n his
face, which put her in mind of the husband whom she had lost. "Make me
not once more a widow," she said: "wait only for my death, which may,
perhaps, not be far off. When you have laid me in the grave, then you
may go where you will--even beyond the sea, if such be your wish, but so
long as I live, bear to stay with me, and do not offend God by
afflicting your mother." The young man yielded to these entreaties, and
remained in his mother's house, although he gave up all worldly
business, and lived after the strict manner of the monks. But when the
good Anthusa was dead, he withdrew to the mountains, near Antioch, in
which a great number of monks dwelt. There he spent four years in a
monastery, and two as a hermit in a cave. But at last his hard life made
him very weak and ill, so that he was obliged to return to Antioch; and
soon after this he was ordained to be one of the clergy, and was
appointed chief preacher of the city (A.D. 386).

Of all the great men of the ancient Church, John was the most famous for
eloquence; and from this it was that he got the name of _Chrysostom_,
which means _golden-mouthed_. His sermons (of which hundreds still
remain) were not mere displays of fine words, but were always meant to
instruct and to improve those who heard them. And, while he was chief
preacher at Antioch, he had a very remarkable opportunity of using his
gifts of speech. An outbreak had taken place in the city, on account of
a new tax which Theodosius, who was then emperor, had laid on the people
(A.D. 387). The statues of the emperor and of his family, which stood in
public places, were thrown down, and were dragged about the streets with
all sorts of mockery and insult. But the riot was easily put down, and
then the inhabitants began to be in great anxiety and terror as to the
punishment which Theodosius might inflict on them. For although the
frightful massacre of Thessalonica[22] had not at that time taken place,
they knew that the emperor was not to be trifled with, and that his fits
of anger were terrible. They expected that they might be given up to
slaughter, and their city to destruction. For a time, few of them
ventured out of their houses; and those few slunk along the streets as
if they were afraid of being seized. Many were imprisoned, and were
cruelly tortured or put to death; others ran away, leaving all that they
had behind them; and the public amusements, of which the people of
Antioch were excessive