he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen,
until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead (Mk. 9:9).
Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. (1 Cor 15: 45-47)
Who might be able to give me the words as powerful as I wish? Who can be exalted in a way worthy of this mystery? What mental movement can simply look at this sight and not immediately be smothered as a result, drawing back before such an inaccessible wonder? But let us enter now within the cloud, and examine what the message of the cloud might be, so that by examining it, as far as our powers allow, the meaning hidden deep within these things, we may not stay far away from the significance they all reveal. The shining cloud, then, from which the voice of the Father came forth, piercingly proclaiming who the transfigured one was and whence he came, is the dove who shortly before descended on the Jordan—the Holy Spirit, coming down from above in the form of a dove and remaining on him who was being baptized, the one who would baptize, according to John’s witness, in spirit and fire. In Jesus, if we may put it this way, the Spirit has his endless dwelling place. Here, then, as in the Jordan, the mystery of the Trinity is revealed: held together in the supremely unified, utterly single, utterly timeless reality of the Godhead, and expressed by means of the same words. (St. Andrew of Crete)
Mary is the supreme masterpiece of Almighty God and he has reserved the knowledge and possession of her for himself. She is the glorious Mother of God the Son who chose to humble and conceal her during her lifetime in order to foster her humility. He called her "Woman" as if she were a stranger, although in his heart he esteemed and loved her above all men and angels. Mary is the sealed fountain and the faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit where only he may enter. She is the sanctuary and resting-place of the Blessed Trinity where God dwells in greater and more divine splendour than anywhere else in the universe, not excluding his dwelling above the cherubim and seraphim. No creature, however pure, may enter there without being specially privileged.
I declare with the saints: Mary is the earthly paradise of Jesus Christ the new Adam, where he became man by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order to accomplish in her wonders beyond our understanding. She is the vast and divine world of God where unutterable marvels and beauties are to be found. She is the magnificence of the Almighty where he hid his only Son, as in his own bosom, and with him everything that is most excellent and precious. What great and hidden things the all-powerful God has done for this wonderful creature, as she herself had to confess in spite of her great humility, "The Almighty has done great things for me." The world does not know these things because it is incapable and unworthy of knowing them.
The saints have said wonderful things of Mary, the holy City of God, and, as they themselves admit, they were never more eloquent and more pleased than when they spoke of her. And yet they maintain that the height of her merits rising up to the throne of the Godhead cannot be perceived; the breadth of her love which is wider than the earth cannot be measured; the greatness of the power which she wields over one who is God cannot be conceived; and the depths of her profound humility and all her virtues and graces cannot be sounded. What incomprehensible height! What indescribable breadth! What immeasurable greatness! What an impenetrable abyss!(St. Louis Marie de Montfort)
Musical Selection
Prayers
David, the ancestor of God,
foreseeing in spirit the sojourn with mankind of the Only-begotten Son in the flesh
called the creation together to rejoice with him,
and prophetically lifted up his voice to cry:
“Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Your name!”
For having gone up the mount with Your disciples,
You were transfigured, O Christ,
and made Adam’s darkened image to shine again as lightning,
transforming it into the glory and splendor of Your own divinity.(Orthodox Vespers of the Transfiguration)
Sing, O people! Sing the praises of the mother of our God:
for today, she delivers her soul, full of Light,
into the immaculate hands of Him Who was made incarnate of her without seed.
And she entreats Him without ceasing
to grant the earth peace and great mercy!
Come, O people, let us sing the praises of the pure and most holy Virgin from whom the Word of the Father ineffably came forth in the flesh! Let us cry aloud and say: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the womb that held Christ! Having delivered your soul into His holy hands O most pure one, entreat Him to save our souls.(Orthodox Vespers of the Dormition)