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St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, was born at Antioch, c. 347 and died at Commana in Pontus, 14 September, 407. St. John's surname Chrysostom means golden mouthed and was given on account of his eloquence. The surname occurs for the first time in the Constitution of Pope Vigilius in the year 553. He is generally considered the most prominent doctor of the Greek Church and the greatest preacher ever heard in a Christian pulpit. His natural gifts, as well as exterior circumstances, helped him to become what he was. The success of Chrysostom's preaching is chiefly due to his great natural facility of speech, which was extraordinary even to Greeks, to the abundance of his thoughts as well as the popular way of presenting and illustrating them, and, last but not least, the whole-hearted earnestness and conviction with which he delivered the message which he felt had been given to him. Speculative explanation did not attract his mind, nor would they have suited the tastes of his hearers. He ordinarily preferred moral subjects, and very seldom in his sermons followed a regular plan, nor did he care to avoid digressions when any opportunity suggested them.
