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.