Observations placeholder
Chrysostom John - Murders a princess
Identifier
000532
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
John Chrysostom lived with extreme asceticism and became a hermit in about 375; he spent the next two years “continually standing, scarcely sleeping, and committing the Bible to memory”. So sleep deprivation, extreme exhaustion and befuddling are in his list of practises. He also used fasting – starvation. The latter permanently damaged his health.
The following comes from a story told of him in Croatia in the 16th Century
A description of the experience
When John Chrysostom was a hermit in the desert, he was approached by a royal princess in distress. The Saint, thinking she was a demon, at first refused to help her, but the princess convinced him that she was a Christian and would be devoured by wild beasts if she were not allowed to enter his cave. He therefore admitted her, carefully dividing the cave in two parts, one for each of them.
In spite of these precautions, the sin of fornication was committed [!!! my comment Shock horror], and in an attempt to hide it, the distraught saint took the princess and threw her over a precipice. He then went to Rome to beg absolution, which was refused. Realising the appalling nature of his crimes, Chrysostom made a vow that he would never rise from the ground until his sins were expiated, and for years he lived like a beast, crawling on all fours and feeding on wild grasses and roots. Subsequently the princess reappeared, alive, and suckling the saint's baby, who miraculously pronounced his sins forgiven”.
The source of the experience
Chrysostom, JohnConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
SuccubusSymbols
SuccubusScience Items
Activities and commonsteps
Activities
Overloads
AnorexiaBefuddling
Being in extremely inhospitable surroundings
Fasting
Fever and hyperthermia
Flagellation, beating and physical abuse
Loneliness and isolation
Nutritional deprivation
Sleep deprivation, insomnia and mental exhaustion