{"id":215679,"date":"2018-11-15T11:58:44","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T09:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=215679"},"modified":"2018-11-15T11:58:44","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T09:58:44","slug":"patriarchal-auxiliary-bishop-varlaam-of-ploiesti-urges-believers-to-read-works-of-st-john-chrysostom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/patriarchal-auxiliary-bishop-varlaam-of-ploiesti-urges-believers-to-read-works-of-st-john-chrysostom\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploie\u0219ti urges believers to read works of St John Chrysostom"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploie\u0219ti on Tuesday urged the believers present at the National Cathedral\u2019s Chapel to read the works of Saint John Chrysostom.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His Grace Bishop Varlaam celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the feast of St John Chrysostom and told the faithful that they should join the veneration of St John\u2019s relics with the reading of his works.<\/p>\n

His Grace pointed to the Saint\u2019s Treatise on the compunction of the heart noting that it teaches \u2018control one should have over his mind and heart, to overcome the sinful incentives, the enticements to comfort and a pleasure-oriented life.\u2019<\/p>\n

Saint John also wrote \u2018the incomparable Treatise on priesthood, which remains until now a pearl of Christian literature and the most precious guide for all young people who wish for priestly ministry,\u2019 Bishop Varlaam said Nov. 13.<\/p>\n

HG Bp Varlaam of Ploiesti encouraged the faithful to read St John\u2019s commentaries on the books of the Old and the New Testaments, especially those on the Holy Gospels, which \u2018contain a multitude of useful teachings that God desires to convey to us.\u2019<\/p>\n

His Grace presented St John as an example of pure life. An important part of the Saint\u2019s life was the two-year withdrawal into the wilderness where he \u2018sanctified his life and thoroughly deepened the Holy Scripture and the works of the Holy Fathers with his sharp and learned mind.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018As an orator,\u2019 His Grace noted, \u2018Saint John Chrysostom preached as no one else, that is why his contemporaries called him the Christian Demosthenes since Demosthenes was the greatest orator of Antiquity.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018A short time after passing away to eternal life, he was called Gold-mouthed because his words were truly golden, and his gift of preaching received from God was totally particular.\u2019<\/p>\n

Patriarch Daniel\u2019s assistant bishop related an occurrence when an official of Constantinople entered silently the room where St John Chrysostom was writing his biblical commentaries and saw St Paul the Apostle dictating \u2018the deep understandings of the Epistles he had written to the various communities or leaders of the Church.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018As Archbishop of Constantinople, he began an extraordinary reform: he asked the priests and monastics to have an exemplary life and developed a social-philanthropic work following the example of Saint Basil the Great: he founded hospitals, elderly homes, orphanages, hospitality houses etc.\u2019<\/p>\n

Bishop Varlaam recalled that with the efforts of Romania\u2019s former Patriarch Teoctist a particle of St John Chrysostom\u2019s relics was offered to the Romanian Orthodox Church, being now enshrined at the Chapel of the National Cathedral in Bucharest.<\/p>\n

Ending his speech, the hierarch urged the believers to entreat Saint John \u2018to protect the Church, the well-believing Romanians everywhere, to strengthen the ministers and inspire them with the virtues he wanted to see in the priests he shepherded.\u2019<\/p>\n

Check out our photo gallery from the Divine Liturgy<\/a>!<\/p>\n