Sermon by Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov, + 1987) of Chicago and Detroit on the Transfiguration

    

On August 6/19 , the Orthodox Church celebrates one of the Great 12 Feast Days—that of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor, which is in what is now the territory of Israel.

Our Lord Jesus Christ transfigured Himself only before His closest disciples: Peter, James and John, 40 days before His crucifixion, which took place on March 30 according to the old calendar. Consequently, the Transfiguration occurred in late February, during what is now Great Lent. That is why the Holy Fathers, in ancient days, moved this feast day to another date. On September 14 , we celebrate the Elevation of the Cross of the Lord, when we once again remember the sufferings of Christ the Savior on the Cross.

The Holy Fathers, then, counted back 40 days from that holiday and established August 6 as the Transfiguration of the Lord, a celebration of the transfigured flesh of mankind. The God-Man revealed Himself to his disciples in the way that He was to become after His Resurrection from the dead, and the way the bodies of the righteous will appear after the final, universal resurrection.

We know from the Holy Gospel that the Body of the Risen Lord shone, was able to immediately travel great distances, walk through closed doors, and become instantly invisible. Yet He also possessed the characteristics of our present bodies: the Risen Christ ate earthly food—bread, baked fish and honey, and before all the Apostles, He walked great distances just as we do, with Luke and Cleopus, to Emmaus, blessed and broke bread, etc.
This is all very difficult to perceive for the human mind which lives in a three-dimensional world. But what is impossible for man is possible for God, as Holy Scripture teaches us.

We Christians, even today, are faced with a great challenge—which we face with the aid of the Church Mysteries, of fasting and prayer—and that is to be transfigured here on earth, in our souls and bodies, which really happens to the saints of God, the righteous and simply good Christians.

They bear witness that this holy effort will yield such wondrous spiritual fruits, such joy and satisfaction, that they are incomparable to any joys and consolations on earth, which are so eagerly sought by most of mankind.
May the Lord grant all of us the chance to begin the transformation of our souls and bodies, so that we could taste at least a crumb of this joy before even reaching Heaven.

The Lord wishes to help us in this holy matter. He stands at the doorway to our hearts and knocks in order to enter our souls and help transfigure us.

This is well described by the renowned poem of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich:

I knock and wait at the door of your inn,
Open the door and let Me in.
I’m naked, weak, the lowest of low.
My road is hard. Far must I go.
Penniless beggar through the world I roam,
Knock and wait at many a home.
Who’ll hear My voice? Who’ll take My load,
And bid Me enter his abode?
To such a one I’ll come and call him Mine,
Break bread with him and share the wine.
You’re weak, exhausted from labors and strain.
With Me your strength you will regain.
With My hand I shall dry your tears of pain
And you will never cry again.
I shall console you, your pain I’ll feel,
And share with you your evening meal.
I knock and wait at the door of your inn.
Open the door and let me in.

Poem translated by Kosara Gavrilovic.

See also
 Prayer on the feast of the Transfiguration Prayer on the feast of the Transfiguration
Archimandrite Iachint Unciuleac
 Prayer on the feast of the Transfiguration Prayer on the feast of the Transfiguration
Archimandrite Iachint Unciuleac
Come to us again, O Jesus—do not listen to Peter! Come down from Tabor and come to our homes, into our hearts! Come here, where we are suffering and laboring for our daily bread! Come here, where we are crucified by people, demons, and passions! If Peter does not want to come down, leave him on the mount and come to us, to our hearts!
On the Transfiguration On the Transfiguration
Archpriest Andrew Phillips
On the Transfiguration On the Transfiguration
Archpriest Andrew Phillips
Today, however, I would like to point out an aspect of this Feast which is often overlooked: Mt Tabor, the 'mountain' where the Transfiguration occurred. This Mt Tabor is for us a figure of repentance. We note that, like the disciples, in order for us to see the transfiguration or to hope to be transfigured ourselves, we will first have to climb up, to mount, from our present condition. Otherwise any transfiguration or change for the better in our lives is impossible.
On The Feast Of Transfiguration On The Feast Of Transfiguration
St. Anastasius the Sinaite
On The Feast Of Transfiguration On The Feast Of Transfiguration
St. Anastasius the Sinaite
Upon Mount Tabor, Jesus revealed to his disciples a heavenly mystery. While living among them he had spoken of the kingdom and of his second coming in glory, but to banish from their hearts any possible doubt concerning the kingdom and to confirm their faith in what lay in the future by its prefiguration in the present, he gave them on Mount Tabor a wonderful vision of his glory, a foreshadowing of the kingdom of heaven. It was as if he said to them:“As time goes by you may be in danger of losing your faith.
Sermon on the Feast of the Transfiguration Sermon on the Feast of the Transfiguration
St. John of Shanghai (Maximovitch)
Sermon on the Feast of the Transfiguration Sermon on the Feast of the Transfiguration
St. John of Shanghai
When He created the world, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness(Gen. 1:26). God’s image manifests in man’s mental capabilities, in his authority over nature, his power, and his ability to create. God’s likeness in man consists in his moral perfection, his spiritual strivings, and in his possibility of attaining sanctity. God’s image and likeness, in which our fore-parents were created, was fully reflected in them before the fall. Sin disrupted both the former and the latter, although it did not entirely deprive man of them.
St Gregory Palamas’s Homily on the Transfiguration St Gregory Palamas’s Homily on the Transfiguration
St Gregory Palamas
St Gregory Palamas’s Homily on the Transfiguration St Gregory Palamas’s Homily on the Transfiguration
St. Gregory Palamas
Thus, this Light is not a light of the senses, and those contemplating it do not simply see with sensual eyes, but rather they are changed by the power of the Divine Spirit. They were transformed, and only in this way did they see the transformation taking place amidst the very assumption of our perishability, with the deification through union with the Word of God in place of this.
St. Seraphim's Transfiguration in the Holy Spirit St. Seraphim's Transfiguration in the Holy Spirit
Conversation with Motovilov
St. Seraphim's Transfiguration in the Holy Spirit St. Seraphim's Transfiguration in the Holy Spirit
Conversation with Motovilov
Then, bending his head towards me, he whispered softly in my ear: "Thank the Lord God for His unutterable mercy to us! You saw that I did not even cross myself; and only in my heart I prayed mentally to the Lord God and said within myself: 'Lord, grant him to see clearly with his bodily eyes that descent of Thy Spirit which Thou grantest to Thy servants when Thou art pleased to appear in the light of Thy magnificent glory.'
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