By Fr. George Dorbarakis
"Let us hasten to offer a supplication to Christ, as we have united in a way theoria and praxis; that our buried nous, as another dead Lazarus, may be revived through His dread authority, so we may bring forth and cry out with the palm branches of righteousness: Blessed is He who comes" (Matins, Kathisma, Plagal of the First Tone).
We do not know whether the holy hymnographer uses the terms theoria and praxis in their spiritual sense, namely praxis as the practical exercise of virtues and theoria as the illumination that God gives from this exercise, since "one enters into theoria through praxis." He probably does have this in mind, given that the nous can be in a hypnotic state, at the time when the believer initially practices the virtues to purify himself from pleasures. Or it could be taken as a basis in the fact of the resurrection of the dead Lazarus by the Lord in Bethany (theoria), in order to see it in relation to our own life (praxis). Either way, what does he tell us? Let us supplicate the Lord, as when He came and resurrected Lazarus, to do the same for us, because our own nous, which is the center of our psychosomatic existence, lies buried and dead like another Lazarus, due of course to our ignorance and sins.
It is assumed in the thought of our hymnographer that sin sadly deadens our spiritual eye, our nous, and its rebirth, its resurrection, can only happen with the almighty energy of the Lord's presence. He alone has the power to channel life into the abyss of our Hades and to give us repentance, which also constitutes the resurrection of our spiritual life.
What will be the sign that our nous has truly risen? On the one hand, our life in accordance with His holy will with the palm branches of our joy, and on the other hand, that our cry of doxology for His condescension may come and always come within the boundaries of our personal life.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
