A HOMILY FOR THE EVE OF TRANSFIGURATION
About Preparing Ourselves for the Grace and Glory of the Feast
Brothers and sisters!
Today is the eve – the forefeast -- of the Great Feast of our Lord’s Transfiguration, and this evening we shall hold an All-night Vigil in preparation for the festal Liturgy. Let us begin to turn our minds and hearts to Mount Tabor, dear Christians!
Lord, it is good for us to be here![1] exclaimed the holy Apostle Peter in ecstasy when he beheld the Saviour in glory. He did not want to leave the mountain where he could see the Son of God shining with divine light. With no thought for sheltering himself, he proposed to Christ, Let us make here three tabernacles – that is, shelters of brushwood – one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. By providing shelter for the three holy persons shining brighter than the sun, Peter hoped somehow to prolong the unprecedented, grace-filled experience – unprecedented even for him, the chief Apostle, who had been following about the Lord of glory for many months.
No doubt, if we had been on Tabor that day, we would have hoped for the very same thing as Saint Peter – that somehow the experience, if not of the light of the Transfiguration, then at least of the grace, would go on and on as long as possible. But could this be? It is possible for us to behold Christ in glory and experience the grace of His Transfiguration, because the grace and light of Tabor were the revelation aforehand of the grace and fire of Holy Pentecost, which has become for all ages part of the inner life of Orthodox Christians. This is why, in the Scriptures, the Lord promises that His faithful shall behold Him face to face and rejoice in His glory and grace. He even promises that they will enjoy this in the present life. The joy of closeness to the Lord, of contemplation or the vision of Him, of communion with Him, and of His indwelling – this is God’s special gift, which He offers to every faithful disciple or servant of Christ Jesus, His Son. By this experience, by this vision, the Lord strengthens us as we pass through the vale of our pilgrimage here below. By it, He permits us a glimpse of the age to come, as an earnest or token of our full reward in the Kingdom of His glory. But a glimpse only, or rather, periodic glimpses, for a reason we shall explain later.
And so, brothers and sisters, since we are about to celebrate this feast of light and grace, let us ask ourselves: How are we to avail ourselves of this gift? How can we ensure that we experience something of what Saints Peter and James and John experienced on Tabor?
Remember that there were twelve apostles, but the Lord took up the mountain only three: Peter, first to confess the chief doctrine of our holy faith -- that is, belief in the Lord Jesus as Son of God and very God; James, eager to embrace suffering and even death, in hope of the glory of the Kingdom; and John, full of fiery love for the Master. Thus, if we wish to behold the Lord’s glory revealed on Tabor and to experience the grace of that day, then we must offer Christ something of the faith, hope, and love of these three holy apostles. If not, then we must be left below like the other nine. Divine contemplation and enjoyment of spiritual blessings are impossible without living faith in these blessings and in Christ their giver; they are impossible without steadfast hope that it is possible to attain them; they are impossible without fervent love for the transfigured Lord. Furthermore, it is faith that enables us to understand what is divine contemplation or the indwelling of Christ in the heart, hope that makes it possible that the promise may become present reality, and love that urges us not to spare ourselves in striving for these blessings.
Jesus taketh and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart.[2] See how the Master separates the three from the others and from their usual surroundings and preoccupations, so that they may enjoy spiritual contemplation! Of course, even in their everyday life the apostles, since they were following about Christ the Lord Himself, had as their everyday concerns various indirectly spiritual matters. Yet when the Lord wished to reveal to them His grace and glory, He separated them from this multitude of somewhat “spiritual” things, so that they could focus their attention on one thing alone; so that they could lift up their minds from earth and direct them to the one thing needful;[3] namely, attention to His divine person.
And so, O my Christ-loving soul, leave behind everything lowly, leave behind the multiplicity of things created, so that you may fly up the mountain of ascent to the Lord’s glory, to divine contemplation. Leave below what is temporal and illusive, and focus your attention and your power of eros, of hot loving desire, on the One Who is supremely worthy of such desire: on the One Who is uncreated, on the One Who truly is, on the One Who alone possesses the fullness of being and indeed transcends all existence.
