Gregory Palamas: Mystery of the Transfiguration Sunday, Mar 20 2011

The Evangelist Luke says: “And as He prayed, His countenance was altered” (Lk 9:29); and from the Evangelist Matthew we read: “And His face shone as the sun” (Mt 17:2).

The Evangelist said this…to show that Christ-God, for those living and contemplating by the Spirit, is the same as the sun is for those living in the flesh and contemplating by the senses.

Therefore, some other Light for the knowing the Divinity is not necessary for those who are enriched by Divine gifts.

That same Inscrutable Light shone and was mysteriously manifest to the Apostles and the foremost of the Prophets at that moment, when the Lord was praying.

This shows that what brought forth this blessed sight was prayer, and that the radiance occurred and was manifest by uniting the mind with God.

And it shows that it is granted to all who, with constant exercise in efforts of virtue and prayer, strive with their mind towards God.

True beauty, essentially, can be contemplated only with a purified mind.

To gaze upon its luminance assumes a sort of participation in it, as though some bright ray etches itself upon the face.

Even the face of Moses was illumined by his association with God. Do you not know that Moses was transfigured when he went up the mountain, and there beheld the Glory of God?

Moses did not effect this, but rather he underwent a transfiguration. However, our Lord Jesus Christ possessed that Light Himself….

Christ did not need prayer for His flesh to radiate with the Divine Light; it was but to show from whence that Light descends upon the saints of God, and how to contemplate it.

For it is written that even the saints “will shine forth like the sun” (Mt 13:43), which is to say, entirely permeated by Divine Light as they gaze upon Christ, divinely and inexpressibly shining forth His Radiance, issuing from His Divine Nature.

[...] This Light was the Light of the Divine Nature, and as such, it was Uncreated and Divine.

So also, in the teachings of the Fathers, Jesus Christ was transfigured on the Mount, not taking upon Himself something new nor being changed into something new, nor something which formerly He did not possess.

[...] This Light is not a light of the senses, and those contemplating it do not simply see with sensual eyes, but rather they are changed by the power of the Divine Spirit.

They were transformed, and only in this way did they see the transformation taking place amidst the very assumption of our perishability, with deification through union with the Word of God in place of this.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): extracted from Homilly on the Transfiguration (from the translation at Pravoslavie.ru).

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Gregory Palamas: We shall be Children of God, Seeing and Experiencing God’s Radiance Wednesday, Jan 19 2011

We shall be children of God, seeing and experiencing God’s radiance, with the rays of Christ’s glory shining around us and shining ourselves, as Moses and Elijah proved to us when they appeared with Him in glory on Mount Tabor (Matt. 17:3; Lk. 9:30).

“The righteous”, it says, “shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43).

We receive power for this purpose now through the grace of divine baptism.

[...] A person born again in the Spirit through Christian baptism has received power to become a son and heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17), and in the age to come he will, with all certainty, receive the divine and immortal adoption as a son, which will not be taken from him, unless he has forfeited this by spiritual death.

Sin is spiritual death, and whereas physical death is annulled when the future age arrives, spiritual death is confirmed for those who bring it with them from here.

Everyone who has been baptized, if he is to obtain the eternal blessedness and salvation for which he hopes, should live free from all sin.

[...] Paul said of Christ, “In that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God”, (Rom. 6:10-11), whereas Peter wrote, “Forasmuch as Christ has died for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: that you no longer should live the rest of your time by the lusts of men, but by the will of God” (1 Pet. 4:1-2).

But, O Christ our King, who can worthily extol the greatness of Your love for mankind?

What was unnecessary for Him and what He did not do, namely, repentance (for He never needed to repent, being sinless, cf. Heb. 4:15), He granted to us a mediator for when we sin even after receiving grace.

Repentance means returning once again to Him and to a life according to His will out of remorse.

Even if someone commits a deadly sin, if he turns away from it with all his soul, abstains from it and turns back to the Lord in deed and truth, he should take courage and be of good hope, for he shall not lose eternal life and salvation.

[...] Someone born of Christ, even though he fall into deadly sins, if he turns again and runs to the Father who raises the dead, is made alive once more, obtains divine adoption, and is not cast out from the company of the just.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): extracted from On the Saints of the Old Testament (from the translation at Pravoslavie.ru).

 

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Gregory Palamas: Let us Remove Ourselves from Earthly to Celestial Things Monday, Nov 22 2010

Joachim and Anna…led this truly sanctified child of God, now the Mother of God, this Virgin, into the Temple of God.

