Слово на Святое Преображение Христа Бога нашего 147 . Святого Анастасия Синаита 148

What a terrible place this is (Gen. 28:17). I also marvel with Patriarch Jacob, for, like him, I see a ladder established from earth to heaven and God Himself in the church, standing at the very top of the ladder on the mountain; and, overcome by horror from such a vision, I say: how terrible this place is: this is not, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. This is the door from which the Father testified from above, from which the Sun of righteousness, Christ, arose; this mountain, in which the Stone that was cut off from the mountain appeared, is the mountain for which David cries: Christ led them into the mountain of holiness, this mountain, the south of which His right hand has acquired (Ps. 77:54), - a fruitful mountain, a fat mountain, a mountain south of which God was pleased to live in it ( Ps. 67:16-17), - this mountain - a place of mystery, this place is unknown, incomprehensible. Here the kingdom is figuratively represented, here the sacrament of the crucifixion was predicted, here the greatness of ignorance was revealed, here the condescension of the second coming of Christ appeared; on this mountain the glory of the righteous was predicted, on this mountain present and future blessings were depicted. This mountain saw the image of the resurrection; this mountain is the future rapture of the righteous in the cloud; this mountain immutably prefigured our transformation; this mountain brought the image of earthy things into the image of heavenly kindness. Therefore, I will say again: how terrible is this place: this is not, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And I will glorify all the more that today Tabor and Hermon cried out in agreement and called the whole universe to rejoice. Now the ancient God-like nature of Adam, darkened by the ugly idol image, has been transformed and transformed everything into its ancient goodness in the image and likeness. Now the mountain, which in dark times was covered with clouds, as if with leathern garments, was clothed with God-made clothing, clothed with light like a robe (Ps. 103:2). Now on Mount Tabor the joy and order of the future life and kingdom have been revealed in secret. Dnest on the mountain, the preachers of the Old and New Testaments, who were the successors of the glorious sacraments, gloriously gathered to God. Today on Tabor the life-giving sacrament of the Cross was written with death. Just as on the place of execution He was crucified on the cross in the midst of two people: so now He stands magnificently in the midst of Moses and Elijah and points to a real holiday, adorned not with figurative and hay visions of God, but with the opposite Sinai Epiphanies. And truly, there were images written there, here - the truth, there - darkness, here - the sun, there - darkness, here - a cloud of light, there - the law of the ten-words, here - the eternal Word, there - carnal fortune-telling, here - spiritual things, there - the voice of angels, here - the Father. There tablets are drawn for the wicked, but here hearts are made wise for salvation; Then water flowed from the stone of unbelief, but now the source of immortality has appeared. There the rod languished, here the cross flourished. There the cartel was sent as a symbol of torment, here the dove is a symbol of the Spirit for salvation. There Mariam's sister played tympani, and here Mary gave birth to God. There Moses allows the boot on his foot, indicating a violation of legal service; here John does not take off his boots, clearly pointing to the close connection of the Word of God with our deathly nature. There Elijah hides from the face of Jezebel, here Elijah contemplates God face to face. Mount Sinai did not reveal the promised land to Moses, but Tabor led Moses into the promised land and led human nature to God of reconciliation and forgiveness of sins according to the merits of Christ. Christ, the Co-Eternal Word of the Father, desiring to cleanse this nature from the serpentine poison poured onto it, shows the sacrament to His disciples on Mount Tabor. Since He announced to them about the kingdom, and in the middle (of the conversation) revealed to them about His glorious coming, and since they were still imperfect in understanding everything that was said to him about the kingdom, they doubted the power of spiritual wisdom: therefore, He wanted to assure them with images and signs of the future from the present and showed some pre-image of the heavenly kingdom and the glorious Epiphany on Mount Tabor. Amen, I say to you, soon and immediately, for there are none from here who have not tasted death, until they see the Son of Man coming in the glory of His Father (Matthew 16:28). And over time, the Lord shows the actions of His will. After six days,” says the Evangelist, “Jesus gave water to Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain, one and all. And He was transformed before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His robe was white like light. And behold, Moses appeared to them and Elijah spoke with Him. And behold, the clouds brightened their autumn (Matthew 17:1–3; Luke 9:34). These are the Divine miracles of a real holiday! Such is the sacred triumph of Christ that has brought us here! And so that we do not be ignorant, together with enlightened theologians, let us enter into the knowledge of the sacrament and hear a certain divine and most sacred verb, as if from above from the edge of the mountain commandingly saying: come, and let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of our God (Isa. 2:3). With Peter and John we will ascend upward, with Elijah and Moses on the clouds we will flow through the air, so that the Master may also say about us: Amen, I say to you, there are none from here who stand and listen, who have not tasted death, until they see the Son of Man coming to them with the glory of His Father. Let us also boldly enter into the cloud with Moses, Elijah, James