Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe: "The Iconic RITUAL" (translation from Romanian by Alice Butnar)

Holy Virgin Maria with Infant Jesus, icon painted by monk Ilie




















O, MOTHER OF GOD, from Your Image,
A SPIRIT of Mystery is Born.
The ICON from ABOVE is in You,
For You Hold in Your Arms the DIVINE JESUS,
The Icon of below, of the Earth is in You,
For You are an Image of Creation,
And thus in Your ICON
God and Creation are Together.

O, SPIRIT of Hesychy,
That shows itself as Creation,
Gift presenting DIVINITY Embodied.

Kneeling before the ICON,
Before the Image of Mystery,
I am filled with the Consuming SPIRIT
And the most Purifying Fire.

GOD Becomes Created Being in the World,
While I, the worldly one
ASCEND into GOD.

This is the MYSTERY of my DESTINY.

O, ICON-IMAGE of the MOTHER OF GOD,
You open for me the DOOR towards GOD,
Who EMBODIES into the World,
For me also to Embody into GOD.

I am starting myself to see into the FIRST MYSTERY of Hesychastic LIFE:
ASCENDING towards GOD is the PATH of the Hesychy,
And the ICON-IMAGE of the MOTHER OF GOD
Is the LITURGY PROSPHORA
That opens Heaven’s DOORS.

O, AKATHIST OF THE ICON,
You keep singing in me, like a LITURGY,
That makes me also become
A LIVING Church.

And the RITUAL of MYSTERY starts working in me,
A RITUAL that gives birth to the SPIRIT of Hesychy.

*

The VENERATION of the ICON
Is a SPIRIT of great MYSTERY.

WORSHIP is like FLYING
For the LONGING Heart
That falls to GOD’S feet,
And then FLIES again high into the Sky,
FLIES in endless SINGING.


*

As I am kneeling before the ICON,
The INFANT CHRIST, that the ICON is holding,
TURNS the whole World into His Own ICON.

The VIRGIN-MOTHER is the ICON of the WORLD,
The INFANT CHRIST is the ICON of GOD,
And Their MEETING of MYSTERY
Endows the World with the DIVINE CLOTH.

*

Where could I find the IMAGE of the SUN
Wherein my Mind I could REST?
There it is, in the Arms of the ICON of the MOTHER of GOD,
In CHRIST, the DIVINE INFANT.

O, SUN of Great MYSTERY,
An Innocent INFANT-LAMB,
In Whom all the LIGHT
In HEAVEN and on Earth has GATHERED.

Hesychy, LIGHT of the EMBODIED DIVINE SUN,
MYSTERY of the ICON, Hesychy,
May Your SPIRIT COME in me as well . . .

Who may speak of the IMAGE of the FATHER?
The Only One Who may,
Is the IMAGE of the SON.

The SON is the WORD-LIKENESS,
Who is BORN from the FATHER,
The LIGHT-the SHOWING.

And also from the FATHER
Is BEGOTTEN the WARMTH, the IMAGE of the SPIRIT,
And Together with the LIGHT
THEY ARE the TRINITY Itself.

The SON of the FATHER’S IMAGE is Singing,
The SPIRIT of the FATHER’S IMAGE is Sealing,
Both in the Son and in the SPIRIT
The FATHER is RESTING,
And the FATHER, the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT
Are the UNITED TRINITY.

The FATHER, NAME GREATEST,
The SON, NAME DEAREST,
The SPIRIT, NAME HOLIEST.

To YOU, GOD TRINITY
All our WORSHIP.

*

Turn your Mind Infant,
Turn your Heart Infant,
Turn all your Senses Infant,
Akin to the INFANT CHRIST,
And along with the DIVINE INFANT
SAY the PRAYER of the HEAVENLY FATHER.

Who can take in all of GOD’S LOVE? . . .
Only His SON can.

And the LOVE of the SON, only Your IMAGE of MOTHER.

O IMAGE of Great MYSTERY,
You, IMAGE most CHOSEN,
Though an IMAGE of CREATION,
By Holding the Divine SON in Your Arms,
You become Venerated ICON:
Rejoice, O ICON of Divine Embodiment.

*

O GOD, my LORD,
When Thou dost SHOW Thyself to my Soul,
All lights grow “dim”,
And only Thou, the PERSONAL ONE,
Art PRESENT both inside and outside.

The Mind’s eyes close,
The body’s eyes as well.
Through the IMAGE of HYPOSTASIS
I myself can see Thee.

Mind’s eyes, close your thought-lashes,
Light, enter the sanctuary of “beyond”,
The Source of LIFE Itself,
Wherefrom everything can Spring forth,
Whereto everything can “return and rest”,
HE – the HYPOSTASIS, through Whom everything is,
And all exists in HIS SHADOW.

ICON, EYE of Mystery,
Through You LOOKS the very HYPOSTASIS of BEING,
That issues forth the LIGHT,
Which makes the UNSEEN Visible.

