By St. John Moschos
The same Athanasios also told us this concerning the same Bishop Adelphios, which he heard from Amma Joanna, his sister:
"When John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, was exiled to the Caucasus, he stayed at our house; from which we drew much boldness and love towards God. My brother, Adelphios, said that when the blessed John died in exile, it was an unbearable pain to him that such a man, the ecumenical teacher of Christendom who made glad the Church of God with his words, should have fallen asleep away from his [episcopal] seat. He said further: "I prayed to God with many tears to show me his present state of existence and whether he was ranked among the patriarchs. I prayed like that for a long time and then, one day, I fell into a trance and saw a very fine-looking man. Taking me by the right hand, he led me into a bright and glorious place where he showed me the proclaimers of piety and the doctors of the Church. For my part, I looked around for him whom I so greatly desired to see, the great John, my beloved. He showed me them all and spoke the name of each one of them; then he took my hand again, and led me out. I followed, lamenting that I had not seen the saintly John among the fathers. As we were coming out, he who stood at the door said to me: ‘Nobody who comes here goes forth sorrowing.’ Then I said to him: ‘This grief is upon me because I have not seen my most dear John, Bishop of Constantinople, among the doctors.’ Again he spoke to me: ‘Do you mean John [the prince] of repentance? A man in the flesh cannot see him, for he stands in the presence of the Lord’s throne.’"
From The Spiritual Meadow, 128.