and John; and, like Peter, we strive to contemplate the Divine vision, retreating from the earth. Enthusiastic at the vision, Peter called out: Lord, it is good for us to be here (Matthew 17:4). Truly, Peter, it is good for us to be and to remain with Jesus, and to always be and to abide forever. What could be more blessed and higher than to be with God and in God, to be the image of God and walk in the light? Let each of us who has acquired God in his heart, transformed himself according to this Divine example, and rejoices, say: Lord, it is good for us to be here, where there is all joy, joy and pleasure, where everything is peaceful, quiet and serene in the heart, where God appears. In such a place He creates an abode with the Father, having come to which He says: Today is salvation for this house (Luke 19:9) and for this soul; into it, together with Christ, all the treasures of eternal blessings come and remain; in it, like in a mirror, the images and outlines of the entire future are reflected. Having experienced all this on the mountain, Peter leaped in his soul and felt some extraordinary joy and Divine joy. He saw, as far as one can see, the best and most extraordinary natures, species and incorporeal images, he saw beauty shining with the glory of incorruptibility, he saw the divine solar dawn of future re-existence. He imagined, but without guessing, the unknown splendor and heritage of the kingdom there, saw the darkened palaces of the brideless Bridegroom, saw the thrones of invisible glory, saw wreaths woven from incorruptibility, saw grace-filled food and was completely changed in heart, his soul became attached to what was there; he was all filled with light, he was all enveloped in glory. Full of amazement and delight, completely forgetting about everything in the world, the blessed and all-praised (Apostle) calls out to the Lord: Lord! It is good for us to be here: ignorant of the verb (Luke 9:33). Oh, if Peter, the stone of faith, knew what he said to Christ - the Stone on the mountain stone! With this supreme secret of the 149 New Testament came the supreme secret of the Old Law, Moses and the prophet Elijah from Horeb. The servant (Moses) came to the Lord full of frenzy, because he saw Divine power in human form. But he does not contemplate the miraculous coming of the Lord (as before) in an ancient bush, but, on the contrary, he sees animate flesh; Therefore, having come to Tabor, he does not say: I will pass by and see this great vision (Ex. 3:3), but: “When I came, I saw a vision and this great spectacle.” Life according to the flesh has passed, the time of the law has passed, the images have passed, Egypt has passed, Sinai has passed, darkness has passed, Horeb has passed, the stone has passed, the ark has passed, circumcision has been abandoned, the Jordan has been crossed, Jericho has been passed, the church has passed, the sacrifices have passed, the canopy has passed. Now I have seen You, who truly exist and ever-present with the Father, who spoke to me on the mountain: I am this (Exodus 3:14). I saw a great vision of You, who of old appeared to me mysteriously and magnificently as God. Now I saw God not with a covered face, but face to face, and now my soul was saved. I saw You, whom I longed to see for a long time, saying: Let me know You (Exodus 33:13), for Your appearing is eternal life. I saw not Your back, as on the Sinai stone, but clearly appearing on the Tabor stone; I did not hide as a man in a hole in a stone, but I hide You, God the Lover of Mankind, in my image. You are the Divine Intercessor of the Old and New Testaments, the old God and the new man. You, who anciently appeared in secret on Mount Sinai, have now been clearly transformed on Tabor. The services of the law have passed: now I have seen You - a great vision. You, who at Sinai were prefigured and represented, now at Tabor you receive testimony and preaching from God as the Son. You are the One who of old ascended the bush and plunged the power of Pharaoh into the abyss. You are the One who tamed the sea, blackened by flowing waters, with a word. You are the One Who transformed the nature of a soulless rod into a crawling serpent. You are the One who gave salvation to those wandering in the waterless desert. You and the dry stone opened into watery nature. You transform with Your constant transformation for the better all our unseemly and ugly things. You came from above into this life in order to humanize human nature, dehumanized by sin, and to erect the body of fallen Adam. You are for all people the true image renewed not by corruption and immortality, You are the unceasing church and God of David and Solomon, who created and erected the church to man in the highest Jerusalem. You are the true purifier of worldly sins. You are the true Passover lamb, who delivered Your people from the Egyptians and the cruel Pharaoh. I desired You, I expected You, I trusted in You when I said on the mountain: Show me Samago to You, so that I can see You rationally (Ex. 33:13). Show me Yourself if I have acquired grace before You, since for me there is nothing more precious and dearer in the world than to be satisfied with Your glory, Your image, Your light, Your kindness, Your words. For this reason I bow, praise, sing: for the legal darkness has passed; now I have seen a great vision. Truly it is great. At Sinai You said to me, “No man will see My face and live” (Exod. 33:20): Now, face to face, You appeared on earth in the flesh and lived with earthly beings. How is it that You, Who by nature are life and the Giver of Life, are going towards death? How do You, Who are above those on high and beyond those who are farthest away, come to the dead? Despite this, however, the mystery of Your death is great. You are coming to appear to those who have fallen asleep from eternity. You want to free Adam from severe (sorrows). All this, Master, You foreshadowed for me during the law. So I diligently loosen the boots from the feet of the law, for the place on