By Fr. George Dorbarakis
1. Saint Dionysios, who surpassed all others in wealth, glory, prudence, and wisdom, was one of the members of the Council of the Areopagus in Athens. He heard the Apostle Paul preaching when he came to Athens and through him believed in Christ, was baptized, and afterward was ordained bishop of the city, having first been initiated into the mysteries of the faith by the wise Hierotheos. He left us writings that are extraordinary, wondrous, and of the highest order.
After the Saint had interpreted the form of the ecclesiastical order, he then went to the West, when Domitian was emperor. In the city of Paris, in particular, he performed many miracles, and there he was beheaded. One miracle that many witnessed was that, after his martyrdom, he walked for a distance of two miles while holding his severed head in his hands. He did not stop until he encountered, certainly by divine providence, a woman named Catula, into whose palms he placed his head as though it were a treasure. Two of his disciples, Rusticus and Eleutherius, were beheaded together with him, whereupon the bodies of these Saints, together with the martyred body of the sacred preacher, were thrown as prey to the beasts and birds. Some of the faithful then took the relics of the Saints and deposited them in a hidden place, because of the fear that existed on account of the persecutors. When the fear of the persecutions had ceased, the blessed Catula deposited the relics of the martyrs in a building, on the third day of the month of October.
Saint Dionysios was of medium height in bodily appearance, slender, white in complexion but also somewhat yellowish, with a slightly short nose and thick eyebrows. His eyes were deep-set and his ears large, while he had white and long hair, and his beard was moderately long but sparse. He had a slight belly and long fingers.
2. While Saint Dionysios is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the first and few who believed in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Apostle Paul in Athens, nevertheless a major historical and philological problem arose concerning the authenticity of the theological texts attributed to him. These texts were indeed given his name and exerted a very great influence in both the East and the West, but in more recent times their authenticity has been strongly questioned, because of “the complete absence of any reference to the works of Dionysios before the sixth century, but also because of the very nature of the text, which is very far removed from the artless simplicity of the early Christian era, both in its linguistic terminology and in its manner of thought” (Fr. Georges Florovsky). We will certainly not concern ourselves here with this problem, both because it lies beyond the limits of a simple commentary on the life of Saint Dionysios and because the hymnographer on whose work we are proceeding regards the identity of these texts as a given: they are by Saint Dionysios.
The ecclesiastical poet, primarily Saint Theophanes, repeatedly emphasizes, first of all, the particular relationship of the Saint with the Apostle Paul. The Apostle was the fisherman who “fished” him into the nets of Christ with the hook of the grace of God. He became his disciple, he who was a beholder of heavenly things, having reached as far as the third heavens; therefore he himself also became a heavenly initiate. He became a true divine image of Paul, and precisely because of his communion with him and with the other Apostles, he was deemed worthy also to behold the life-bearing body of the most revered Theotokos upon her deathbed. And according to the Hymnographer, the reason for this obedience of his to the Holy Apostle was the prudence that distinguished him throughout his life. The Hymnographer emphasizes this latter point because many heard the great Apostle, but very few obeyed him. As is well known, the presence of the Apostle Paul in Athens was crowned, according to human judgment, by almost complete failure. This is the human assessment, since the overwhelming majority of the Athenians mocked him for his preaching and, laughing, got up and left. There were only a few, however. And these few, among whom were “Dionysios the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and certain others with them,” ultimately constituted the “leaven” through which the Christian faith would take root in the years that followed.
The words of the poet himself concerning the truths mentioned above ring out with flowing clarity:
“With the hook of grace, the divinely inspired Paul, wisely preaching, caught you alive, made you a hierophant, and made you a beholder of ineffable things, seeing you as a chosen vessel.” (Vespers sticheron)
“Having become a disciple of the divine Paul, Dionysios, the beholder of heavenly things, you immediately became a heavenly initiate and a herald of God.” (Ode 1)
“As one who was truly an image of the chosen vessel, you teach the divine mysteries by the Spirit.” (Matins kathisma)
“Deemed worthy to become a beholder of the Holy Apostles and a fellow-laborer, you became a partaker of their glory and with them hastened to behold the body that is truly life-bearing, of the only and most revered Theotokos.” (Ode 9)
“Adorned with God-befitting prudence, O God-minded one, you inclined your ear to the divine mystagogue.” (Ode 6)
The poet Theophanes, who, as we said, considers the texts attributed to Saint Dionysios to be genuine, refers to them in order to emphasize the theological profundity of the Saint, who, initiated into heavenly things, illumined through his word both the Holy Trinity and the orders of the holy angels and the Church itself.
“Most philosophically, O blessed Dionysios, as much as was possible, becoming like God, you piously and mystically unfolded the divine names in a divinely inspired exposition, O God-minded one.” (Vespers sticheron)
“By virtue, O Father Dionysios, having made your mind equal to that of the angels, you, most wise one, recorded in sacred books the transcendent order of the hierarchy of the angels, according to which you ordered the structures of the Church, imitating the orders of heaven.” (Vespers sticheron)
The Hymnographer therefore does not hesitate, for the reason stated above, to characterize Saint Dionysios as a “Trinitarian theologian” (Ode 3) and as a “telescope of heaven” (Synaxarion oikos). Astonished, moreover, by the philosophical and theological intellect of the Saint, he notes:
“Philosophizing lawfully, you attained the gifts of wisdom. Theologizing divinely, you left behind Orthodox doctrines, O all-blessed one.” (Ode 6)
And he concludes in a marvelous way:
“Your life is wondrous, your word more wondrous, your tongue radiant with light, your mouth breathing fire, O blessed Dionysios. And your mind, O Father, is truly most Godlike.” (Ode 6)
At some point, however, it is as though the holy poet comes back down to earth and leaves behind the lofty writings of Dionysios. He sees what is before him, namely the Saint himself, with his double crown, which is not his writings but his priesthood and his martyrdom. And he notes: You gained Paradise because you were a hierarch as God desires, and you mingled your priesthood with the blood of your martyrdom.
“You became an heir of the divine Kingdom in the heavens as a lawful hierarch, O Father, and as an invincible athlete, mingling the anointing of the priesthood with the blood of martyrdom. Therefore you worthily received a double crown, O hieromystagogue Dionysios." (Ode 9)
We do not think that this reference by the holy poet at the conclusion of his Canon is accidental. It is perhaps as though he is telling us: the Saint may have written magnificent texts; he may have described the heavenly world, initiated by the Apostle Paul and illumined by the Spirit of God; but ultimately, his entrance into the Kingdom of God depended rather on how lawfully he conducted himself according to his calling from God and on how steadfast he remained in the faith until the end of his life, even to the offering of his blood. Saint Dionysios indeed “kept the faith”; therefore “through him the renowned Metropolis of Athens became even more renowned” (Ode 8).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
