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.