Беседа на Преображение Господне (О том, что Божественный свет во время Преображения есть свет несозданный, но не есть сущность Божия). Святого Григория Паламы, архиепископа Фессалоникийского

The Prophet Isaiah predicted about the Gospel preaching: the Lord will create a shortened word throughout the whole universe (Is. 10:23). “Abridged” is a word that contains a great meaning in a few words. Therefore, we will again consider those Gospel words that we have already considered today, and also add the rest in order to better understand the meaning contained in them. At the time Jesus sang Peter, and James, and John, and brought them up to a high mountain, one. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun (Matthew 17:1–2). Behold, brethren, the time is favorable, this is now the day of salvation, a holy day: not measured by hours, not increased or decreased, not divided by night; This is the day of the Sun of righteousness, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning (James 1:17), which from the day He brought us out of darkness into His wonderful light, forever spreads His radiance over (our) head, like the unsetting Sun. Being the Sun of righteousness and truth, It does not rise in order to shine and be reflected in those who adhere to lies and manifest untruth in words and deeds, but with faith it is accepted by those who do the truth and love the truth and makes them happy with its rays; Scripture also testifies to this: light has risen to the righteous, and joy to the upright in heart (Ps. 96:11). And the Psalmist Prophet, predicting the joy from that radiance that would subsequently be for those who contemplated, sings to God: Tabor and Hermon will rejoice in Your name (Ps. 89:13). And Isaiah says: loose every bond of unrighteousness, destroy the obligations of violent scriptures..., and tear apart every unrighteous scripture; and then what? Then your light will open early, and your healings will quickly shine: and your righteousness will come before you; and again: if you have from yourself the bow, and the beating of hands, and the verb of murmuring, and give to the hungry the bread of your soul, and satisfy the humble soul: then your light will shine in the darkness, and your darkness will be like the noonday (Isa. 58: 6,8-10), for those whom this Sun clearly illuminates will become other suns, because the righteous will be enlightened like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43). So, brethren, let us put aside dark works and do works of light, so that we may not only walk gracefully during the day, but truly become sons of the day. Come, let us ascend the mountain where Christ shone, in order to see what has happened there, and so that the Word of God Himself may exalt us, worthy of such a great day, at an opportune time. Hasten and lift your mental eyes to the light of the Gospel preaching, so that you may first be transformed by the renewal of your mind and, thus, having acquired the Divine radiance from above, become conformed to the likeness of the glory of the Lord, whose face has now shone on the mountain like the sun. How similar to the sun? There was a time when this sunlight was not contained, as it were, in a certain vessel, in this disk: for the light was created on the first day, and the sun, the Creator of all things, was created on the fourth day, kindling the light in it. In the same way, the Divine light existed before appearing, as it were, in a vessel - the body of Christ: for it is without beginning; the endowment with flesh, which the Son of God received from us, was completed in time, for our sake, and thus shone forth, combining in itself the fullness of the Divinity, the idolized and divinely-beautiful luminary. So, the face of Christ shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light, or, as Mark says: shining, they were as white as snow, but a whitener cannot make the earth white (Mark 9:3). Therefore, with this light the very venerable body of Christ and his clothes shone, but not equally: for His face shone like the sun, and His clothes, as those closest to His body, became bright; and through this it was shown what the garments of glory are, in which those close to God will be clothed in the future life, and what the garments of innocence are, from which Adam sees himself naked and is ashamed. The Evangelist Luke says: His face was seen differently, and His robe shone white (Luke 9:29), not finding, obviously, any image of everything that happened there, but the Gospel. Mark depicts the clothes in the words: shining white, greener than snow. Since the whiteness of the snow was not enough to depict the beauty of this vision, the Evangelist Mark added shine. In addition, by this the Evangelist shows that this light, through which the clothes became white and shiny, is a supernatural light: for light does not tend to make what is illuminated white and shiny (but only to show what the color of what is illuminated), meanwhile, this light covered and even changed the clothes, which is not characteristic of sensual light. Even more surprising is that the clothes changed, and at the same time, remained unchanged, as it was revealed a little later: is this characteristic of the world known to us? That is why the Evangelist, depicting