Orthodox America
When
Thou wast
transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God, Thou didst show Thy glory to Thy
disciples as far as they could bear it. Let Thy everlasting light shine also
upon us sinners through the intercessions of the
Theotokos. Giver of Light, glory to Thee.
(Troparion
of the Feast, tone 7)
|
"Here,
I'll tell you about humble Seraphim! I took a special liking to the words
of my Lord Jesus Christ: In My
Father's house are many mansions (that is, for those who serve Him
and glorify His Holy Name). On
these words I, humble Seraphim, paused and wished to see these heavenly
abodes, and I prayed my Lord Jesus Christ to show them to me; and the Lord
did not deprive me, the humble one, of His mercy. He fulfilled my desire
and request; and so I was transported to these heavenly abodes, only I do
not know whether in the body or without the body, God knows; it is
inconceivable.. And about that joy and heavenly sweetness of which I there
partook, it is impossible to tell you” With
these words Father Seraphim became silent... He stooped his head, quietly
patting his heart with his hand; his face began gradually to change and
finally became so glowing that it was impossible to look at. Then Father
Seraphim once more began to talk: "Oh,
if only you could know what joy, what sweetness await the souls of the
righteous in heaven, then you would be determined in this temporal life to
endure any sorrow, persecution, and calumny with gratitude...
There, there is no sickness, no sorrow, no lamentation; there is sweetness and rejoicing unutterable; there
the righteous will shine like the sun.... (From
the Introduction to "The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit" in Vol.
I of the Little Russian Philokalia:-
see p.11) |
Thus
sings our holy Church on this Feast day, recalling that wondrous event which
took place so long ago on Mount Tabor. On that same mountain ,.rising
majestically above the Palestinian plain, there is even today a triumphant
celebration of that glorious event.
In
telling us how the Transfiguration occurred, the holy Gospel says that the
Saviour went up the mountain "to pray." Referring to this passage in a
sermon, one of our great bishops explained that the immediate purpose of His
ascending the mountain was the Saviour’s intention to pray there. But not only
to pray, for the troparion says that He showed His glory to His disciples
"as fan as they could bear it," i.e., as far as they were able to
perceive this glory. And the kontakion indicates that the Lord did this
precisely in order that they would remember this wondrous miracle when the time
came for Him to suffer...
And
so we pray, "Let the light shine also upon us sinners, through the prayers
of the Theotokos."
What
spiritual darkness has settled upon the world today! And it is becoming
increasingly darker,. more dense. The Lord said in the Gospel that he who
performs evil cannot abide the light but executes his deeds in darkness, fearing
the light and fleeing from it. And now a thick darkness has enveloped mankind,
Because of this all manner of iniquity, all filth which is conceived today by
the sons of men, all this is performed openly. Clearly. for most of humanity,
the spiritual light is already fading out and is all but extinguished. For this
reason we must pray that the everlasting light which illumined the Apostles on
Mt.. Tabor would shine also upon us
The
Lord went up the mountain to pray, and during prayer He was transfigured. We
know from the lives of saints that many of them were similarly wondrously
transformed-and it was precisely during times of prayer.. just as the ancient
ascetics shone with a blaze of light like the sun, so too in more recent times
in Russia great ascetics have shone with uncreated light
From the life of St. Seraphim, you know how his holy face shone like the
sun during his conversation with Motovilov.. We also know of an incident in the
life of Elder Ambrose (of Optina); while he was alone in his cell praying, a
monk hurriedly entered, and just as suddenly rap out in fright-he had beheld the
race of the praying elder shining like the sun in the darkness of his cell,
Likewise we know that many saw St:' John of Kronstadt surrounded by a wondrous
divine light just at the time when he was before the altar offering his flaming
prayer to the Lord of Glory. Experience has shown that when someone truly prays,
he becomes enlightened. One can always distinguish between those who pray
hypocritically, for show, and those who pray sincerely, thinking of no one else
save God before Whom alone they stand.
Lt
is this spiritual light, this everlasting light, which can illumine us during
sincere prayer: For this reason, whether we
pray for a long time or for a short time, we must regard the moments spent
in prayer as the most important time of our life, for it is during this time
that we stand before God and converse with Him. The Holy Fathers say that during
the reading of the Holy Gospel and the patristic writings, God converses with
us. And in prayer-we converse with God, This is of great benefit to the soul,
for it is in conversing with one's Creator and Lord that the soul is illumined
with that light for which we pray on this •bright Feast of our Lord's
Transfiguration.
Metropolitan Philaret
First
Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad