On Repentance and Almsgiving
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ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING

Translated by

GUS GEORGE CHRISTO

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS

Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 1998

The Catholic University of America Press

All rights reserved

First Paperback Reprint 2005

library of congress cataloging-in-publication data

John Chrysostom, Saint, d. 407.

[Selections English]

On repentance and almsgiving / St. John Chrysostom: translated by Gus George Christo.

p. cm.—(Fathers of the church; v. 96)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

1. Repentance—Christianity—Sermons—Early works to 1800.

2. Charity—Sermons—Early works to 1800. 3. Sermons, Greek—Early works to 1800. 4. Sermons, English—Early works to 1800. I. Title. II. Series.

br65.c43e5 1998

252’.014—dc21

97-31542

ISBN-13: 978-0-8132-1450-4

ISBN-10: 0-8132-1450-5

THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

A NEW TRANSLATION

EDITORIAL BOARD

Thomas P. Halton

The Catholic University of America

Editorial Director

Elizabeth Clark

Duke University

Robert D. Sider

Dickinson College

† Robert B. Eno, S.S.

The Catholic University of America

Michael Slusser

Duquesne University

Frank A. C. Mantello

The Catholic University of America

Cynthia White

The University of Arizona

Kathleen McVey

Princeton Theological Seminary

Robin Darling Young

The Catholic University of America

David J. McGonagle

Director

The Catholic University of America Press

FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORS

Ludwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles,

Hermigild Dressier, O.F.M.

For my wife, Georgia, and my daughters, Myrophora

and Chrysanthe, whose steadfast support and love

encouraged me to translate Chrysostom’s homilies

on repentance and almsgiving

CONTENTS

Select Bibliography

Introduction

1. When He Returned from the Countryside

2. On Repentance, the Melancholy of King Ahab, and Jonah the Prophet

3. Concerning Almsgiving and the Ten Virgins

4. On Repentance and Prayer

5. On Fasting and the Prophet Jonah, [the Prophet] Daniel, and the Three Youths

6. On Fasting

7. On Repentance and Compunction

8. [On Repentance and the Church]

9. On Repentance and Those Who Have Forsaken the Assemblies, and about the Sacred Table and Judgment

10. A Sermon on Almsgiving

Indices

General Index

Index of Holy Scripture

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aldama, J. A. De. Repertorium Pseudochrysostomicum. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1965.

Baur, Chrysostomus, O.S.B. John Chrysostom and His Time. Vol. 1, Antioch. Vol. 2, Constantinople. London: Sands and Company, 1959/1960.

Brenton, (Sir) Lancelot C. L. The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1986.

Carter, R. E. “The Chronology of Saint John Chrysostom’s Early Life,” Traditio 18 (1962): 357–64.

Christo, (Rev.) Gus. The Church’s Identity Established through Images according to St. John Chrysostom. The University of Durham, England: Ph.D. Dissertation, 1991.

Ettlinger, G. “Some Historical Evidence for the Date of St. John Chrysostom’s Birth in the Treatise ‘Ad Viduam Iuniorem.’ ”Traditio ...

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About On Repentance and Almsgiving

St. John Chrysostom delivered nine homilies on repentance in Antioch of Syria sometime between 386 and 387. With conviction and certitude, he preached that repentance was a necessity for both the sinner and the righteous man. This volume presents Chrysostom’s homilies on repentance and includes a sermon on almsgiving that he preached in Antioch during the winter months in 387.

Chrysostom’s work reveals that repentance is an indestructible pillar of the All-Holy, Universal and Immutable Church of Christ. He believed that repentance is the liturgical tool that rejuvenates sinners and admits them into the life-giving Eucharist where they experience fully and dynamically the concrete presence of God.

The powers of repentance have rich biblical roots, and Chrysostom masterfully weaves his teaching with a plethora of Old and New Testament citings. From Scripture, the reader learns that repentance is never confined to the eucharistic context—it becomes a way of life for the believer. The daily applications of repentance, such as almsgiving, fasting, remorse over personal sins, humility, prayer, and attending Church, suggest that a person’s entire life has an ecclesial character. Chrysostom preached that the whole experience of a true life in Christ is repentance that culminates in metanoia—the total change and renewal from the heart and mind of sin to “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).

In his introduction to the homilies, Fr. Gus Christo includes a succinct biography of Chrysostom within which he sets the homilies in their chronological context. He also provides an overview of repentance and discusses the ecclesiological nature of Chrysostom’s theology.

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