not only the wonderful radiance and splendor of the Lord’s face, but also the supernatural beauty of the clothes, took advantage of the beauties of nature, comparing the shine with the whiteness of snow. But the eternal Word, incarnate for our sake, without a doubt, bears in Himself the word of the Gospel preaching, having, as it were, the garment of Scripture, light and clear, and at the same time shining and radiant, inspired by God and fitting for God for those who contemplate in spirit what is from the Spirit, and who in a God-appropriate manner explain the expressions in Scripture and interpret the words of the Gospel preaching in a way that could not be explained. no whitener on earth, that is, a sage of this age. And what am I saying: explain? I could not even understand when explaining something else: for man is soulful, as St. The Apostle Paul, - and does not accept what is the Spirit (of God): and cannot understand (1 Cor. 2:14), and therefore falsely considers the Divine and spiritual radiance to be sensual, in vain being puffed up from the mind of his flesh. Having received the illumination of his mind from that blessed vision and unwilling to part with that light, Peter said to the Lord: it is good for us to be here: if you want, let us create three canopies here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah (Matthew 17:4), not knowing what he said (Luke 9:33). And truly, the time of dispensation has not yet come, and when it comes, we will no longer need canopies made with hands: the sameness of canopies should also not have equated slaves with the Lord: for Christ, as the true Son, dwells in the bosom of the Father, and the prophets, in turn, as true children of Abraham, dwell in the bosom of Abraham. Therefore, as soon as Peter foolishly said this, behold, the cloud brightened their autumn, refuting Petrov’s words and showing what kind of shade befits Christ. What is this cloud like, and how did it, being light, overshadow them? Is this not the unapproachable light in which God dwells, and with which light He dresses Himself like a robe? But it is said: place the clouds for your ascent (Ps. 103:3)... and put darkness for your shelter, surrounding its village (Ps. 17:12); and meanwhile the Apostle says: One has immortality, and in the light the living is unapproachable (1 Tim. 6:16), so that there is one and the same thing, obviously, both light and darkness, overshadowing because of extraordinary clarity. The existence of the unapproachable light, then seen by the apostolic eyes, is also testified by holy theologians, for it is said: “Today the light of the unapproachable abyss is visible to the apostles.” And the great Dionysius, speaking of the fact that the unapproachable light in which God dwells is darkness, said that everyone who is worthy to understand and know God dwells in it. So, this is the same light that the apostles once saw, and the bright cloud that overshadowed them after that. But the light that shone then caused a darkening of vision, and the light that appeared a little later was invisible to them due to its extraordinary clarity, and therefore, as it were, overshadowed the source of the Divine and eternal light and the Sun of righteousness - Christ. For even in the sensual sun, the same light both provides, through rays, the ability to see, and takes away the ability to see, when someone looks at it closely, because its brilliance is beyond the measure of our eyes. But the sensual sun rises only when it is supposed to by nature, and not when it wants, and not only for those for whom it would like, but the Sun of truth and righteousness - Christ, has not only nature and natural radiance, but also a corresponding will, providentially and savingly shines with light only those whom it desires and to the extent it desires. Therefore, having desired, He shone like the sun and was contemplated by the eyes of the apostles, and then for a short period, then, shining more and more brightly, as He desired, he became invisible to the apostolic eyes, as if entering a bright cloud. And a voice came from the cloud: This is My beloved Son, and in Him I am well pleased: Hear ye Him. When the Lord was baptized in the Jordan, the heavens were opened, and there was the same voice from the glory that Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, later saw when the heavens opened over him (Acts 7:55, 56), and now from the cloud that overshadowed Jesus. How could sensory light be transcendental? The voice of the Father from the cloud taught that everything that happened before the coming of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ - the sacrifices, the law, the birth of sons - all this was imperfect and was allowed for the sake of this coming and appearing of the Lord. Since this is the One towards whom the Father, as the beloved Son, is entirely pleased and shows favor: then He commands to obey Him and obey Him. If He says: Enter through the narrow gate; for the wide gate and the broad way are you leading into destruction... but the narrow gate and the strait way are you bringing into the belly (Matthew 7:13–14), - listen to Him. If He says that light is the kingdom of God, listen to Him. If He says that light is the kingdom of God, listen to Him, believe Him