Saint John Chrysostom defends a woman condemned by archbishop (Nestorius) for taking communion during her monthly cycle.
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CONTENT INFORMATION
Story Type: Miracle of Mary
Story Theme(s): Saints & Monasteries; Priest & Clerics;
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Earliest Attested Instance of the Story: 1500 - 1540
Earliest Manuscripts in which Story Appears: EMML (HMML) 3872; EMML (HMML) 4205; EMML (HMML) 8920; H-Berlin (BS) 59; BOr (BL) 636
Total Manuscripts in which Story Appears: 101
Total Incipits in the ITool: 47
Incipit(s): ዘከመ፡ ሰመየቶ፡ ለዮሐንስ፡ አፈ፡ ወርቅ፡ ቅድመ፡ እንበለ፡ ይሠመይ፡ ሊቀ፡ ጳጳሳት፡ እንዘ፡ ትብል፡ አፈ፡ ወርቅ፡ አመ፡ ሰዓመ፡ ኃፍረታ፡ ለብእሲት፡ በእንተ፡ ክብራ፡ ለእግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም። ወበአሐዱ፡ እምመዋዕል፡ ኮነ፡ ጉባኤ፡ ለመሃይምናን፡ ከመ፡ ይንሥኡ፡ ቍርባነ, from EMML (HMML) 3872, f. 139v
ID Numbers: PEMM Theme ID 662; PEMM ID 263; Macomber ID 263; Beta maṣāḥǝft ID LIT3688Miracle; Clavis ID CAe 3688
Translations & editions of this story
Amharic: Täsfa Giyorgis. 1931. From TG (EOTC) 1924-1931, p. 187.
Amharic: Täsfa Gäbrä Śəllase. 1971. From TGS (EOTC) 1983-1990, p. 494-497.
Amharic: Täsfa Gäbrä Śəllase. 1996. From TGS (EOTC) 1988-1996, p. 494.
Amharic: Täsfa Gäbrä Śəllase. 2014. From TGS (EOTC) 2004-2011, p. 450-453.
Manuscripts in which story appears:
1500s: H-Berlin (BS) 59, f. 100r; EMML (HMML) 3872, f. 139v; EMML (HMML) 8920, s. 151b; EMML (HMML) 4205, f...
1600s: BOr (BL) 637, f. 82r; BOr (BL) 636, f. 141v; VOHD (UH) 63, s. 171a; Z-Paris (BNF) 60, f. 171v; EMML ...
1700s: BOr (BL) 643, f. 186r; BOr (BL) 638, f. 150v; BOr (BL) 642, f. 114r; EMDA (HMML) 180, s. 106a; G-340...
1800s: EMDA (HMML) 319, s. 114a; EMDA (HMML) 10, s. 73a; MMSQQ (Maryam) 1, f. 124v; EMML (HMML) 1874, f. 48...
1900s: EMML (HMML) 5762, s. 125b; DSAE (HMML) 14, s. 61b; ESP (UH) DMA-005, s. 82b; EMDA (HMML) 415, s. 126...
2000s: TGS (EOTC) 2004-2011, s. 229a
This story, with the short title "Menstruating Woman Defended," is old: the earliest PEMM manuscript* in which this story appears is from around 1524.
It appears in 101 out of 709 PEMM manuscripts (15%).
This story is sometimes illustrated, with a total of 1 painting(s).
It is a post-life miracle: it does not take place during Our Lady Mary's lifetime, but after it.
This story was originally composed in Early Christian World (probably).
It is available in the following languages: Amharic, Geʿez, English.
If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the date, manuscripts, translation), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.
* A "PEMM manuscript" is defined as any Geʿez Marian manuscript or book that PEMM has catalogued. For more information, see Using the Site.
Summary
A menstruating woman came to receive Communion out of her love for the Church. When Patriarch Nestorius learned she was on her period, he ordered her to be strung up and stripped down. He also told the people gathered there to spit on her genitals as a sign of disbelief that God had been borne of a woman’s flesh. Then a priest named John came forward and kissed the woman’s genitals to profess his faith in the divinity of the fleshly Incarnation. An icon of Mary located in that church’s sanctuary then spoke, praising John’s faith and calling his mouth “golden”—hence the name John Chrysostom, or “John the Golden Mouth.”
Translation
Translated by Mehari Worku from EMML (HMML) 3872, f. 139v, in 2023.
