“The church, the Divine Liturgy, the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ - this is our Favor”translated

On August 19, 2026, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. At the end of the service, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church delivered a sermon.

I heartily congratulate all of you, dear Most Reverend Bishops, fathers, brothers and sisters, on the great feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord!

The Lord was transformed on Tabor so that the disciples who lived next to Him and saw Him as a man would not doubt His Divine nature. They were witnesses of His miracles, but at the same time they were witnesses of His weakness - especially when the powerful of this world annoyed the Savior and raised their anger against Him. All this the disciples saw; they saw this His human weakness - the Lord incarnated not into a superman, not into a hero, not into a hero, but into a simple mortal man, vulnerable to both illnesses and various weaknesses.

So that at the time of His passage through suffering, and especially through death on the cross, the disciples would not doubt His Divine nature, that He was the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God, and this was amazing...