By Archimandrite George Kapsanis,
Former Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery on Mount Athos
Former Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery on Mount Athos
Both in earlier times and in recent times, people, out of love for someone dear to them, have not hesitated to perform a heroic act — even to sacrifice their own life. But there is no other example of “laying down one’s life” (cf. John 15:13) not only for one’s friends but also for one’s enemies, and even for those who crucified Him, except the example of our Lord. For the Lord was sacrificed on the Cross not only for the sake of His friends and His disciples and those who loved Him, but also for the sake of His enemies and those who crucified Him. And here the greatness of the love of God is revealed. And it is this love of God that conquered death. And Life could not remain in the tomb, but rose and became life and incorruption for the whole world.
Thus, those who follow the God-man Lord, like the Holy Great Martyr George, whose memory we celebrate today, also, in their love for God and for man, for the Crucified and Risen Lord, offer their lives. And outwardly it appears that the world and the devil prevail, because, according to human judgment, the end for the Holy Martyrs is painful and without hope. But the Holy Martyrs, because they had within themselves the Risen Lord and the love of God, saw beyond the veil of the flesh.
They saw what other people did not see. Other people saw tortures and death and burial in the earth and the annihilation of the martyr. But the Holy Martyrs saw beyond the grave and beyond destruction. They saw that “it is sown a natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:44). They saw the reality beyond appearances, which was eternity and the resurrection. And for this reason they went to martyrdom with rejoicing steps. Indeed, they longed for martyrdom, because only through martyrdom could they express their longing for Christ, their love for Christ, their fervent desire for Christ.
Thus also Saint George, in Christ, conquered death. He did not fear death; “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). The love of God cast out fear, and he “ran eagerly,” as the hymn says, toward death and martyrdom, and became a brave champion of Christ. And he left behind himself — not his self lying in the tomb, but his risen self, risen together with Christ — filled with the grace of the Resurrection, with incorruption, with radiance. And just as the Lord, “fair from the tomb,” rose “as a bridegroom coming forth from the bridal chamber,” so also Saint George arose in beauty like a bridegroom and shines as a bridegroom in the Church of Christ. This is the glory of the Saints of our Church — unfading and incorruptible. And this we perceive also in the feasts of the Saints, in the relics of the Saints, and at the tombs of the Saints.
Let us therefore entreat Saint George to grant also to us this love, which “casts out fear,” and which will help us also to become sons of the Resurrection and sons of Light, so that we may not fear death and may fear nothing at all. For whoever has been united with the Risen Lord fears nothing anymore; he is free. This is true freedom, which the world does not know. That is why it seeks to find freedom elsewhere. But if the world today — and every person, every soul — had experienced what Saint George experienced, this freedom of the love of God, then it would see how free the sons of the Resurrection and the sons of Light truly are.
May, therefore, the blessing of Saint George be with us and with the Holy Mountain, where Saint George is also regarded as its “guardian,” according to the first troparion of the ninth ode. And, as the service says, he goes about the Holy Mountain, guarding it. May he therefore protect and traverse all the Holy Mountain and our monastery, preserving us, helping us to be pleasing to the Lord, guarding us from possible falls — which greatly grieve God — keeping us in humility, prayer, longing for Christ, and granting that we too, while still in this mortal body that we have, may be clothed with the garment of immortality and resurrection before we depart from this world, so that we may have the hope of the resurrection and of eternal life in the age to come.
I thank you for your wishes for my name day and for your prayers, which I need, and I pray that the Holy God, through the intercessions of the Holy Great Martyr George, may reward all of you according to your hearts.
May the blessing of Saint George be with us all.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
