Sunday, March 30, 2014
St. Nikolai Velimirovich on the Five Wounds of Christ
Christ crucified in extreme humility, together with the Theotokos, and St. John the Theologian (source)
St. Nikolai Velimirovich on the Five Wounds of Christ (amateur translation)
You write that you heard from some old
women about some myth regarding the five wounds of Jesus, and you
asked where this myth can be found?
Read the New Testament! Are you not
ashamed before heaven and earth at the ignorance of your faith! Leave
aside all the other studies and readings until you first learn that
which is the most meaningful and saving. First comes the science of
the faith, and then the rest of the studies...
The five wounds of Jesus are not words,
but awesome reality. Because of this, it is better to know them than
words. Two wounds in the hands, two wounds in the feet, and one in
the side. All from black iron, and much more so, from the utterly
black sin of men. They pierced the hands which blessed. They pierced
the feet that walked and led to the only true road. They pierced the
chest, which poured forth fiery and heavenly love to the frozen chest
of man.
The Son of God allowed them to pierce
His hands on behalf of the many sinful hands—a forest of
hands—which murdered, stole, burned, seized, set traps, physically
assaulted. And [He allowed them] to pierce His feet for the sins of
many feet—a forest of feet—which walked in evil, plundered the
innocent, trampled upon justice, soiled the holy and trampled upon
goodness. And [He allowed them] to pierce the chest on behalf of many
stony hearts—quarries of hearts—in which were born every malice
and every impiety, and the sacrilegious thoughts and the bestial
desires, and which, throughout all the ages, were forged by the fires
of plotting brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and
man against God.
The hands of Jesus were pierced in
order to heal every hand from sinful works. The feet of Jesus were
pierced in order to return every foot from the sinful roads. The
chest of Jesus was pierced in order to purge every heart of sinful
desires and thoughts. When the abominable Cromwell, professor of
England, began to seize the properties of monasteries and closed
them, there was throughout the whole land of England a boisterous
litany from a few thousand human souls to show the displeasure of the
people. Before them were people bearing signs with the epigraph: “The
five wounds of Jesus”, and chanted ecclesiastical hymns and were
celebrating liturgies to God in the fields. The abominable professor
was greatly afraid by these signs, and therefore lessened his
violence.
May you learn of the five wounds of
Jesus, and keep your five senses on the living God. The five wounds
of Jesus are five wounds of five-times clean blood, with which the
human race was cleansed and the earth was sanctified. From these five
wounds the whole blood of the Righteous One was shed, until the last
drop. The Wonderworking Lord, Who knew to multiply bread, and to give
five loaves to feed five thousand hungry men, multiplied His five-times
pure blood, and with this He feeds and unites thousands of churches and
millions of the faithful. This is the Divine Communion.
On Holy Friday, spiritually approach,
together with the Panagia and Mother of God, below the Cross, in
order to be washed by that life-giving blood from the five wounds of
Jesus. That you might, with a cleansed and regenerated soul, cry out
on Sunday together with the Myrrhbearers: Christ is risen!
(source)
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
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