For wings of ascent to the uncreated One, O my soul, have prayer, for the Lord took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray[4]: of course not only so that the apostles could witness His prayer, but so that they themselves would learn to pray fervently and thereby prepare themselves for the grace and glory. For nothing is so necessary for the enlightenment of our darkness, for our illumination by Christ’s glory, as holy prayer: prayer combined with profound conviction of our weakness, impurity, and unworthiness; prayer combined with unquestioning conviction of the Lord’s compassion and bounty. God is good and merciful, but He desires that we, with childlike trust in Him, yearn for His grace and seek from Him the blessings of His Kingdom: that we seek to enjoy them even in the present life. And so, let us learn to love to enter the inner closet of prayer, to enjoy secret communion with Christ at home and in the congregation of the faithful. Let us learn to love the liturgical prayer of the Church: the brilliant Vespers services, the profound Matins, the sweet All-night Vigils, and the supremely sacred Liturgies. For zeal for prayer expresses the faith, hope, and love that reveal to us the grace and glory of Tabor. The prayer of faith manifests a resolute confession; the prayer of hope, longing to abide in Christ; and the prayer of love, the freedom of divine sonship that makes visible to our inner eyes the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord.
When the disciples beheld Christ transfigured, they heard Him speaking with Moses and Elias, who also appeared in glory and spake with Him of His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.[5] In other words, they heard Christ speaking with the prophets about His sufferings and death. Christ’s life on earth was full of suffering and concluded in the greatest of sufferings. For us, too, His followers, this present life is full of sufferings. We cannot attain the vision of Tabor, the vision of Christ’s glory, without suffering. Divine blessedness, divine contemplation, the state of inner communion with Christ: this is hidden in involuntary suffering endured in Christ and voluntary suffering embraced for Christ. Thus the importance of patience; thus the absolute necessity of self-mortification in connection with labors of piety, especially the labor of prayer. Prayer without suffering is barren. Suffering mortifies the old man, accustomed to sinful enjoyments. Physical suffering, especially the voluntary suffering of patient, prolonged, attentive prayer at home and in church, unfetters the human spirit and teaches it to take its delight in communion with Christ.
At the beginning, we said that, if we had been on Tabor with Saint Peter, we would have wanted, like him, to prolong the experience so that it would go on and on; but in vain. Having led us up the mountain of divine vision, Christ eventually leads us down again, as He did Peter and the others. He leads us down to labors, to worries, to troubles, to struggles against our passions, and to the various sufferings which are the lot of His followers. Later, after we have proven our resolve to endure patiently, to contend lawfully and steadfastly, He will lead us up the mount again.
Brothers and sisters! If we wish to partake of the grace and glory of this holy feast, of the grace and glory of our Christ, then we must disentwine our souls from worldly entanglements at least to some degree and raise them up towards the heights at least a little. Only this way can we breathe something of the clean air of heaven on the mountain of spiritual transfiguration with Christ; only this way can we enjoy the Saviour’s glory and light; only this way can we hear the converse of the dwellers of heaven: the converse of prophets, of apostles, and of Christ our Lord Himself. On this feast, the Lord invites us to go up the mountain with Him and draw near to the heights. Let us not stubbornly insist on remaining without Him below, but ascend with Peter, James, and John; share in their prayer of faith, hope, and love; and delight in the glory.
To this end, brothers and sisters, I urge you to put away any misplaced priorities you may have, and attend the sweet Vigil of our Lord’s Transfiguration tonight.
O Lord, shine forth Thou on us who are sinners all Thy light ever unending! Amen.
[1] Matt. 17:4
[2] Matt. 17:1
[3] Luke 10:42
[4] Luke 9:28
[5] Luke 9:30-31
