they did everything with an eye to present realities, and being barren and childless was a sort of curse and death sentence.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 2, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 83 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.

John Chrysostom: Pre-Marital Fornication Leads to Adultery

What happens these days, at any rate, is not marriage but business dealings and partying: when the young are corrupted even before marriage, and after marriage still have eyes for another woman, what good is marriage, tell me? So the punishment is greater, the sin unpardonable, when despite his wife living with him he is unfaithful to her and commits adultery. I mean, after marriage, even if the one who corrupts the married man is a prostitute, it is a case of adultery. Now, this happens, and they betake themselves to women who are whores, because they did not practice self-control before marriage. This is the source of fights, abuse, broken homes and daily squabbles; this is the source of the love for one's wife waning and dying, since association with the prostitutes puts an end to it. But if he learns to practice self-control, he will consider his wife more desirable than anyone, will look upon her with great favor, maintain harmony with her, and where there is peace and harmony, all good things will come to that house.

- John Chrysostom (around A.D. 347 to around A.D. 407), Homilies on Hannah, Homily 1, in St. John Chrysostom, Old Testament Homilies, Volume 1, p. 81 (2003), Robert C. Hill translator.