ICON, IMAGE Manifest,
You become the PLACE of Mystery,
Where CREATION can SHOW itself
As BREAD-EUCHARIST.

ICON EYE,
In You GOD can be SEEN
And at the same time we, Creation, can see ourselves
Beside GOD.

ICON EYE,
You are the CHURCH of Mystery,
Where the Mind kneels quietly,
As into an OVERHEART,
Where GOD’S HEART is BEATING
And where all the Hearts
Are also Beating, as they are Kneeling.

Supernatural PLACE of the ICON,
From here one can HEAR the DIVINE WORD
That You WRITE as into a BOOK,
TABERNACLE of the FINGER of GOD.

ICON, IMAGE and PLACE of Mystery,
Through You we can MEET GOD.

*

At one moment beyond time,
The SON Creates also an IMAGE of Son of CREATION,
Into which HE Himself EMBODIES
And comes before GOD the FATHER:
“FATHER, here I am, Thy SON
In TWO IMAGES at the same time,
As the absolute SON of BEING that Thou hast BORN,
And as the Son of Creation that I have Conceived.
Two IMAGES beyond confusion, but UNITED
In my ONE HYPOSTASIS of SON of Thine.”

And the FATHER BLESSES,
And the Image of the World starts “Being”.

*

I can no longer dwell in darkness,
Ghosts are torturing me …


LIGHT, where art Thou?

Am I truly blind,
Or is it night outside?

From this world full of sins
The SUN was taken away,
And you must go to the “Realm Beyond”,
Take the SUN into a VESSEL
And BRING it Home again.

There is a PLACE where you can find a LADDER,
The PLACE in the ICON,
With one end hung up in Heaven
And the other one on the Earth,
Down this Ladder the SUN is descending,
And as you are standing at the foot of the LADDER,
You must CATCH the SUN into a CERTAIN VESSEL,
Lest it should flow down relentlessly.

Take care to “guard” your Head and Eyes,
Your Mind should think no thought
And you should close your Eyes,
For a Great POWER
Radiates from the SUN,
And will “crush” your Mind and Body,
And through your Eyes it will “burn” your Body…

Stay prostrate, with Hands on your Chest,
Plug your Ears, in order not to Hear Him,
For His thunder and lightning is so loud,
That you shall not remain whole ….

O, what a miracle, a DIVINE INFANT
Is the Heavenly SUN!
He Peacefully Descends
Down the Ladder of the ICON,
He has Hands of LIGHT,
And with a Moving VOICE
He SINGS, inspiring awe:
“Our FATHER of us all,
Thou art the LORD of all LORDS,
FATHER, the ALL HOLY NAME,
From Thee everything SPRINGS FORTH”
And He keeps Singing
While DESCENDING
So low that He touches your very Bosom…
He wants to COME INTO your Heart,
But your Heart is too narrow,
And thus He Remains in your Palms …


You stand so still …
Afraid not to Lose Him,
Afraid you might get burned,
His VOICE somehow
Makes you also start Singing,
“Our FATHER Who art in HEAVEN”…

*

Down the LADDER of the ICON
The Embodied WORD has Descended
And has STOPPED …
And you are Glad and saddened
For He has Come to you, yet you cannot
Receive Him into your cramped and miserable Heart.

O, DIVINE Joy and sinner’s cry,
O, Heaven and hell together,
You are no longer split by the “abyss”,
The LADDER of the WORD is between you.

Thou, LORD hast Created me as Being,
And hast BLOWN over me the SEAL of Thy IMAGE,
Yet I stand “below” Thee,
And Thou must THEN COME into me
And I must Then Receive Thee,
For otherwise I remain “without” Thy Likeness,
That only Thou can GIVE me
As EUCHARIST,
Thy Eternal KINGDOM.

LORD, Thou hast BLOWN Thy IMAGE in me,
That is now WRITTEN, as once on Moses’ Stone,
Yet Thy Seal is only Thy SHADOW.

This Divine SEAL
Carries within the LONGING for Thee,
For MEETING with Thee,
For Thee to ENTER then into my Being,
Into my Heart-my Chamber most adorned.

*

Do not dare looking UP,
Do not dare lifting your Mind up to Heaven,
Behold Christ who is Descending
Down the Earth as a LADDER,
Keep your head bent,
Keep your Mind in prostration,
Put your Hands on your Chest
And cling on to the LADDER,
That has its lower end in your Heart.


The LADDER-CHRIST Binds Heaven to Earth.

He comes down the LADDER,
Your Heart is too narrow,
And cannot Hold Him,
Thus He stays at your Bosom
Like an ICON hanging at your Neck.

O, ICON of CHRIST
Sealed onto my Chest,
My Heart starts hearing
Thy Mystery of Son of GOD,
It can hear Thee Praying to the FATHER,
And thus it awakens in me
The LONGING for Prayer.

I do not dare do anything else
But the RITUAL of the ICON,
To Venerate the ICON,
To bend my Mind in prostration,
To hold the LADDER tightly to my Chest,
To cling to it desperately
When the “waves” of the passions within me
And the chasms of the world are eager to swallow me up.

