Chrysostom on Hospitality

Here are a few paragraphs about Chrysostom's views on Christian hospitality and the relationship between the work of the church and the work of individuals in the diocese (from Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition)...

"In the writings of John Chrysostom, from the fourth and early fifth centuries, we can identify multiple settings for hospitality as well as the tensions that emerged out of such diversity. Chrysostom's parsishioners seem to have excused themselves from the demands of hospitality by noting that the church had the means to provide hospitality to strangers. He insisted, however, that hospitality remained a personal, individual responsibility as well. even if the needy person could be fed from common funds, Chrysostom asked, 'Can that benefit you? If another man prays, does it follow that you are not bound to pray?' He urged his parishioners to make a guest chamber in their own houses, a place set apart for Christ -- a place within which to welcome 'the maimed, the beggars, and the homeless.' Recognizing that some Christians would hesitate to take strangers into their homes, Chrysostom suggested that they could at least make a place in their household for a local person who was known to them.

It was very important to him that hospitality be offered personally, with one's own hands, not left exclusively for the church to provide. This emphasis seems to have emerged from several concerns. Hospitality was an essential part of Christian identity. Welcome, compassion, and equal treatment were all part of a proper Christian response to peoploe in need. Personal hospitality broke down some of the social barriers that were so powerful in the culture. Chrysostom's emphasis also derived from a need to counteract the increasing reliance on the newly formed specialized institutions of hospitality.

Chrysostom himself had an important role in developing these differentiated institutions of care. In Homily 66 on Matthew, he described the work of the church at Antioch. Though not wealthy, the church cared for three thousand widows and virgins daily, and, in addition, cared for thos in prison, sick, and disabled, and those away from their homes. THe church also provided food and clothing to those who came 'causally' everyday. From 400 to 403, Chrysostom built a number of hospitals in Constantinople. These provided care for strangers and orphans, as well as for those who were sick, chronic invalids, old, poor, and destitute."

[pages 45-46; footnotes omitted]