An edited English translation of this story is not yet available. The following is a rough draft.
A miracle of Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, the Mother of God. [This story is about] how Our Lady named John Chrysostom, before he was ordained to be a patriarch, as “the Golden Mouth,” when he kissed a menstruating woman’s genitals due to Our Lady Mary’s glory. May Our Lady Mary’s prayer and blessing be with us forever and ever. Amen.
One holiday, the faithful gathered to receive Communion. A woman came to church to receive Communion while she was in her period because she loved the Church. The people saw the Holy Spirit’s shade departing from her. [As a result], the sun’s rays shone over her. The people took her out and made her stand before Patriarch Nestorius.
Nestorius said to the woman, “Woman, tell me. How did you become unclean? What did you do to make the Holy Spirit’s shade flee from you?”
The woman replied, “I haven’t done anything. I just came here while I am on my period because I love the Church.”
The patriarch raged. He ordered [the people] to hang her upside down and strip her. He said to her, “If God was born from Mary in this body, why would the Holy Spirit despise her? Had the Lord been born from a woman, all women’s uncleanness would have been sanctified for Mary’s sake.”
He then ordered the people to spit on the hanged woman’s genitals, saying, “Anyone who believes that God was born in the flesh from a woman in the flesh—worship be to his glorious Nativity—is accursed! Accursed is anyone who believes that God was carried in a womb and participated with children by suckling breasts and all the rest of women’s childbearing!”
The people did as Patriarch Nestorius commanded them.
There was a man named John. He was a presbyter [meaning priest]. He came close to the condemned woman and kissed her genitals, saying, “I believe that God was born of a woman in this body. I believe that God was carried in a womb. I believe that God was nourished by the Virgin’s1 milk. [I believe that] God partook the childhood of children and did everything human except sin.”
There was an icon of Our Lady Mary at the iconostasis of the sanctuary. The icon called to John the priest: “I also say that you are a golden mouth. Yours is a pearly mouth that didn’t shy away from kissing the introit of a menstruating woman for the sake of God’s Nativity from the Virgin. Truly, your mouth is topaz. Your mouth is a gem which adorns the Church with homilies. Your mouth is honey and sugar which nourishes the faithful with your sweet words. Truly, your mouth is full of fragrant perfume that rejoices the faithful with the aroma of his teaching. Truly, your mouth is a sword. It is a scimitar that cuts the rebels in excommunication.”
John thought of the holiness of Our Lady Mary, the Mother of God, and not of the uncleanness of the menstruating woman. He thought of divinity's incarnation, and not of his own weakness.
May Our Lady Mary’s prayer and blessing, the mercy of her beloved son, and the intercession of John Chrysostom be with our king Sartsa Dengel and her servant Gabra Kerestos forever and ever. Amen.
My dear Lady Mary, pure of mind, bodily immaculate,
Because of one woman, from whom moved away the shade of the Holy spirit,
When arch heretic Nestorius, denied your motherhood,
When [John] became zealous in the zeal of the Holy Spirit,
You named John, saying, “The Golden Mouth”
So also, may your lips name me without mispronouncing my name,
Your servant Walda Kerestos and your maidservant Na’as,
Forever and ever. Amen.2
TO CITE THIS TRANSLATION
Mehari Worku, trans. "ID 263: Saint John Chrysostom defends a woman condemned by archbishop (Nestorius) for taking communion during her monthly cycle.." From EMML (HMML) 3872, f. 139v. Täˀammərä Maryam (Miracle of Mary) Stories, edited by Wendy Laura Belcher, Jeremy Brown, Mehari Worku, and Dawit Muluneh. Princeton: Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary project. https://pemm.princeton.edu/stories/263.
This story, with the short title "Menstruating Woman Defended," is old: the earliest PEMM manuscript* in which this story appears is from around 1524.
It appears in 101 out of 709 PEMM manuscripts (15%).
This story is sometimes illustrated, with a total of 1 painting(s).
It is a post-life miracle: it does not take place during Our Lady Mary's lifetime, but after it.
This story was originally composed in Early Christian World (probably).
It is available in the following languages: Amharic, Geʿez, English.
If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the date, manuscripts, translation), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.
* A "PEMM manuscript" is defined as any Geʿez Marian manuscript or book that PEMM has catalogued. For more information, see Using the Site.