By Fr. George Dorbarakis
Venerable Gerasimos is one of the most beautiful presences in the ascetic tradition of our Church. Not only because of his ascetic conduct, but also because of his special relationship with his peculiar “subordinate,” the anthropomorphic lion. The lion of Saint Gerasimos has become so identified with him that most of his icons depict it together with him. Certainly, this is not the only case in which beasts are subject to saints. Quite often in the synaxaria we find similar phenomena, as for example on February 11 we commemorated Saint Blaise, Archbishop of Sebaste, who, living on a mountain, by his blessing caused all the wild beasts to be at peace at dawn. Even in more recent times, the case of the bear of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov is known, not to mention Elder Paisios, whose very friendly relationship with animals, even with snakes, is also known. According to our faith, the explanation is simple: the Creator God placed man, according to His image and likeness, to rule over all the animals of the earth. The animals looked to him and obeyed him, because he looked to and obeyed his Creator. But the sin that entered into man brought, among other things, this reversal: the animals became hostile toward him, something that was restored after the coming into the world of our incarnate God. From the moment Christ wiped out sin and cleansed the image of God in man, man was again granted the grace of dominion over created nature, to the degree that Christ Himself permits this during the interval in which we remain until His Second Coming.
Thus, to return to Venerable Gerasimos, the obedience of the lion was obedience to the grace-filled man, restored before God, with the purity of the image of God in his heart. That obedience was the continuation of the obedience of the beasts to the first Adam, before his fall into sin, when his authority over them was manifested also through the name he gave to the animals. And this is precisely what the Hymnographer of his Service emphasizes:
“A beast as servant was given to Gerasimos as a reward, having slain the beasts of his passions before his life ended” (Synaxarion verses).
And elsewhere:
“Preserving the dignity of the according-to-the-image, O God-bearer, you appeared fearsome to the untamed beasts” (Ode 7).
In other words, the Saint first reigned over his passions, and then he was given the grace to reign also over the lion. The beasts evidently recognize — as Elder Paisios also said — the man of God, that is, the man who truly loves them. The fact that there are cases where saints are devoured by beasts does not nullify this truth. This happens because God judges that in this way the saints would more easily gain Paradise. The martyrdom of Saint Ignatius the God-bearer is a very good answer to this.
The Hymnographer George does not expand further on this subject. He could have mentioned also the obedience of the lions to the Prophet Daniel, already from the Old Testament, when he had been thrown among them into a pit. But he does not. Most likely because he is more interested in presenting the spiritual personality of Venerable Gerasimos. And it is true: most of the troparia of his Service concern his seeking of God while wandering in deserts, caves, and mountains, and his unceasing gazing toward the desire of his Lord, with the result that he was illumined by the light of the Spirit of God:
“O Venerable Father Gerasimos, always living in deserts, caves, and mountains with faith, you sought God and found Him, as you had longed for” (Vesperal sticheron).
“Always gazing toward the immaterial desire of the Lord, O Venerable Father” (Ode 3).
“Illumined by the Spirit, O God-bearer, the eyes of the noetic soul were enlightened, and by virtue you directed them toward the inaccessible light” (Ode 1).
The judgment of the Hymnographer George is correct: he does not wish to distract us with a remarkable event — the “human-like” lion — because what is essential for him is the spiritual conduct of the Saint, which alone, if followed, leads into the Kingdom of God. In a word, the Hymnographer is concerned with the cause of his sanctity and not with one of its results.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