which I now stand is holy ground and a land of promise. You foretold about it of old in the bush, saying: take the boots from your feet, O lawyer, and stop walking and approaching: for the place where you are standing is holy ground (Ex. 3:5). Luke says that Moses and Elijah talked with Christ about the departure of His soul from the body, which He wanted to accomplish in Jerusalem (Luke 9:30–31) in the suffering of the cross. Moses and Elijah asked, the Master taught, and the disciples listened. The Father spoke from above, a cloud overshadowed, the mountain shone, its top smoked, stones disintegrated, angels rushed around - all this was an image and prototype of the second coming. And, as if someone looked from heaven, in the blink of an eye he would see everything earthly, such as: the earth, hills, sea, rivers, springs, people, cities, villages, gardens and in general all earthly creation: so then on the mountain, with their opened spiritual eyes, the disciples suddenly saw everything that could be seen, and even more than was possible: the image of the future heavenly kingdom and the second coming of Christ, as said above. When the disciples saw the sky twisted, the moon waning, the stars falling, the earth shaking, mountains open, the dead rising, angels presented, books opened and everyone standing in awe, then they were afraid of this vision, and, unable to endure, fell on their faces. They are, as the Evang says. Luke, were burdened with sleep, and their corruptible nature could not bear to see the incorruptible, deathly body - to bear the vision of the immortal. Therefore it was necessary for Moses and Elijah to come in better bodies; they appeared in glory (Luke 9:31). Then, without fear and without embarrassment, they stood on the mountain; The disciples, overcome by some heaviness or frenzy, fell, for Luke says: Peter and those with him were burdened with sleep (Luke 9:32). And evang. Matthew says: To them that come down from the mountain, Jesus commands them, saying: Give visions to someone, until the Son of Man rises from the dead (Matthew 17:9). “Don’t tell anyone about the vision,” says (the Lord), “tell anyone.” Likewise, Moses said on this Mount Sinai: “I will go and see this great vision.” What is greater and more terrible than to see God in human form, with a radiant and shining face, constantly emitting rays and speaking to those who are with Him: “So the righteous will shine forth in the resurrection, so they will be glorified, transformed into this image of Mine, changed into this glory, into this image, into such light, into such bliss, being conformed and co-throned with Me, the Son of God”?! Hearing what Christ said on the mountain, the angels were horrified, the prophets marveled, the disciples marveled, the creation, hearing the transformation and renewal of corruption into incorruption, rejoiced, the mountain rejoiced, the countries were adorned, the scales were glorified, the people were exalted, the seas sang, the rivers splashed, Nazareth cried out, Babylon sang, Nephealim celebrated, the hills leaped, the desert flourished, Vasan rejoiced. And I, now joyfully joyful, with a great voice call all the mountains from this mountain to Divine worship and cry out: Mount Ararat, Mount Gilboa, Mount Sinai, Mount Paran, Northern Mountain, Western Mountain, Mount Lebanon, Southern Mountain, Mountain of the Islands, bow your heads and worship on Mount Tabor to Christ our God. And when numerous mountains sing together with this mountain, let us call: the mountains of Jordan, the mountains of Gebal, Mount Gilead, Mount Zion, Mount Calvary, Mount of Olives, sing together and rejoice, praising Christ with one voice on the holy mountain, and together saying: “Rejoice, Creator of all, Light-bearing King, God-born, all creation recreated and directed for the better. Rejoice, Mary Most Pure, God's animated mountain of saints, Mary the Mother of God, Mother of the Virgin. Rejoice, God's most sacred sanctuary, Nazareth, the strange city, mother of the mother of all cities. Rejoice, the image of the heavenly kingdom is the all-holy Mount Tabor, the reddest in kindness above all the mountains. Rejoice, the smallest most glorious of all seas, the Sea of ​​Tiberias, gently trodden by the feet of Christ. Rejoice, land of Zebulun and land of Nefoalim, Galilee of tongues, the first of the first to receive the great light from above from the Father of lights - Rejoice, into which flows the council of sacred priests and bishops, bearing the image of Christ and wisely presiding in place of Melchizedek. Rejoice, equal to the angelic state of the virgins and fasters of Elijah the Thesbite, imitating the Tabor life and vision. Rejoice, church praise to all faithful people, for the present celebration and celebration is full of joy and joy...” And now, the people of God, who have gathered on the bright holiday of the Divine Mountain, sing with one voice with the angels, flow with the star, preach with the apostles, precede with Moses, come with Elijah, leap from the clouds, testify from the sky, cry out from the mountain, from the stone Blow the trumpet, call Nazareth, gather Galilee, praise with songs, shine with lights, decorate with crowns, leap with the mountains, rejoice with the maidens, glorify with the brides, glorify with the countries, make noise with the sea, serve with the Jordan, ascend to the mountain, on Tabor celebrate the All-King of kings and the God of gods, our true Lord Jesus To Christ. To him be glory and power with the Immortal Father and the All-Holy and Life-giving, Indivisible and Consubstantial Spirit, now and ever and to the endless ages of ages. Amen 150. This word was spoken on Mount Tabor. Secret scholar, adviser in secret matters. Church Slavonic Dictionary. Note electronic edition. According to the Serbian list of the 15th century. See Orthodox. Interlocutor 1887, part II, pp. 1–28; Wed Great Cetii Menaion All-Russian. Metropolitan Macaria. Month of August, 25th of the year. 96 rev.–100. You might be interested in: