Protopresbyter George Dorbarakis
"Severely wounded by the sword of pleasures, O Compassionate One, with your compassionate inclination, bandage and heal me, Word, so that I may gratefully glorify you for eternity." (Clean Tuesday, 8th Ode)
Among the many spiritual devotional delicacies of the day, the holy hymnographer offers us the above hymn, which in summary defines the entire framework of the Christian’s journey. The grateful glorification of God, he emphasizes, is the constant aspiration of the Christian: we were created by Christ, we hold on to Him and move forward, we strive towards Him. “By Him and through Him and for Him all things were created” (Saint Paul). Glorifying God therefore means always looking to the Lord (“my eyes are always towards the Lord”) and to Him to cast all the strength of my soul and heart – an unceasing movement of love, according to His central commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength.” Is this not the purpose for which the Lord created us also fulfilled? From the "in the image" to the "according to the likeness."
It is the path of a person’s spiritual health, the hymnographer notes. Only those who have been healed spiritually, that is, have their spiritual eyes cleansed, can see the Lord, feel His love, thank Him and glorify Him. We suddenly remember the one and only of the ten lepers healed by the Lord, who returned to thank Him for his healing. He returned, says the Evangelist Luke, with a loud voice glorifying God. And what did he do? He fell at the feet of Christ, thanking Him. Then, having been healed, we glorify God correctly, when we always turn with thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what the Church poet reminds us of: "Heal me, Word, so that I may gratefully glorify you for eternity."
However, the believer resorts to the Lord as the Physician of souls and bodies, because he sees his wounds that make him a prisoner of this world and do not allow him to open up to the Lord. And these wounds are what the sword of pleasures creates in him. The carnal sinful mind that always seeks the pleasures of this life is the permanent problem of man, and especially of the Christian who is aware of this tragic reality. As all our Holy Fathers note: “Carnal pleasures and a proud mindset afflict man.” And the remark is of great importance: sin and its mindset may seem to bring pleasure, but deep down they constitute the wound and affliction of man – the pleasure that becomes pain! This is the drama of most people today: to sin and not feel that it is our destruction.
Thus the “scheme” of the conscious path of the Christian is presented before us in full view: we feel the wounds of our sinful mindset, we take refuge in Christ who is our Physician and Healer, our eyes are opened and with the senses of the soul we glorify and thank God. Needless to say, this path also erases the true signs of repentance: awareness of sin, turning to God to find my home, that is, myself.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