O, ICON-LADDER of CHRIST,
O, GOD’S LOVE,
I Bear Thee as a priceless TREASURE,
And wait for my Heart to be able to
Open like a Tabernacle-Shrine,
Where I can RECEIVE Thee
And never lose Thee again.

O ICON, ICON
LADDER from Heaven to the Earth,
I hang You at my Bosom,
Where CHRIST the Mystery is dwelling.

*

Lord Jesus, “A Certain Word of Thine”
Is “the Holy Table and Gospel” in my Being-Soul,
Word that Thou hast Uttered when Thou hast Created me, Word-Altar Image of God.
And this “Word of Mystery” through the Calling-Prayer of Thy Name
“Becomes Liturgy-Eucharist” in the Church of my Being,
The Communion of the Holy Trinity of Whose Great Priest Thou art.


Published in the volume "Hesychasm", Platytera Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007, pp. 49-60. Translation from Romanian: Alice Butnar.
Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

The Romanian (Original) Version can be found here.
The German Version can be found here.

HESYCHASM. THE MYSTICISM OF CHRISTIAN LITURGY. The Beginning of Christian Liturgical Language (translation from Romanian by Simona Ionescu)

2. The Beginning of Christian Liturgical Language

Hesychasm is the Holy Mystery of the Word-the Son of God descended into the Creation. The Christian Revelation speaks of the mystery of the Holy Trinity as Divine Life in Itself.
God the Father is the absolute LOVE, the Holy Spirit is the absolute AFFECTION-the Memory in Motion of the LOVE, and the Son is the absolute DEVOTION-LITURGY-EXPRESSION. Here is the origin of all origins. Christ Our Lord comes with the revelation of this IMAGE of God. ''He who has seen Me has seen the Father'' (John 14:9). The Son is the Word of the Father. ''In the beginning was the Word'' (John 1:1). Hence the Image of God is DISCOURSE-EXPRESSION-LITURGY.
Here the Hesychastic Mysticism identifies its existence. ''TO BE'' means ''TO EXPRESS-TO SERVE LITURGY''. The WORD is IMAGE-PERSON; Christianity comes with the rediscovery of the Image in itself, which means PERSON. The First Christian Liturgical Word is IMAGE-PERSON. Hesychasm is the Mystery of the COMMUNICATION IMAGE-PERSON, as a PERSON to PERSON. The Fall from Grace darkens this Existential Communication. The Mystery of the IMAGE-PERSON is the TRIPLE EXISTENCE IN ITSELF, the IMAGE is Absolute Existence-Totality of the self, indestructible Permanence in an endless opening of the self. The IMAGE as Wholeness is the TRIPLE EXISTENCE OF THE SELF, as ONE Who is already open in Itself as a Potency of Self-expression.
The absolute IMAGE is God the FATHER, Who is already in Himself the IMAGE-FATHER-TRIPLE EXISTENCE, as a Potency of the Proceeding of THE HOLY SPIRIT and the Nativity of the SON. Hence the IMAGE or PERSON is inherently IMAGE-TRIPLE EXISTENCE of the Self. And God's IMAGE Descends into the Creation through the PERSONAL IMAGE OF CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD. ''He who has seen Me has seen the Father'' (John 14:9).
The Second Christian Liturgical Word is PRIESTHOOD, meaning the descent of God's IMAGE into the Creation. Hence the connection made by Christ's PERSONAL IMAGE. Therefore the fundamental Christian LITURGICAL IMAGES are the IMAGE-PERSON, PRIESTHOOD-CHRIST, and Church-Creation. From this further generate all the other Liturgical Images. It is worth mentioning that at the basis of the LITURGY of these IMAGES lies the LITURGICAL RITE, THE IMAGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Divinity in Itself is the absolute HOLINESS, God the FATHER in the RITE-MOVEMENT-GESTURE of the Holy SPIRIT, as a LITURGY OF THE SON. This IMAGE of Divinity in Itself, that is beyond all the Images of the Creation, Descends into Images of the Creation through the Creation LITURGY SERVING of the Very LITURGY of the SON of God. Hence the Hesychastic experience is HOLINESS-IMAGE OF GOD in the RITE OF GRACE-IMAGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT through the LITURGY OF CHRISTIAN EUCHARISTIC PRIESTHOOD. The Hesychastic
experience is a relentless extension of RITE and CHRISTIAN LITURGY. Hence the so-called 'Ladder' of Mystical Hesychastic Liturgy Serving.

a) IMAGE OF GOD, beyond all Images, yet the generator of all Images;
b) IMAGE OF CHRIST-IMAGE of God descended into the Creation, PRIESTHOOD-CHRISTIAN LITURGY;
c) Image of Created Being, the Church;
d) THE RITE-Liturgy Serving in the Creation;
e) THE HOLY COMMUNION-EUCHARIST-UNION between God's Image and the Image of the Creation;
f) THE TRANSFIGURATION-UNIFICATION in experiencing All of the Above.
The Hesychastic Experience is the experience of DIVINE LOVE felt by the Creation. Hesychasm is LONGING for God-Permanent SPIRIT in Itself in a Relentless LAMENTING-CHANTING-LITURGY SERVING. THE RITE OF THE SPIRIT-LONGING FOR GOD is the Heart of the Soul that relentlessly beats for GOD'S LOVE in the LITURGY SERVING-LAMENTING-BREATHING- EXPRESSION of the Soul directly.

