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On June 20, 404, Archbishop John Chrysostom left Constantinople under military escort, never to return.

He was exiled to the backwater town of Cucusus, in the mountains of Armenia. Separation from friends and raids from Isaurians (tribes from mountainous southern Turkey) continually plagued his last years—as did the climate and his poor health: “During the last two months I have been no better than one dead… In spite of endless contrivances, I could not shake off the pernicious effects of the cold… I underwent extreme sufferings, perpetual vomiting … loss of appetite, and constant sleeplessness.”

Three years of these severe hardships would end with death, yet Chrysostom remained faithful to Christ. He also remained a source of encouragement to friends and followers. To paraphrase Chrysostom himself, the gold of his life undergirded the currency of his words.

What spiritual principles supported him during these last, brutal years in exile? Some answers can be gleaned from correspondence with his friend Olympias, a deaconess of the church in Constantinople who was exiled for her friendship with John. John also wrote and sent to Olympias a short book on the subject of God’s providence. This book and these letters show us how spiritual theory and practice intersected in Chrysostom’s life.

One scholar has noted that we learn much from the simple formula at the beginning of his letters: “To my Lady, the most reverend and divinely favored deaconess Olympias, I John, bishop, send greeting in the Lord.” Even in exile, with their ecclesiastical connection formally broken, they continued to exchange greetings using their ranks within the church.

Within the church, they had celebrated the Eucharist, prayed and fasted, heard the Scripture preached and applied, and given alms. This disciplined and celebrative life prepared them for the present testing, for they were part of something larger than themselves:

“Amid alternate trials, and respites from trial, the fabric of the Church was wrought… If then even now you will reckon up the good things with the painful, you will see that many events have occurred which … are unspeakable proofs of the great providence and succor of God.”

In her exile, Olympias soon became despondent over her drastic change in circumstances. She also wondered why God would allow the faithful to suffer.

Chrysostom first reminds her of the close connection between emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being: “For dejection causes sickness; when the body is exhausted and enfeebled, and remains in a neglected condition, deprived of the assistance of physicians, and of a wholesome climate, and an abundant supply of the necessaries of life, consider how great an aggravation of distress is occasioned thereby.”

So he beseeches Olympias, who suffers from some malady, “to pay great attention to the restoration of your bodily health.” He relates some practical measures he has taken: “For a few days ago when I suffered from a tendency to vomiting, owing to the state of the atmosphere, I had recourse to the drug which was sent me … and I found that no more than three days’ application of it cured my infirmity.” John even rebukes her gently: “If you also would take the requisite care of yourself, you would be in a far more satisfactory condition.”

Chrysostom also reminds Olympias of the spiritual principles he had consistently preached in Antioch and Constantinople.

“The present life,” he says in one forceful passage, “is a wrestling school, a gymnasium, a battle, a smelting furnace, and a dyer’s house of virtue. Therefore, just as tanners grasp the hides and first work them vigorously, stretching, striking, and dashing them against walls and rocks, and by countless other treatments render them fit for the reception of the dye—in this way they bring out the prized color; just as goldsmiths throw the gold into the fire to purify it, delivering it over to the testing of the furnace; just as coaches train the athletes in the wrestling schools with much hard work, attacking them more viciously than their opponents, so that every part of their bodies might be adequately prepared by exercise for the grasps of their enemies and for an easy escape; so in the same way God acts in the present life… Desiring to create steadfast and patiently enduring people, God allows the coin to be tried by every means.”

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