Homily Three on the Transfiguration of the Lord
By St. John of Kronstadt
"He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2).
By St. John of Kronstadt
"He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2).
Thus the Lord was transfigured according to His humanity, on Tabor. And by this we are given to know that He can miraculously transform and illuminate us, our nature, our soul and our body, darkened by sin and the passions of life, as He indeed transfigures, transforms, illuminates. You don't have to go far for examples. They happen every day to every praying and sincerely repentant Christian believer. I will ask each of you: tell me, what happens to you when you come burdened with some sin, even though you come to this church with sincere repentance and fervent prayer to God and His Most Pure Mother? Or when you are oppressed by some strong sorrow and anguish, and you pray to the Lord with tears that He would ease it, destroy it, drive it away? Did you not notice a great change in your soul soon after? You sincerely repented of your sin, condemned yourself, reproached yourself, looked soberly at your disapproving thoughts, feelings, actions, gave your word to change: your sin is forgiven, you have become calm; your soul is light, free, quiet and graceful. And if you grieved greatly and yearned for something, and expressed your sorrows and misfortunes before God or the Mother of God, the joy of all those who mourn, with obedience to the will of God, tell me, did you not soon feel a change in your soul? Peace and quiet tenderness settled in your soul with hope in the paternal providence of God, and you left after your prayer comforted and encouraged.
This means that there is a transfiguration in each of us – that is, from sincere, fervent prayer we are miraculously transformed for the better; and we become calm, and sober from the sins that intoxicate us; for truly, whatever sins you commit, will make us drunk, and we will feel disgust for sin, and we will abandon sin, and we will feel a disposition towards virtue and we will become closer to God. Otherwise, evil sin would completely distance us from God if we did not pray, repent, and experience sorrows. But we, brethren, are people of little faith, weak both in prayer and in the feats of virtue, and in us, therefore, the spiritual change or inner transfiguration is not so noticeable, not so bright and glorious as in the holy saints of God. It was in them that the grace of God accomplished a miraculous transfiguration, renewal, and illumination. They were people who were subservient to us, but look at what the grace of God made of them because of their faith and fervor of love for God, when everything carnal and sinful was mortified in them; from sinful people, they became as it were holy angels, from the weak they became strong by the grace of God, from the ignoble they became glorious, and many, from the stinking vessels of all sin, from the vessels of the devil, they became all-fragrant vessels of God's grace and every virtue. This is the miracle of transfiguration that the grace of God produces in people. And these are only the beginnings, only a faint shadow of that glorious transfiguration which the Lord will perform upon those who love Him at His second terrible coming, when He will execute the final judgment on the world: "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43).
It is this transfiguration, this glory for today's feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, that I wish and pray to the Lord for all of you, my brethren. Only in conclusion of my brief remarks do I wish in advance that both myself and all of you be transfigured in souls, namely: to change self-love for love of peace and for love of God; sensuality and love of money for brotherly love and mercy; enmity for love; cruelty for meekness; pride for humility; envy for benevolence; intemperance for abstinence; foul language and idle talk for good words and God's glorification; vanity for good deeds; impurity for holiness. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
This means that there is a transfiguration in each of us – that is, from sincere, fervent prayer we are miraculously transformed for the better; and we become calm, and sober from the sins that intoxicate us; for truly, whatever sins you commit, will make us drunk, and we will feel disgust for sin, and we will abandon sin, and we will feel a disposition towards virtue and we will become closer to God. Otherwise, evil sin would completely distance us from God if we did not pray, repent, and experience sorrows. But we, brethren, are people of little faith, weak both in prayer and in the feats of virtue, and in us, therefore, the spiritual change or inner transfiguration is not so noticeable, not so bright and glorious as in the holy saints of God. It was in them that the grace of God accomplished a miraculous transfiguration, renewal, and illumination. They were people who were subservient to us, but look at what the grace of God made of them because of their faith and fervor of love for God, when everything carnal and sinful was mortified in them; from sinful people, they became as it were holy angels, from the weak they became strong by the grace of God, from the ignoble they became glorious, and many, from the stinking vessels of all sin, from the vessels of the devil, they became all-fragrant vessels of God's grace and every virtue. This is the miracle of transfiguration that the grace of God produces in people. And these are only the beginnings, only a faint shadow of that glorious transfiguration which the Lord will perform upon those who love Him at His second terrible coming, when He will execute the final judgment on the world: "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father" (Matt. 13:43).
It is this transfiguration, this glory for today's feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, that I wish and pray to the Lord for all of you, my brethren. Only in conclusion of my brief remarks do I wish in advance that both myself and all of you be transfigured in souls, namely: to change self-love for love of peace and for love of God; sensuality and love of money for brotherly love and mercy; enmity for love; cruelty for meekness; pride for humility; envy for benevolence; intemperance for abstinence; foul language and idle talk for good words and God's glorification; vanity for good deeds; impurity for holiness. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.