Novena to the Transforming Light (Day 6, August 11)
August 11, 2026
Day 6 (August 11)
Suddenly when they looked around,
they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus (Mk. 9:8).
What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Cor 15: 42b-44)
The Lord stretched out His hand and raised them as they lay. And then “they saw no one but Jesus only.” What does this mean? When the Apostle was read, you heard, “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.” And “tongues shall cease,” when that which we now hope for and believe shall come. When they fell to the earth, they signified that we die, for it was said to the flesh, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But when the Lord raised them up, He signified the resurrection. After the resurrection, what is the Law to you? what is Prophecy? Therefore neither Moses nor Elias is seen. Only He remains for you, He who “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He remains for you, “that God may be all in all.” Moses will be there; but now no more the Law. We shall see Elijah there, too; but now no more the Prophet. For the Law and the Prophets have only given witness to Christ, that it befit Him to suffer, and to rise again from the dead on the third day, and to enter into His glory. And in this glory is fulfilled what He has promised to those who love Him: “he who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him.” … Great gift! great promise! God holds for you nothing less than Himself. O you covetous one; why isn’t Christ’s promise enough for you? You seem to yourself to be rich; yet if you do not have God, what do you have? Another person is poor, yet if he has God, what does he lack? (Pseudo-Macarius)
Precious the gift this earth of ours sent up to heaven today, sealing a fruitful friendship with an exchange of presents and joining the human to the divine, the earthly to the heavenly, the depths to the heights. The best that earth has ever produced went up to the place whence whatever gifts are worth having, whatever endowments are perfect of their kind, come down to us. And as she has mounted up on high, the blessed Virgin too will make gifts to men. How could she fail to, when she lacks neither the means nor the will? She is the queen of heaven and she is merciful. She is also the mother of God's only Son. Nothing could vouch for her great power and pity so well as that. Otherwise, we should have to believe that God did not honor his mother, or that Mary's heart was not wholly possessed by charity; even though God's Love in person rested in her body for nine whole months.
This I say for our benefit, brethren, knowing as I do how unlikely it is that in such a dearth of love that perfect charity should be found which does not claim its rights. l Not to mention, for the moment, the blessings we obtain from her entry into glory; if we really love her, we shall be glad that she has gone to her Son. Of course, we shall rejoice with her, unless we are content to find no favor with her who found favor with God and God forbid that that should be. When he came into this village, we call the world, she it was who welcomed him; and now today he welcomed her as she entered the holy city. Imagine the honor, the rejoicing, the glory! There was no higher place on earth than Mary's virginal womb, the temple where she received the Word of God. There is no higher place in heaven than the royal throne on which her Son set her today. Fruitful the reception each gave the other. Words fail to express what the mind fails to conceive…. Mary’s assumption, like Christ's birth, is beyond our knowing. On earth she received more grace than others, and in heaven too her glory is unique. (St. Bernard of Clairvaux)
Musical Selection
Apostles, assembled here from the ends of the earth, bury my body in Gethsemane; and Thou, my Son and God, receive my spirit.
Prayers
Moses, who saw God,
and Elijah who rode the fiery chariot across the heavens unconsumed,
beheld You in the cloud at Your Transfiguration, O Christ.
They testified that You are the Maker and Fulfillment
of the law and the prophets.
With them, O Master, count us also worthy of Your light,
that we may sing Your praises unto all ages.
He Who once spoke through symbols to Moses on Mount Sinai
saying: I am He Who is!
Was transfigured, today, upon Mount Tabor before the disciples.
In His own person He showed them the nature of mankind
arrayed in the original beauty of the image.
Calling Moses and Elijah to be witnesses of this surpassing Grace,
He made them sharers in His joy,
foretelling His death on the Cross and His saving resurrection! (Orthodox Vespers of the Transfiguration)
It was right that the eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word
should see the Dormition of His mother according to the flesh:
the final mystery concerning her!
So that they might be witnesses not only to the Ascension of the Savior,
but also to the translation of her who gave Him birth!
Assembled from all parts by divine power, they came to Zion,
and sped on her way to heaven the Virgin who is higher than the cherubim.
We also venerate her, for she prays for our souls. (Orthodox Vespers of the Dormition)