O Lord JESUS, my Heart Beats in the RITE OF MY LONGING for You
IN LITURGY SERVING-HOLY EUCHARIST.
Come O Holy SPIRIT, dwell in me with the LONGING for God,
Come O JESUS, dwell in me where I may sing to you,
Come Heavenly FATHER, so I may fall into YOUR ARMS,
so I may partake of THE LAST SUPPER.

Published in the volume Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe, "THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE DIVINE LITURGY", Platytera Publishing House, 2009, pp. 111-113. Translation from Romanian: Simona Ionescu.

Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe: "Hesychasm, the Threefold Akathist of the Heart" (translation from Romanian by Alice Butnar)

In the Heart the Soul shows her Image and abides as in a barge,
From the Heart the Soul is spreading out her “Rays” as Body,
In the Heart the Soul Sings Divine Laud to its Creator.

From the Heart the Soul stretches out and Meets other Souls,
From the Heart the Soul opens up and pours herself out endlessly over the Heart,
Into the Heart the Souls Receives God Himself – as into a Church.

The Soul is our Created Substance of Being,
That has also an Energy that becomes Body,
As we are a Unity of Created Being that has its own Created Energies.

The fall from Heaven with the evil sin “splits us into two”,
Tearing asunder our Soul Being from its Energies, the Body,
Therefore, we seem made up of two estranged realities, which hate each other to death …

The fall also breaks us away from our Creator and makes us blind and mute, without the Holy Singing.
And the suffering of death and darkness frightens us ever.
And we wish to regain the Peace and Rest of eternal Life.

The Body’s Mind must be Sacralized through Christic Prayer,
The Body’s Senses must be Sacralized through Repentance and Fasting,
And the Spirit of the Soul must be awoken through the Lord Christ Coming into one’s Heart.

Hesychasm is thus a “Threefold Akathist” of Holy Prayer,
The Prayer of the Mind – in the Ceaseless Singing of the Divine Name,
The Prayer of the Senses – through Fasting,
And the Prayer of the Spirit – through direct Repentance of the Soul.

Come, Lord Jesus, into my Heart and awaken my Soul,
Come into my Heart and give Sight to my sin-blinded Eyes,
Come into my Heart, Lord Jesus, for my Soul to “Meet” Thee!

I make my Mind a Speaking Prayer,
My Senses I make Repentance-feeling Prayer,
My Soul I make Speaking-direct Communion with Thee.

Lord, Absolute Father, have mercy on me! – Forgiveness of the fallen Creation,
All-Holy Spirit, have mercy on me! – Spirit of the Praying Heart,
Lord Jesus, have mercy on me! – Ceaseless Prayer of the Heart...

Published in the volume "Hesychasm", Platytera Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007, pp. 61-62. Translation from Romanian: Alice Butnar.

Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

The Romanian (Original) Version can be found here.
The German Version can be found here.

Florin Caragiu: "Sentic" (poems translated from Romanian by Simona Ionescu) (I)

Photo by Diana Popescu




















nearfar

you love to sneak into the room when I’m not aware,
like I’m not aware of my past anymore
when I pass through a paper wall
upon which a maestro has retouched a familiar hatred.

notebooks fill up the stove.
newspapers will no longer talk about laws suspension,
as the night when we spread flowers on the seawall
and test the sand
does not repeat itself. that says a lot about love’s arrhythmia
you can’t deny, even though you are the target
of a tidy invasion, whose meaning changes
by choice with every abandoned house.

and I want you nearfar,
I shake my weaknesses off of you and let myself show.
but that unique night does not leave the corridor
you run through in broad daylight, away from the crowd,
to a place where you can start to make them out.


3:30 am

it´s cold and almost dawn. I am not battling evil, I am too beat up already
by the sadness of the cut-down apricot-trees. the serenity with which
I follow the floating sticks
leaves in me the fear of your unexpected arrival. I am ready to fight
before falling asleep, yet no challenge reaches up to me. I fight for you,
for the smoke black skimpily spent.

