By Fr. George Dorbarakis
Venerable George was from Cyprus, and his parents were pious Christians. His elder brother, named Heracleides, while their parents were still alive, went to the Holy Land to venerate the holy places, and there he desired to remain as a monk in the Lavra of Kalamon, near the present-day Monastery of Saint Gerasimos of the Jordan. George remained with his parents until they departed this life, after which his uncle took him, together with his inheritance. This uncle had an only daughter and wished to make George his son-in-law. George, however, did not wish to marry and left to go to his other uncle, who was abbot of a monastery. But since the first uncle pressured his brother, the abbot, to allow George to leave the monastery, George departed from there as well and went to his brother Heracleides at the Lavra of Kalamon. Because of his young age, however, his brother led him to the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Chozeba, which lies in a desolate and wild ravine — where the cave is located in which the Prophet Elijah took refuge when he was pursued by the kings of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel — and which is near the ancient Roman road leading from Jerusalem to Jericho. There George became a monk and lived a strict ascetic monastic life. The fame of his virtue was great, and his holy works instructed many. Finally, he peacefully surrendered his holy soul to God.
The hymnography of our Church, in a logical and natural way, focuses especially on the fact that the Saint practiced asceticism and was sanctified in the very places where the holy feet of our Lord Jesus Christ had trod. It was his burning desire for God that led his steps to the Holy Land — “captivated by divine eros, all-blessed one, you journeyed to the holy places of Zion” — where he remained until the end of his life, despite many hardships both on the way there and after his arrival.
“Neither the length of the road nor the harshness of the places was able to paralyze, O Saint, the fiery movement of your journey toward God; for even when you arrived there and rejoiced in the places where the feet of our God had walked, you showed no negligence at all, except to hasten through asceticism and labors toward the heavenly Zion.”
Indeed, the image used by the Hymnographer to describe the ascetic life of the Saint is very beautiful: revealing his heartfelt eros for Christ, he would, in compunction of soul, water the holy land with his tears — many hymns emphasize the Saint’s gift of tears — and with the hairs of his head he would spiritually wipe the feet of the Lord, as though he saw Him spiritually present before him.
“Revealing your heartfelt eros with tears, O glorious one, in compunction you watered the earth, and with the hairs of your head you wiped the feet of Christ, understanding and seeing Him as present, Him whom you desired.”
And not only this: the holy places, holy Zion, are regarded by the Hymnographer as a ladder for the Saint’s ascent to the upper Zion, the Kingdom of Heaven. The sanctified place thus functioned for Saint George as a constant challenge and reminder of Christ and a recollection of the true homeland. Christ Himself chose Zion as the place of His coming; that place became, because of the Saint’s love for Christ, a springboard for his ascent toward Him.
“The Master, descending from heaven for our sake, finds Zion to be truly a divine bridal chamber; dwelling there with longing, you ascended to the upper Zion, using it as a ladder.”
The Saint’s fervent love for Christ was manifested, as we have said, in abundant tears of compunction, but also in his ascetic labors. Yet none of these would have existed had the Saint not discovered the “secret” of the spiritual life: the guarding of his thoughts. The control of one’s thoughts, as is well known, is what keeps the human heart pure, so that the love of Christ may dwell and grow within it, and thus His virtues may bear fruit there as well. As the Hymnographer notes:
“The assaults of thoughts did not shake the citadel of your soul, O blessed one.”
Thus Saint George appeared like a heaven, brightly adorned with the stars of the practical virtues of asceticism, having the Lord as his sun and his soul as a moon illuminated by Him:
“You appeared as a heaven, adorned with the stars of practical virtues, bearing the Lord as the light-bringer, illuminating your soul like the moon.”
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