[...] She considered it desirable and fitting that she should enter into the Temple and dwell in the Holy of Holies.

Therefore, the High Priest, seeing that this child, more than anyone else, had divine grace within her, wished to set her within the Holy of Holies.

[...] She was led into the Holy of Holies not just once, but was accepted by God to dwell there with Him during her youth, so that through her, the heavenly abodes might be opened and given for an eternal habitation to those who believe in her miraculous birthgiving (cf. Protoevangelion 7, 8).

So it is, and this is why she, from the beginning of time, was chosen from among the chosen.

She who is manifest as the Holy of Holies, who has a body even purer than the spirits purified by virtue, is capable of receiving [...] the hypostatic Word of the Unoriginate Father.

[...]  Therefore, Christ God also glorifies His Mother, both before, and also after His birth.

We who understand the salvation begun for our sake through the Most Holy Virgin, give her thanks and praise according to our ability.

[...] We have the words of eternal life written out for us, and not only the words, but also the miracles and the Passion, and the raising of our nature from death, and its ascent from earth to Heaven, and the promise of immortal life and unfailing salvation.

How, then, shall we not unceasingly hymn and bless the Mother of the Author of our Salvation and the Giver of Life, celebrating her conception and birth, and now her entry into the Holy of Holies?

Now, brethren, let us remove ourselves from earthly to celestial things.

Let us change our path from the flesh to the spirit.

Let us change our desire from temporal things to those that endure.

Let us scorn fleshly delights, which serve as allurements for the soul and soon pass away.

Let us desire spiritual gifts, which remain undiminished.

Let us turn our reason and our attention from earthly concerns and raise them to the inaccessible places of Heaven, to the Holy of Holies, where the Mother of God now resides.

Therefore, in such manner our songs and prayers to her will gain entry, and thus through her mediation, we shall be heirs of the everlasting blessings to come, through the grace and love for mankind of Him Who was born of her for our sake, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): extracted from Discourse on the Feast of the Entry of the More Pure Lady Theotokos into the Holy of Holies (from the translation at Monachos.net).

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Gregory Palamas: “The First Man Adam was Made a Living Soul, the Last Adam was Made a Quickening Spirit” Thursday, Apr 8 2010

The author of evil was jealous of Adam, when he saw him being led from earth to heaven, from which he was justly cast down.

Filled with envy, he pounced upon Adam with a terrible ferocity, and even wished to clothe him with the garb of death.

[...] By his God-opposing advice, he instills in man his own death-bearing power, like a venomous poison.

[...] Since Adam voluntarily gave in to sin, he was defeated and was made a sinner. Since he is the root of our race, he has produced us as death-bearing shoots.

So, it was necessary for us, if he were to fight back against his defeat and to claim victory, to rid himself of the death-bearing venomous poison in his soul and body, and to absorb life, eternal and indestructible life.

It was necessary for us to have a new root for our race, a new Adam, not just one Who would be sinless and invincible, but one Who also would be able to forgive sins and set free from punishment those subject to it.

And not only would He have life in Himself, but also the capacity to restore to life, so that He could grant to those who cleave to Him and are related to Him by race both life and the forgiveness of their sins, restoring to life not only those who came after Him, but also those who already had died before Him.

Therefore, St Paul, that great trumpet of the Holy Spirit, exclaims, the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit (1 Cor. 15:45).

Except for God, there is no one who is without sin, or life-creating, or able to remit sin. Therefore, the new Adam must be not only Man, but also God.

He is at the same time Life, Wisdom, Truth, Love, and Mercy, and every other good thing, so that He might renew the old Adam and restore him to life through mercy, wisdom and righteousness.

These are the opposites of the things which the author of evil used to bring about our aging and death.

As the slayer of mankind raised himself against us with envy and hatred, so the Source of life was lifted up [on the Cross] because of His immeasurable goodness and love for mankind.

He intensely desired the salvation of His creature, i.e., that His creature would be restored by Himself.

[...] And just as he achieved the conquest and the fall of mankind by means of injustice and cunning, by deceit and his trickery, so has the Liberator brought about the defeat of the author of evil, and the restoration of His own creature with truth, justice and wisdom.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): extracted from Discourse on the Feast of the Entry of the More Pure Lady Theotokos into the Holy of Holies (from the translation at Monachos.net).

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