Saint John Chrysostom Quotes & Sayings

The Holy Scriptures lead us to God and open the path to the knowledge of God. — Saint John Chrysostom

The Holy Scriptures do not know any distinctions. They enjoin that all lead the life of monks. — Saint John Chrysostom

Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my daily joy, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in life. — 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

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

Depart from the highway, and transplant thyself in some enclosed ground; for it is hard for a tree that stands by the wayside to keep her fruit till it be ripe. — Saint John Chrysostom

God asks little, but He gives much. — 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

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

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

It is impossible to be saved without the help of the Most Blessed Virgin, because those who are not saved by the justice of God are saved by the intercession of Mary. — Saint John Chrysostom

Are you angry? Be angry at your sins, beat your soul, afflict your conscience, but strict in judgement and a terrible punisher of your own sins. This is the benefit of anger, wherefore God placed it in us. — Saint 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

Please listen to me - you are not paying attention. I am talking to you about the Holy Scriptures, and you are looking at the lamps and the people lighting them. It is very frivolous to be more interested in what the lamplighters are doing ... After all, I am lighting a lamp too - the lamp of God's Word. — Saint John Chrysostom

The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together. — Saint John Chrysostom

Be ashamed when you sin, not when you repent. — Saint John Chrysostom

Him who is dead and gone honor with remembrance, not with tears. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts. — Saint John Chrysostom

What greater work is there than training the mind and forming the habits of the young? — Saint John Chrysostom

Musicke doth withdraw our mindes from earthly cogitations, lifteth up our spirits into heaven, maketh them light and celestial. — Saint 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 good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger. Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

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

God helps those who work, not those who are idle. No one helps an inactive person, but one who joins in the labor. The good God himself will bring ... work to perfection. — Saint John Chrysostom

Good men do not always have grace and favor, lest they should be puffed up, and grow insolent and proud. — Saint John Chrysostom

Be ashamed when you sin, don't be ashamed when you repent [To repent means to have a change of heart and mind. It is not simply a feeling of sorrow ,but a psycho/spiritual growth away from evil/death and a turning to God/life]. Sin is the wound, repentance is the medicine. Sin is followed by shame; repentance is followed by boldness [ Boldness means to beg God for undeserved mercy]. Satan has overturned this order and given boldness to sin and shame to repentance. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

The pains of hell are not the greatest part of hell; the loss of heaven is the weightiest woe of hell. — Saint 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

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

Feast of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, & his sister Macrina, Teachers, c.394 & c.379 Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue. — Saint John Chrysostom

Many can give money to those in need, but to personally serve the needy readily, out of love, and in a fraternal spirit, requires a truly great soul. — Saint John Chrysostom

The primary goal in the education of children is to teach, and to give the example of, a virtuous life. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

If we were not passionately inclined to money or to vainglory, then we would not fear death or poverty. We would not know enmity or hatred, and we would not suffer from the sorrows of ourselves or others. — Saint John Chrysostom

Fasting is a medicine. — Saint John Chrysostom

How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment. — Saint John Chrysostom

Nothing causes us to so nearly resemble God as the forgiveness of injuries. — Saint John Chrysostom

What is dying? Just what it is to put off a garment. For the body is about the soul as a garment; and after laying this aside for a short time by means of death, we shall resume it again with more splendor. — 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

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

Glory be to God for all things! — Saint John Chrysostom

The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others. — Saint John Chrysostom

Let us pass to the despotic part of the soul, spirit. We must not eliminate it utterly from the youth nor yet allow him to use it all the time. Let us train boys from earliest childhood to be patient when they suffer wrongs themselves, but, if they see another being wronged, to sally forth courageously and aid the sufferer in fitting measure. — 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

Yet, when we must put aside our wrath, quench our envy, soften our anger, offer our prayers, and show a disposition which is reasonable, mild, kindly, and loving, how could poverty stand in our way? For we accomplish these things not by spending money but by making the correct choice. — Saint John Chrysostom

When you are weary of praying, and do not receive, consider how often you have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him. — Saint John Chrysostom

If the Lord should give you power to raise the dead, He would give much less than He does when he bestows suffering. By miracles you would make yourself debtor to Him, while by suffering He may become debtor to you. And even if sufferings had no other reward than being able to bear something for that God who loves you, is not this a great reward and a sufficient remuneration? Whoever loves, understands what I say. — Saint John Chrysostom

This is what an excellent teacher does; he does not follow his disciples' fancy everywhere, but leads them to his own mind, and pulls up the thorns, and then puts the seed in, and does not answer at once in all cases to the questions put to him. — Saint John Chrysostom

One who strictly prosecutes the misdemeanors of others will find not condescension towards his own. — Saint John Chrysostom

Whatever you may do for your brother, being hungry, and a stranger, and naked, not even the devil will be able to despoil, but it will be laid up in an inviolabe treasure. — 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

Every time that we sin, we are born of the devil. But every time that we do good, we are born of God. — Saint John Chrysostom

Thus abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. — 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 us always guard our tongue; not that it should always be silent, but that it should speak at the proper time. — Saint John Chrysostom

You see how many are the benefits of baptism, and some think its heavenly grace consists only in the remission of sins, but we have enumerated ten honors [it bestows]! For this reason we baptize even infants, though they are not defiled by [personal] sins, so that there may be given to them holiness, righteousness, adoption, inheritance, brotherhood with Christ, and that they may be his [Christ's] members — 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

"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

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

If you say, "Would there were no wine" because of the drunkards, then you must say, going on by degrees, "Would there were no steel," because of the murderers, "Would there were no night," because of the thieves, "Would there were no light," because of the informers, and "Would there were no women," because of adultery. — Saint John Chrysostom

In the Christian combat, not the striker, as in the Olympic contests, but he who is struck, wins the crown. This is the law in the celestial theatre, where the Angels are the spectators. — Saint John Chrysostom

Paul commands: 'Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the Traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.' From this it is clear that they did not hand down everything by letter, but there is much also that was not written. Like that which was written, the unwritten too is worthy of belief. So let us regard the Tradition of the Church also as worthy of belief. Is it a Tradition? Seek no further. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead — Saint John Chrysostom

It is folly to abstain all day long from food, but fail to abstain from sin and selfishness. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

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

When we once begin to form good resolutions, God gives us every opportunity of carrying them out. — Saint John Chrysostom

Nothing will divide the church so much as the love of power. — 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

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

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

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

A mother experiences more than one death, even though she herself will only die once. She fears for her husband; she fears for her children; again she fears for the women and children who belong to her children ... For each of these-whether for loss of possessions, bodily illness, or undesired misfortune-she mourns and grieves no less than those who suffer. — Saint 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

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

He that enjoys naught without thanksgiving is as though he robbed God. — Saint John Chrysostom

Fasting of the body is food for the soul. — 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

When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their follow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

Only those who do not fight are never wounded. — Saint John Chrysostom

When you are before the altar where Christ reposes, you ought no longer to think that you are amongst men; but believe that there are troops of angels and archangels standing by you, and trembling with respect before the sovereign Master of Heaven and earth. Therefore, when you are in church, be there in silence, fear, and veneration. — Saint John Chrysostom

No one has ever been accused for not providing ornaments, but for those who neglect their neighbour a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demons. Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all. — 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

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

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. — Saint John Chrysostom

There is harm not only in trying to gain wealth but also in excessive concern with even the most necessary things. It is not enough to despise wealth, but you must also feed the poor and, more importantly, you must follow Christ. — Saint John Chrysostom

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

The Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil. — 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

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

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

What prayer could be more true before God the Father than that which the Son, who is Truth, uttered with His own lips? — Saint John Chrysostom