and make yourself worthy of such light. When a bright cloud appeared and the Father’s voice sounded from the cloud, the disciples, as it is said, fell on their faces, however, not because of the voice. And in fact, the voice often appeared at other times, and not only in the Jordan, but also when the time of saving suffering in Jerusalem approached, for when the Lord said: Father, glorify Your name! A voice came from heaven: I will glorify and glorify again (John 12:28), and all the people heard that voice; however, no one fell. Therefore, even now, not only was there a voice on Tabor, but with it an inconceivable light also shone. Therefore, the God-enlightened men correctly explained that the disciples fell on their faces not because of the voice, but because of the terrible and supernatural light: because, before the voice was uttered, they were already afraid, it is understood, from this Epiphany, as the Evangelist Mark says. If the Divine, supernatural and uncreated light shone in all such circumstances, then what else are they philosophizing about, who, adhering to spiritual science, cannot understand the things of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14), - who consider it not the glory of the Divine, not the kingdom of God, not grace, not radiance, as we have been taught from God and theologians, but recognize it as sensible and created. The Lord says in the Gospel that this glory is common not only to Him with the Father, but also to the holy angels, as Saint Luke writes: If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory, and the angels of the Father and the saints (Luke 9:26). Not only angels, but also saints among men join in this glory and kingdom; only the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit have this glory and kingdom by nature, and the holy angels and people are granted it by grace, receiving enlightenment from above: Moses and Elijah, seen with Him in this glory, prove this to us (however, Moses shone not only now - on Tabor, sharing the Divine glory, but already earlier His face was so glorified that the children of Israel could not look at him). So, the glory and the kingdom and the greatness are common to God and His saints, why does the Psalmist Prophet cry: bring the glory of the Lord our God upon us (Ps. 89:17); but that the essence of God and the saints should be common and one, no one has yet dared to assert this: the community of the Divine and the Word is clearly shown by the Divine radiance on the mountain, but to assert that the essence of the Divine is identical with the flesh is characteristic of Eutyches and Dioscorus, and not of those who strive for piety. Everyone will see this glory and radiance when the Lord appears, shining from east to west - those who now ascended the mountain with Jesus saw them; but no one comprehended the nature and essence of God, and no one confessed the nature of God. This divine light is accepted to a greater or lesser extent according to the dignity of those who receive it; it is not far to look for evidence of this: the face of the Lord shone like the sun, and His clothes only became light and white as snow; both Moses and Elijah were contemplated in this very glory, but not one of them shone like the sun, and the disciples themselves, although they saw the radiance of that light, were, however, unable to look at it. Thus, that light is given in moderation and is received to a greater or lesser extent: part of it now, and the rest will be revealed later, which is why blessed Paul says: now we understand in part, and we prophesy in part (1 Cor. 13:9). But the essence of God is completely indivisible and incomprehensible, and is by no means acceptable to a greater or lesser extent: to think otherwise, attributing the essence of God to those like oneself, is characteristic only of the wicked. We, however, moving away from ancient and modern heretics, and believing that the saints do not partake of the essence of God, but of the kingdom, glory, greatness, ineffable light and Divine grace, as we have been taught, let us strive for the radiance of the gracious light, so that we may recognize and worship the Tri-radiant Divinity, shining in unity. Let us lift up our mental eyes to the Word, now abiding in the flesh above the heavens - the Word, Who, fittingly seated at the right hand of the Majesty, seems to send down to us from above such a voice: “If anyone wants to appear in this glory, let him imitate as much as he can bear it, and follow the path and way of life that I have indicated.” Let us look with our inner eyes at this great vision, and, putting aside the leather garments with which we dress from the Fall, that is, earthly and carnal thoughts, let us stand on holy land, each revealing our holy land through virtue and turning to God, so that we may have boldness towards the God who lives in the light and, having drawn closer, we will be enlightened, and having been enlightened, we will receive eternal participation in the glory of the Trisple and Sovereign Light, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen 159. Curs. Compl. Patrolog. Migne, Tom. CLI; compare St. Gregory Palamas 65 conversations – handicraft. Moscow Synodal librarian (69–LXX), l.l. 127 rev.–131. You might be interested in: