PASCHA - Day Thirty One — 'The Spring came upon the spring...'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!  INDEED HE IS RISEN!

 

Christ ... the source of the breath of life for

   all, when he was

Weary from a journey, sat down near a spring

   of Samaria.

And it was the season of burning heat. It was

   the sixth hour, as the Scripture says,

It was the middle of the day when the Messiah

   came to illumine those in darkness.

The Spring came upon the spring, not to drink

   but to cleanse.

The fountain of immortality was near the

  stream of the woman as though it were in need.

He is tired from walking, He who tirelessly 

   walked on the sea.

He who furnishes exceeding great joy and 

   redemption.

St. Romanos the Melode

Kontakion of the Woman of Samaria 9.4.

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We can always trust that in the poetic theology of St. Romanos the Melode we will find an endless stream of images, allusions and types to fill us with wonder over the fact that the eternal Word of God became flesh. Here, in the encounter with the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4:1-42), it is the paradox of the Spring (of Life) coming to a spring in the wilderness, not only to quench his thirst, but to "supply" an endless stream of water that wells up to eternal life in its recipients.