I withdraw when victory baffles me. that´s when I see
how much I´ve lost with one breath and that things cause my thought to surface. water remembers the constant circling
and the void left behind on your sudden departure.
I drink it in with the same thirst
I bump into words, when the support withdraws
and I bury your image in the garden for later,
when abandonment no longer threatens it. I get dressed slowly,
preserving the warmth of your lips. you can´t hear me, but you behave
as though you obeyed a calling from nearby. and we are now
miles and miles away, still it´s good to have some space
when you love. the number calculates nothing but the impact against the bulwarks, when the body is already half-buried in the ground
and only the song that emerges keeps you alive.


round years

a feet game tears up the round years and the nettle bushes,
gathers us around inside the resonance box of an image.

pretty soon we´ll all be the same age.
suddenly our houses will turn small to fit into the non-empty intersection
of the interiors reshaped after a form of freedom
that grind up the words until they sparkle
with the raw love wandering among us.
nothing compares to the trust you have in a face
that washes your blood in several waters – an evening and a morning.

you watch your food come out of inertia and shine
inside your hungry mouth, while you throw yourself on the ground
to erase the fingerprints with your borrowed breast.

we only have time to glance at each other,
when the sun rolls upon the sound attached at the ends by uvulae,
fearless of the epidemic of unreachable happiness.
while your sleep keeps the dolphins hanging in the air, you can wear your soul
on the side kissed by pain; the need to breathe
teaches me not to lose you in the crowd.

your name is an eye hidden inside me, each time I find myself
thrown to the beasts by a gentle light.


sentic*

with your hand on your heart, with both hands on your heart
in the short recess from pain, you mumble
a song. you look around and quiver. you see nothing.
the things that used to support the utterance lose their fixity,
the words eager to explore the possible
are hindered by signs. not that they stopped radiating
a dim light, but a man who cleaned up the spot ruined by addictions
turns his attention towards something you can´t see,
though you know it is happening. I can tell you now
that I didn´t love you. no, I did love you! yet not to the point where
the angel cuts the red scarf with which I tied up my senses.
they weren't free, they couldn't drag out of my mouth
the knife with which you smear the colors on your canvas.
they didn´t know that sins are hit by a sublime hatred,
generated by the loving care of a Being you don´t know,
although your moves draw a breath from around it
to the spot touched by illness. you´ve got to protect me
from far away, ask those who can to raise one hand,
then lower it slowly towards the heart.

_____________________

* Word created by Dr. Manfred Clynes, who showed that emotion – as a full human experience – can be an experience that does not subdue. In the Christian sense, we speak of an 'understanding emotion'. (A/N)


transfusions

however absurd it may seem,
many people expect from you
some sort of redemption.

your face reveals the way in which pain
keeps you glued to their bodies –
signaling you as a universal donor.

in vain you may try to demonstrate the opposite,
for your own hell itself
dreams of that
and takes the shape of the cross
which made room for you
to disrobe yourself of your mother.

more and more people
wish to test your soul
and thrust your words into their veins
like transfusion needles.


(poems published in the volume "Sentic", Vinea Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009, pp. 8-12. English translation: Simona Ionescu.)

HESYCHASM. THE MYSTICISM OF CHRISTIAN LITURGY (translation from Romanian by Simona Ionescu)

Motto:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
In the beginning was the Liturgy (the Word), and the Liturgy was with God, and the Liturgy was God.


1. Hesychasm – Relentless Extension of Christian Liturgy

Hesychasm is a relentless Christian Liturgy in the chanting of the Heart's Mind and of the Soul directly. Hesychastic Prayer is the Chant of Relentless continuous Liturgy Serving in those who wish to be the Living Church of Christ. Hesychasm is Mystical Unification through Christ. Christ is Eucharistic Liturgy. Liturgy is in the Rite of the HOLY SPIRIT and in the Chanting of the Church. The Creation is Image of Church and God is the Image of Priesthood. Without Rite and Liturgy, the Church becomes desecrated to the point of laicization. Those looking for a profound Sacred Experience have found the 'Hesychastic Way'. Hesychasm is a relentless Extension of Christian Liturgy Serving. Hermits and monks have felt the need for a relentless experience of Christ's Liturgy. Nowadays more and more people, even those living in the world, wish for this Experience. That is why Hesychasm 'descends' into the world and becomes a way for many. Hesychasm is an Extension of Christ's Church into an Inner Church, in which the Extension of Christ's Liturgy is Served continuously. The Hesychastic Way is the same for all without discrimination. Many attempt a Christianity outside the Church. Be careful. The Church is the Dwelling Place of Christ's Liturgy and Christ's Liturgy cannot be Served outside the Church. The Image of the Church is the Image of the Creation in which God the Creator Serves His Liturgy of Creation, descending into the Creation and Giving the Creation the Eucharist of His Own Godliness. To receive God, the Creation must be a Church-Consecrated Temple of the Liturgy-Descent of God into the Creation. Hesychasm is the Mystery of Grace of Christ´s Liturgy in the Rite of the IMAGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Hesychasm is the Sacred Rite of the Church of Creation precisely because it is the Descent of the Liturgy of Christ's Love into the Creation. Mysticism means Unification. Religion means connection with God. Following the sin of falling from Grace, the Connection with God weakens.
We break away from God, yet God never parts with us. That is why God relentlessly descends into the Creation through Christ's Liturgy. From the Christian perspective, our Created being is in the Image and Likeness of GOD´S IMAGE (Genesis 1:27). Hence, Hesychasm is the Mysticism of the Unification with God beyond the Created being. Christianity is not Pantheistical, but Creationist. Hesychasm means Unification first with God, through which our Soul will then distinguish itself. God Is the One Who 'Opens the Door' to our Soul, for He holds the Key... That is why Christianity begins with Receiving Christ, He then Accomplishing what we cannot accomplish. Christ descends into the Creation out of LOVE, LOVE is LITURGY. And so God's descent into the Creation is the descent of the Liturgy of His Love which becomes EUCHARIST-KINGDOM.


