Sunday of the Blind Man
Who shall declare Thy might, O Christ? And who shall number the multitude of Thy wonders? For as Thou wast doubly seen in Thy goodness on earth, so didst Thou doubly grant healing to the sick; for not only didst Thou heal the bodily eyes of the man born blind from the womb, but the eyes of his soul also. Wherefore, he confessed that Thou art a hidden God, granting all the Great Mercy.
--Doxasticon of the Feast, Tone 8
On this day, the sixth Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the miracle wrought by our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ upon the man who was blind from his birth.
O Bestower of light, Who art Light coming forth from Light,
Thou dost give eyes to the man who was blind from his birth, O Word.
Thou dost give eyes to the man who was blind from his birth, O Word.
The Savior met this man, born blind and incurable after every human effort, while leaving the Temple on the Sabbath. Jesus spat into the dirt, made clay, rubbed it in his eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, a famous water spring in Jerusalem. The Savior did not send him there because his eyes were covered in clay, nor did the pool have healing power, but instead to test his faith and obedience. The blind man proclaimed that Jesus healed him, but this confession caused him to be cast out by the enemies of the truth. Even his own parents would not defend him. However, the blind man followed Jesus from that moment forward.
By Thy boundless mercy, O Christ our God, Giver of light, have mercy on us. Amen.
Since my soul’s noetic eyes are blind and sightless, I come unto Thee, O Christ, as did the man who was born blind. And in repentance I cry to Thee: of those in darkness Thou art the most radiant Light.
Grant me a stream of ineffable wisdom and knowledge from on high, O Christ, Thou Light of them that are in darkness and Guide of all them that are gone astray, that I may tell of those things that the divine book of the Gospel of peace hath taught, to wit, the miracle that was wrought upon the blind man; for though blind from birth, he receiveth the physical eyes as well as the eyes of the soul, as he crieth out in faith: of those in darkness Thou art the most radiant Light.
--Kontakion and Oikos of the Feast
