His Grace Bishop Ignatie of Husi celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord at the Transfiguration Monastery in Huși.
In his sermon, the bishop explained the importance of “Christian light” in the life of a believer, but also the significance of the moment when the apostles saw Christ enveloped by light.
“For the Orthodox Church, it is a day of great celebration, one of the feast days with a special theological and spiritual significance, the Transfiguration of the Saviour Christ on Mount Tabor,” His Grace said on August 6.
Bishop Ignatie highlighted the essential aspects of the celebration, affirming that “by showing His divine light, He did not become what He was not, nor was He transfigured into something that did not originally belong to Him. Christ showed his essential light, which shone not from the outside, but from his interior, from his divine hypostasis.”
“The apostles were overwhelmed by the appearance of Christ in glory, in light. His face shone brighter than the sun. They became partakers of this light and of the revelation of Christ as the perfect God.”
“Following such an experience, the Apostle Peter confesses to Christ, full of joy, that it would be wonderful if he could build three shelters on the mountain, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. This desire of Peter is like a confession of eternity and their remaining, forever, on that mountain,” the Bishop of Husi noted.
Bishop Ignatie explained the theological significance of Peter’s desire to make three shelters (in a more faithful translation from Greek: three tents): “The Transfiguration event took place on the last day of a well-known holiday for the Jews, the Feast of Tabernacles.”
The Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ should remind us that we have become “tabernacles” of divine light through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
Speaking about the importance of light in people’s lives, His Grace Bishop Ignatie noted that “a man of light thinks beautifully, sees things around him in a very beautiful perspective and can convert what is negative, what pollutes, into something beautiful, without multiplying and spreading evil.”
The hierarch concluded his speech with the urge to be enlightened and drew attention to the fact that “we are used to and are concerned with making trouble between people, between those who get along very well. We do not realize when the seed of the quarrel comes, we fall into the trap and become part of it. If we were people of light, wise, with a lot of consideration, we would have a hate detector, and we would avoid this dark universe.”
Photography courtesy of Huși Diocese
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