Published in the volume Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe, "THE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE DIVINE LITURGY", Platytera Publishing House, 2009, pp. 109-110. Translation from Romanian: Simona Ionescu.

Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

The German Version can be found here.

Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe: "IMAGE and LIKENESS. The Song of the SON of GOD" (translation from Romanian by Alice Butnar)

Holy Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus, icon painted by monk Ilie




















O, Father, the Absolute IMAGE
Who art before everything else,
The UNBORN One
And the One Who BEARS everything,
Wholeness Itself,
To Thee
The first Honouring
In Devotion.

Thou art Reborn in me, Thy SON,
And Thou art PARENT and FATHER.
In me, Thy SON, Thou art Whole
And Thy Infinity Opens into
An Infinity
That Takes in all Infinity.

My PARENT, Thou art in Me
The Absolute LOVE
That BEARS me as Son,
Unending LOVE.

Absolute PARENT and FATHER,
In me, Thy SON, Thou art – once more –
And no one can Hold Thy Depth
But Thy SON Who can Open it.

All Thy Life is in Me
And My Life is in Thee,
O, LOVE,
Thou art the ONLY ICON IMAGE
In Thyself and Without.

*

FATHER, I, Thy SON,
Am the absolute WHOLE,
The One BORN of Thee,
And nothing else is needed
But the HOLY SPIRIT
Who is also Begotten of Thee,
The TRINITY of the absolute BEING,
THE ONE in THREE Undivided FACES,
And still I, THY Son,
Also Create an Image of Creation
In my Likeness,
Into which I Myself Embody,
And thus I Appear
Twice as Thy SON:
The ONLY BEGOTTEN
And the created One
In the SAME PERSON.

Receive, my PARENT,
Also my Image of created Son,
That I ever Lay Before Thee
As a GIFT of LOVE.

And more than this,
Through this Image of created Son
I also Create a World
That shall Sing Thy Name,
Which deserves
All Love and Worship.

*

I, the SON, the CREATOR LOGOS,
Have the absolute Origin
In Thee, absolute FATHER,
Of Whom I am BORN.

Yet as Son of creation
I also need a created Origin,
That is, the Image of Mother.

To Thee, my PARENT,
I bring my Song of Son in Himself DIVINE,
And at the same time I bring my song of Son of creation
To the Mother who gives Me Body,
Two IMAGES between Whom I am,
Two LOVES that MEET
And in my Image of Son UNITE.

Published in the volume "Hesychasm", Platytera Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007, pp. 89-91. Translation from Romanian: Alice Butnar.

Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

The Romanian (Original) Version can be found here.
The German Version can be found here.

Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe: "Primordial Memories" (translation from Romanian by Alice Butnar)

1

The FATHER, the SON, the HOLY SPIRIT
Are GOD TRINITY,
One BEING and one NATURE,
The Absolute in Itself.

The SON says: “In our IMAGE
Let us also give Being
To a Created Image.
I shall endow it with the Image of the Son,
Thou, FATHER, as CREATOR,
Endow it with Being,
And Thou, HOLY SPIRIT, likewise
Endow it with Life.”

And thus TRINITY in Itself
Becomes in Creation
One more TRINITY.

2

“In the Beginning there was the WORD-the LITURGY.”
Before the beginning there was LOVE
With Its Mystery, the TRINITY,
That is BIRTH-the WORD,
That is the LITURGY.

Kneel BEFORE
The DIVINE ICON,
That is the LITURGY of LOVE,
THE IMAGE of our LORD CHRIST.

Take off the shoes of all worldly worries,
Bow your Forehead beyond “the floor of flesh”,
Step into the Bethlehem-Church,
Where the Lamb from ABOVE
Becomes also Earthly Liturgy,
For the World to be thus Born.

GOD’S LITURGY HEART is BEATING,
It is Beating both in Heaven and on Earth,
The SELFSAME HEART CHRIST,
ABOVE and Below.

Who can hinder LOVE,
Who can border it?

Behold the DIVINE LOGOS,
Who is both the DIVINE LITURGY in Itself
And the Liturgy of Creation.

The Mystery of Creation is full of awe,
For Thou, Christ, dost Liturgise it Thyself;
Thou dost EMBODY Thyself
And makest the whole World
Thine Own BODY,
So that through Thy Body we may also ASCEND
To GOD.

I myself, and each of us is
An IMAGE of Liturgy,
A Certain LOVE-WORD,
IMAGE in Eternity.

And Each of us is
Image of Creation and IMAGE of GOD;
Who MEET
Only in Thy Liturgical IMAGE.

