By St. archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev), Sermon delivered in Sofia (Bulgaria) on the Feast of Transfiguration, 6th of August, in 1947.
Liturgical Holy Gospel: At that time Jesus took with Himself Peter, James and John, his brother, and led them alone to a high mountain; and was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered Jesus and said: Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you want, let’s make three canopies here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and a voice was heard in the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Listen to him. And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus, coming near, touched them and said: get up and do not be afraid! And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus alone. And when they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them and said: do not tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man rises from the dead (Mat. 17:1-9).
Let Your eternal light shine for us sinners too…
In the kondak in honor of today’s great feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, it is said: “You were transfigured on the mountain and Your disciples, as far as it was possible for them, saw Your glory, Christ God, so that when they see You crucified, they will understand that Your suffering was voluntary , and to preach to the world that You are truly the radiance of the Father”.
Here the Holy Church tells us the purpose of the Lord’s Transfiguration. Christ’s disciples faced a terrible test of faith. They were expected to witness the terrible humiliation of Christ—His spitting, slapping, scourging, and shameful crucifixion and death on the Cross. It was necessary to strengthen their faith in the Son of God, to show them that He willingly, with His own free will, surrendered to this disgrace, to these sufferings.
This is exactly what the Lord did when He was transfigured before His disciples at Tabor and revealed to them all His divine glory. They could not bear this glory and fell prostrate, but experienced from it in their hearts inexpressible heavenly bliss and felt with their whole being that Christ is the true Son of God, that He is the source of eternal heavenly bliss for believers.
St. However, the Church points to another purpose of the Lord’s Transfiguration. She tells us about her in the following words of today’s holiday troparion:
You were transfigured on the mountain, Christ God, … so that Your eternal light may also shine for us, sinners …
The Lord did everything for us: he taught, he suffered and died for us, he rose and ascended for us, he was transformed for us, so that through this divine light he could transform us too, through this light we too from sinners to become pure and holy, from weak to strong, from sorrowful to joyful. This light, necessary for our transformation, is none other than the grace of the Holy Spirit, which descended upon the apostles and which, from that time to this day, pours abundantly upon us through the holy Church, through her Sacraments.
How light transforms us
And the Holy Church shows us a great number of examples of how wonderfully this divine grace, this divine light transforms us, sinners, and makes us new, blessed people. Thus, through this grace, the prudent thief, crucified with Jesus Christ, was once enlightened. St. evangelists Matthew and Mark narrate that at first both robbers blasphemed the Lord. And ev. Luke specifies that only one of them blasphemed the Lord.
It becomes clear that the Lord has touched the heart of the other robber with His grace. The Lord remembered the great mercy which, according to church tradition, He showed Him by not causing any harm to the Holy Family when the Infant God with His Immaculate Mother and the righteous Joseph fled from Herod in Egypt. On the cross, this robber believed in Christ and was the first of Christ’s followers to enter heaven for eternal bliss. This gracious light once illuminated Saul when he went to Damascus to persecute and put Christians to death. And from a persecutor he transformed into the greatest apostle of Christ.
By this same grace, by her divine light, Mary of Egypt, Eudocia, and Taisia, from famous harlots, were transformed into angels by their purity and love of Christ. From the biography of Reverend Moses Murin, it can be seen that he was a leader of robbers, tainted with murders and all kinds of serious crimes. Later, however, enlightened by grace and strengthened by its power, he amazed everyone with his meekness, with his angel-like life, which is why the Holy Church placed him on an equal footing with Rev. Arsenius the Great and other great holy fathers.
St. The Church gives us many examples of the striking effect of grace, when the blasphemers of Christ, torturers and executioners of Christians, suddenly became believers and accepted martyr’s crowns.
Lord, enlighten my darkness!
The great father of the Church, St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, used to pray with such a short prayer: “Lord, enlighten my darkness” (cf. Ps. 17:29). And the Lord so enlightened him with the light of His grace that when St. Gregory performed the Liturgy, a divine light streamed from his face and many pious people in the temple saw it.
Let us too, my beloved children in Christ, always pray to be transformed and become from carnal – spiritual, from passionate – passionless through the light of grace that lives in us from the moment of Baptism and that smolders in us like a divine spark under the ashes of our sins and passions. Let us, through the fulfillment of God’s commandments, strive, as the main goal of our life, to be light, according to the words of the Savior: “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14); “so that your light may shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mat. 5:16). Let the Lord’s words be fulfilled upon us after our death: “Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
Therefore, let us beseech the Immaculate Mother of God, our first Intercessor and Intercessor before God, that the words of the troparion in honor of today’s feast be fulfilled with all her power and over us:
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, let Your eternal light shine for us sinners, Giver of light, glory to You!
Amen.
