Prayer on the feast of the Transfiguration

    

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!

Archimandrite Iachint (Unciuleac) Archimandrite Iachint (Unciuleac)
Teach us how to be saved, show us how to endure. Train us to carry our life’s cross. Teach us how to be crucified. Come and suffer for us, Thou Thyself be crucified instead of us, Thyself first taste the cup of death, show us a new way to salvation through suffering.

O, how we would have liked to stay with Peter on Mount Tabor! But we bear a body, gasping from sickness, lusts and passions. In our breasts are hearts burning with hatred. At home our children are waiting for us, asking us for a piece of bread!...

O, how we would like to delight with Peter there, on Mount Tabor! But we see ourselves surrounded by fog, by sin. Do not abandon us, O Jesus, but come down to us in a sharp wind, to the foot of the mount. Here we are waiting for Thee, along with the other disciples: Thomas and Andrew, James and Matthew, Jude and Bartholomew, Simon and Thaddeus. Hungry and naked, wanderers and orphans, the young and the old, widows and beggars, the sick and the suffering—we are all waiting for Thee, thirsting for Thee. Come and make peace with us.

Come down even further, to the shore of the sea, where life is tossed about in the waves, where ships are wrecked against the rocks and so many sails are torn, so many oars are broken, so many souls are carried down to the bottom by the rebellious force of the waves. We know that the mount with its quiet and solitude call Thee to prayer, but nevertheless look down to the sea with pity. There, in the distance, the waves cast up their mist, tearing at the shores with such fury… And this, is the world. But on the waves the ships battle with the sea, wind, and night. And this, is man.

Come down to that place, to the sea’s abyss, to the heart of man, to the hearth of the family. Come there, where the light is mixed with the darkness, life with death, joy with sighing, bread with dust, truth with lies, honey with poison, love with hate, wine with vinegar, time with eternity. Come here, where we people are suffering; make peace with us, transform the face of the world, calm the sea, assuage our hearts, and unite the thoughts of our souls into one.

Invitaţie la Ortodoxie

Archimandrite Iachint Unciuleac
Translation by OrthoChristian.com

8/19/2014

See also
Sermon by Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov, + 1987) of Chicago and Detroit on the Transfiguration Sermon by Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov, + 1987) of Chicago and Detroit on the Transfiguration
Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov)
Sermon by Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov, + 1987) of Chicago and Detroit on the Transfiguration Sermon by Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov, + 1987) of Chicago and Detroit on the Transfiguration
Archbishop Seraphim (Ivanov)
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.
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.
Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ
In the icon of the Feast of the Transfiguration, Christ is the central figure, appearing in a dominant position within a circular mandorla. He is clearly at the visual and theological center of the icon. His right hand is raised in blessing, and his left hand contains a scroll.
Comments
R-Monk Anthony8/19/2017 1:12 am
This is absolutely beautiful. This is must be our constant prayer...
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