Only in this IMAGE do I Find myself,
In my MEETING Thee,
In Thy Liturgy IMAGE,
MYSTERY of LOVE beyond words.

The LITURGY of LOVE
Never stops,
Hence it is the “HEART OF ETERNITY”,
The HEART in never-ending Beating
That never stops.

JESUS, Thy HEART is Beating
In GOD, in Heaven and on Earth,
In all the Hearts of the World,
CHALICE filled with BLOOD,
GOD’S BLOOD and the Blood of Creation,
That always in LITURGY
Become the EUCHARIST.

LORD JESUS, I myself Come
To the ALTAR of Thy LITURGY,
Where I offer myself up as a “Prosphora”
For Thee to LITURGISE it.

Do not be offended by my scanty Love.
Thou hast Created me out of THY LOVE
And the IMAGE of LOVE is SEALED
For Ever onto my Being,
Please make this SEAL into an ALTAR,
Where Thou shalt always LITURGISE
And Shalt Embody into my Being.

I have fallen out of Love
For my many sins,
And lie in the abyss of death,
But, LORD,
Receive me as a Prosphora
Of which please make a LITURGY,
And “Pour” into Thy CHALICE
Also a “drop” of my Blood,
For Thy LOVE and mine
To MEET again.

Thou GOD dost always
Bear us from Thy LOVE,
And Creation also keeps Bearing You,
And this MEETING LOVE becomes the EUCHARIST,
BREAD of Heaven and of Earth,
The WORD that was made FLESH.

DIVINE BREAD-CHRIST,
GOD and Creation in UNION,
Behold, this is the ICON that is no idol,
In which both the World and GOD Himself
REVERE at the same time.

Thou, LORD JESUS CHRIST,
SON of GOD and Son of Creation,
From the LITURGY OF LOVE
Thou Bearest the Church-the MOTHER of the WORLD,
Creation holding GOD into her Arms.

O, GOD’S LOVE full of awe,
How wondrously Thou dost become an Image of Creation,
For the World to also receive
The DIVINE Measure!

O, GOD, Thou hast taken BODY
For the World to ASCEND to GOD,
TWO LOVES that have Found each other
“Beyond the abyss of the Absolute”.

Therefore, the LITURGY OF LOVE,
The HEART of Immortality,
Must never stop.

If only once the LITURGY did stop,
Everything would at once “perish”.

LOVE is Ceaseless CELEBRATING of the LITURGY,
The Endless BIRTH of Oneself,
LOVE is the “Absolute RITUAL”
That becomes the EUCHARIST-GIFT.

What is more wonderful?
The EMBODIED DIVINE
Or Creation OVERCOMING Itself
In the DIVINE, Beyond all Created Image?
The DIVINE made Body is CHRIST,
The HOLY SPIRIT is over the Body,
And They are undivided,
They are at the same time and they are ONE.
Through CHRIST, the DIVINE becomes
The BODY of the EUCHARIST,
Through the HOLY SPIRIT, the BODY becomes
An IMAGE of GODLINESS,
CHRIST and the HOLY SPIRIT –
The CHURCH CELEBRATING its LITURGY.

A CERTAIN WORD of Thine
Has Created a Certain Soul of mine,
And the Two Images stand Face to Face,
As this is my Life,
To See myself in Thee,
Image and Likeness,
Without confusion.

I am first
A WORD of Thine,
Written into Thee, the BOOK of LIFE,
That Thou then dost UTTER
And present me as a GIFT.

The DIVINE WORD,
HEART of GOD,
BEATS in my Being,

When I hear this WORD,
My heart
Answers Likewise.

O, Mystery of UTTERING,
Mystery of BIRTH!

When I am worthy to HEAR the UTTERANCE
Of which I was Born,
Then I too, JESUS, shall become
“ONE BODY” with Thee.

3

LORD JESUS CHRIST,
ICON in Heaven and on Earth,
Thou art the IMAGE,
Through which everything was made.

The Mystery of DIVINITY
Is the Mystery of Thy BIRTH
From the FATHER, Who has no beginning.
And the Mystery of the World
Is also Thy Birth
Into an Image of Creation,
GOD and Creation
Equally.

The IMAGE of GOD the FATHER
Is beyond our Sight,
But Thy IMAGE of SON
Opens for us
A Window of Mystery.

O, IMAGE of the ICON,
Of GOD and of Creation,
Of Heaven and of Earth,
IMAGE and LIKENESS,
You deserve all WORSHIP!

4

DIVINITY Opens
The DOOR toward the World
Through the IMAGE of His SON,
In its turn, the World opens a Door
That allows GOD to be SEEN,
The Image of the VIRGIN MOTHER
Holding the DIVINE INFANT in her Arms,
The MYSTERY of the Icon of Creation.

Both Heaven and Earth
WORSHIP this ICON,
That allows everything
To come TOGETHER.

The VIRGIN-MOTHER
Is the ICON of the World,
The INFANT CHRIST
Is the ICON of GOD,
And their MEETING of MYSTERY
Bestows the World with the CLOTH DIVINE.

