John Chrysostom
Archbishop of Constantinople and one of the great preachers of the early Greek Church.
John Chrysostom was Archbishop of Constantinople from 397 to 404 AD and one of the most influential preachers of the early Greek Church. His name Chrysostom, meaning "golden-mouthed," was given to him for his eloquence and was first used as a title by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, decades after his death. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the standard liturgical service of the Eastern Orthodox Church for over fifteen hundred years, carries his name though the surviving form was developed in subsequent centuries. Two prayers bearing his name are in this collection: one from the Orthodox tradition, used in personal devotion across the Eastern Christian world, and one from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, attributed to him and adapted by Thomas Cranmer for use at the close of Morning and Evening Prayer.