o a life of penance, retirement, and devotion; and he spared no
exhortations or endeavors to engage them faithfully to correspond to the
divine grace, according to the advice which St. Paul gives them.[19] St.
Olympias claimed the privilege of furnishing the expenses of the saint's
{243} frugal table. He usually ate alone: few would have been willing to
dine so late, or so coarsely and sparingly as he did; and he chose this
to save both time and expenses: but he kept another table in a house
near his palace, for the entertainment of strangers, which he took care
should be decently supplied. He inveighed exceedingly against sumptuous
banquets. All his revenues he laid out on the poor; for whose relief he
sold the rich furniture which Nectarius had left; and once, in a great
dearth, he caused some of the sacred vessels to be melted down for that
purpose. This action was condemned by Theophilus, but is justly regarded
by St. Austin as a high commendation of our holy prelate. Besides the
public hospital near his cathedral, and several others which he founded
and maintained, he erected two for strangers. His own patrimony he had
given to the poor long before, at Antioch. His extraordinary charities
obtained him the name of John of alms-deeds.[20] The spiritual
necessities of his neighbor were objects of far greater compassion to
his tender charity. His diocese, nay, the whole world, he considered as
a great hospital of souls, spiritually blind, deaf, sick, and in danger
of perishing eternally; many standing on the brink, many daily falling
from the frightful precipice into the unquenchable lake. Not content
with tears and supplications to the Father of mercies for their
salvation, he was indefatigable in labors and in every endeavor to open
their eyes; feared no dangers, no not death itself in its most frightful
shapes, to succor them in their spiritual necessities, and prevent their
fall. Neither was this pastoral care confined to his own flock or
nation: he extended it to the remotest countries. He sent a bishop to
instruct the Nomades or wandering Scythians: another, an admirable man,
to the Goths. Palestine, Persia, and many other distant provinces felt
the most beneficent influence of his zeal. He was himself endued with an
eminent spirit of prayer: this he knew to be the great channel of
heavenly graces, the cleanser of the affections of the soul from earthly
dross, and the means which renders them spiritual and heavenly,