*

The ICON from ABOVE is within You,
For You Hold in Your Arms
The DIVINE CHRIST,
The Icon of Below,
Of the Earth, is also within You,
And thus in Your ICON
GOD and Creation are Together.

O, IMAGE of the ICON
Of the MOTHER of GOD,
You OPEN for me
The DOOR toward GOD,
Who EMBODIES into the World,
For me to also Embody into GOD.

Published in the volume "Hesychasm", Platytera Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007, pp. 97-105. Translation from Romanian: Alice Butnar.
Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

The Romanian (Original) Version can be found here.
The German Version can be found here.

Ieromonk Ghelasie Gheorghe: "At the Crossroad of BORDERLANDS of MYSTERY" (translation from Romanian by Alice Butnar)

LORD, Thou hast Created
A World
Able to MEET Thee,
To LOVE Thee,
Thee, Who hast Created the World
Out of LOVE!

Yet the World below
Stands apart from Thee,
For between Thee and the World
There is a Borderland,
That DISTINGUISHES Creation
From its CREATOR.
A Crossroad of MYSTERY
That becomes
ALTAR
Of HOLY DEVOTION.
Where Thou Thyself dost Come
And CALL the World
To Come to Thee,
To CROSS the BORDERLAND,
Only if marked by Thy TRANSFIGURATION,
DRESSED in the CLOTH
Of MYSTERY.

Heaven Itself has got a BORDERLAND
It cannot CROSS,
Lest in the MYSTERY
Of Thy NAME,
That is BEYOND
All Names,
But which is “WHISPERED”
In Thy LOVE,
LOVE, which is the MYSTERY
Of Thy very NAME,
WORSHIPPED and Glorified beyond words
In all Heaven!

The Earth itself and all its Creatures
Has got a BORDERLAND of MYSTERY,
Where everything STANDS STILL
And becomes ALTAR,
Where LIVING SACRIFICES
Are OFFERED UP,
Which Thou LORD
Dost RECEIVE,
And in the BURNING of LOVE
Dost TRANSFIGURE,
And thus, the PASSAGE BEYOND,
Over the BORDERLAND
May “HAPPEN”.
The World cannot
PASS OVER the BORDERLAND of MYSTERY,
For it is Created Being,
But Thou Thyself dost
STRETCH OUT
Thy LOVE,
Which becomes
The PASSAGE over the BORDERLAND,
Where ETERNITY
Becomes
The MEETING,
The MYSTERY between
Thee and the World,
NAME-PROSTRATION,
LOVE-UNION above all
LOVE-STANDSTILL
FACE to FACE,
That Stops nevermore,
That ever BEGINS
And ever becomes
MYSTERY and Crossroad,
ALTAR and PASSAGE,
Endless LOVE
That brings everything TOGETHER.
GIFTS of COMMUNION,
BORDERLAND without STANDSTILL,
STANDSTILL without BORDER,
GOD and the World
MEETING!

*

LORD, here I am myself,
Standing at the BORDERLAND-Crossroad of MYSTERY
I can see the Heavenly PATH
With the NAME
Of the ONE Who EMBODIED,
The SON of GOD,
The WORD CREATOR,
Who RAISED the CROSS of the World
To the RESURRECTION of Eternity.
And thus,
With the DIVINE NAME,
With His DEVOTION,
Do I set out for the BEYOND,
In the Heavenly Unequalled LIGHT.


Here I am, my LORD,
At the BORDERLAND,
Where the whole Universe
Is FULL of Beauty
And sweet Scents,
That SPEAK of Thee.
Here where nothing may be broken,
I Caress everything with my hand,
And in whispers full of MYSTERY
I HEAR the DIVINE Singing!
Which PASSES me Over the BORDERLAND.
Here I stand at the Crossroad,
Where an ICON
STANDS LIGHTED by a Candle
That shall Nevermore Extinguish!
I Keep my Eyes Intent
On the IMAGE of MYSTERY
And WAIT
For it to LOOK at me as well …
The DIVINE NAME
Keeps echoing into my Heart,
In my Ears
I Hear the Whole World Singing,
The LOOK of the ICON
UNITES Everything
Into SOMETHING
Where GOD and the World
Can MEET
FACE to FACE.
And they nevermore stop this
STANDING STILL
That becomes ETERNITY,
And at the same time
The free unhampered PASSAGE
Into ETERNITY.

O, IMAGE of LOVE,
In You everything is UNITED,
You bring everything together,
O, ICON,
The BORDERLAND and CROSSROAD
Where all MYSTERIES
MEET
And PARTAKE
Of the HOLY SUPPER,
In the ETERNITY
Where there is ever BORDERLAND,
Where there is ever PASSAGE.

Published in the volume "Hesychasm", Platytera Publishing House, Bucharest, 2007, pp. 92-96. Translation from Romanian: Alice Butnar.

Copyright: Platytera Publishing House.

The Romanian (Original) Version can be found here.
The German Version can be found here.