The Trophy Bearer of Love (Memory of Saint Great Martyr George) [Teachings from Mount Athos]

Today our Church celebrates a martyr's feast. If we attempt to glorify the Saint being celebrated, we will probably diminish him. This Saint is the glory of the Martyrs, the boast of the Saints, the honor of heaven and the triumphant Church. He is the all-great George. There is no Christian mouth, from infancy to the last dying beat of the heart, that does not invoke his sweet name. There is no Christian country where there are not even the ruins of a church built in his memory.

This saint hides a great mystery, which has not been adequately explored. What is the reason for so much love of the people towards him? But his own love for the people is also so great that it prevents us from forgetting him, but constantly invokes him. Within three or four Christian families, there will definitely be the name George. Because, there is no family in which the love of this Saint did not intervene to help. This hero succeeded in completing his Christian identity, not only through the confession of faith, but also through martyrdom. And he continues it even after his martyrdom. He embraced the Church, the believers of all centuries in the four corners of the world. And where, there is still no Orthodoxy, where there is the fog of idolatry, there he arrives uninvited and gives the presence of his love. He was rightly called by the Church, “Athlophoros”, “Tropaiophoros” and “Megalomartys”. All Martyrs are great, because they all sacrificed their lives and manifested their perfect love for our Christ. But the “Tropaiophoros” and “Megalomartys” do not belong so much to the bravery he displayed in the tortures, but in my opinion, to the fullness of his love, which existed not only in the period in which he lived, but also afterwards until the end of the ages, so that it prevents every pulse of pain and supports whoever invokes his name.

For us monks, Saint George is a patron and protector. In the Ode of the Saint, the canon says: “And you, O Holy Mountain, danced now with an excellent scythe and joyful laughter, for you have found and preserved Great George, the mountain guard.” After the Lady Theotokos, he comes as the protector of this place and the monks. Four monasteries and several cells and huts are dedicated to his holy name.

His life states that his father, Gerontius, was a Christian and was martyred. George was also a Christian from a young age. At the age of 22, he purchased the office of count. When he went to receive the title in order to be promoted, he saw that his superiors were drafting a decree of persecution against Christians. He was astonished why they were so shamelessly ordering the destruction of Christians without sparing them. He took off his belt, ordered it to his leaders and shouted: “I am a Christian. I will not obey your decree.” From this moment his martyrdom began. And this Great Martyr, despite his young age, patiently endured all the insults and dishonors, without going mad. With paternal amnesia and affection he endured those terrible tortures and worked miracles to convince them – although he knew that they would not believe – but so as not to diminish the power of Grace. He performed the miracle and said: “I will do it, but you will not believe.” And he raised a dead man who had died three hundred years ago.

And what really moves us is the amnesiac he had, while he could have reprimanded them. He could have treated them with a fierce tone, and he spoke to them with great sympathy.

We, as monks, are exemplified by his generosity and self-denial, because we are strengthened in our own bloodless martyrdom of conscience. The martyrs were told: “Either you deny or confess.” And they did not deny and died. This phase does not exist for us now. However, there is the mysterious war of the mental tyrant, which constantly tempts us. It is as if he says: “Either you will worship the multifaceted idol of sin, or I will bring you temptation, or illness, or turmoil.” And we respond with a raised voice: “I will worship the Lord my God and Him MONASTERY I will worship. I neither worship your gods, nor do I worship your image.” We truly draw great courage from this giant. We are like-minded. For the love of Christ, he did not hesitate, not only to the wealth, values, titles, and luxury that were open to him, but also to his life, which he sacrificed.

And we, in the difficult days we are going through, believe that the same God who was then is now, with the same fatherly affection and sympathy, and strengthens our littleness. And we, with the same intention, prefer the love of our Christ, faith and submission to Him, over the rest. Thanks to this, we, too, with our poor strength, have braved the violent river of worldly confusion and vanity. We have denied our families and even this nature and find ourselves self-exiled in this place, with the same expectation; fleeing from the motives of causes, far from scandals, within the framework of the freedom we have through the Grace of our Christ, to prove practically that we love our Christ truly, and that we worthily abhor the devil and sin.

Sometimes we do not succeed due to inexperience, ignorance, or weakness, but we never betray our intention. We constantly confess that “We worship the Lord our God and Him MONASTERY we worship,” and because of His love, “we have overcome all obstacles,” drawing courage from the cloud of Martyrs who have walked this path and left it to us as a legacy. We firmly believe that Divine Grace will certainly remain with us and we too will achieve our goal. In this way, we achieve two great good things. First, our own salvation and second, we are a support to our brothers in Christ, who remain in society and bear the harsh and heavy yoke of social life and struggle with so many opposites and adversities, with so many sufferings, so that they too may not deny, but confess to the extent of their strength. Light for us are the Angels and light for the Christians of the world are the monks, because today they cannot find Great Anthony, Paisios, Pachomius, they have passed away. Today, we, the humble, find ourselves in this position, holding the same emblems, the same lines, the same tradition, continuing the same course.

Let us all, with the right intention, rush to the love of Saint George, because he seeks these occasions to project his powerful embassy and to strengthen our struggle. “Blessed is he who has acquaintances in Zion and relatives in Jerusalem.” Here we are too; we have acquaintances and relatives of Saint George, whom we have praised with few words, in order to give him the occasion and pretext to repay his godly love and to grant us heaven. Amen.

Source: Elder Joseph, Teachings from Athos, Psychofeli Vatopedina 8, 3rd Edition, Published by the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, Mount Athos 1999