And it remains only for you and me, our friends, to be confirmed by the death of John Chrysostom in the conviction that God has no dead, but all are alive, that the righteous follow in the wake of their beloved Christ by their way of the cross, by their own free will. For when, thirty years after the death of the saint, the emperor Theodosius deigned to return his coffin from the place of exile to the capital, the saint did not wish to fulfill the will of the emperor. The messengers could not move the coffin, so it became heavy.

And the governor felt his transgression before the righteous man. And he wept before the departed, as before the living, both his own sin and the sin of his mother – the persecution and death of Chrysostom from her malice.

And Theodosius wrote a letter of repentance and sent a letter to the grave of the saint, beseeching Chrysostom to return: "Forgive me my audacious undertaking, cover me with the abyss of thy wisdom; Thou who didst teach repentance to all, forgive me who repent; and as to the children of the Father who love, give thyself unto us, and make them that love thee rejoice at thy coming... Oh, most honorable father, come in peace to yours, and your own will receive you with love."

They placed this letter of repentance in the grave of the saint, and served an all-night vigil. And the tomb became light. Thus Chrysostom responded to repentance. And the holy relics returned by the will of the saint to Constantinople. Many miracles, like the radiance of the divine glory of Chrysostom, flowed from his grave.

One of them cannot be kept silent. Let us remember that the grave of the Empress Eudoxia, the culprit of the saint's sufferings, punished by God during her lifetime with a grave and terrible illness, her coffin, which knew no rest, but was constantly shaking, fell silent. The mother, through the prayer of her son, received the forgiveness of the saint.

And so, our friends, we have come to the essence of today's holiday "... but he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt. 10:22) himself and will save many, we will add, not without reason.

Thirty years after his martyrdom in exile, St. John Chrysostom returned to the patriarchal throne with his relics. The reliquary with his coffin was placed in the church, and when the serving Patriarch opened the coffin, it turned out that the body of Saint John Chrysostom remained incorrupt.

The people, stunned by the miracle, exclaimed: "Accept thy throne, father."

And yet another astounding miracle occurred: the saint opened his lips, closed by death, and his hand was raised for the final archpastoral blessing.

The truly Christian love of the saint-martyr granted forgiveness from beyond the grave to all – both those who loved him and those who persecuted him – in the last wish: "Peace to all."

Peace to all, following Christ to those who are coming, from now on and forevermore. Amen.

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee and the memory of Gregory the Theologian.

My dear, our friends, three events, three memories must simultaneously be resurrected today in our hearts and minds. "Open unto me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life..." — resounded again for all to hear in the churches of God. And a quiet time of repentance of fasting blew. The Gospel Pharisee and publican make us look into our hearts today and see in it either the Pharisee: "... I am not like other people..." or, seeing the abyss of sin there, bow down before God with the publican's humility in repentance (Luke 18:11).