Friday, July 23, 2010

Chrysostom's Homily On Saint Phocas, Bishop of Sinope



St. John Chrysostom's homliy speaks little of the life of St. Phocas, leading some to question whether he is speaking of St. Phocas the Bishop or St. Phocas the Gardener, both celebrated on the same day. He begins by speaking of the festival that is being celebrated encouraging everyone to participate and come and venerate his holy relics. The Psalm read for the occasion leads him to digress onto the issue of Christ's nature and to address the heresy of the Anomoeans that Christ and God are not equal. This takes up the bulk of the homily.

Table of Contents:


2. John encourages everyone to attend today's festival and make their way to the tomb, where the imperial couple will participate. The power of the martyrs is such that it draws people of all backgrounds and is the Church's crown. The martyrs are not honored by the size of the crowd; rather the crowd is blessed by them.



5. The example of King Jeroboam.

6-8. The audience is asked to pay attention, as John is about to wrestle with heretics. The heretics interpret Scripture in a way that suits them. Christ's true nature is not affected by their claims.

9-11. Scripture is not responsible for the heretics' interpretation, but the mind of those doing the interpreting. In their desire to show that the Son is less than the Father, they attribute different labels, saying that "God" refers to the one, and "Lord" to the other. John uses logic to show that "God" and "Lord" are one and the same.


Read the complete homily of St. John Chrysostom here.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Kontakion in the Second Tone

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