Novena to the Transforming Light (Day 7, August 12)
August 12, 2026
Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.
Day 7(August 12)
As they were coming down the mountain,
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)
Come down, Peter! You wanted to rest on the mount. Come down and “preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” Persevere, work hard, bear your measure of torture — so that you might possess what is meant by the white garment of the Lord, through the brightness and the beauty of an upright labor in charity …Hear and listen, O covetous one: the Apostle explains clearly to you in another place: “Let no man seek his own, but another’s.” He says of himself, “Not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” This Peter did not yet understand when he desired to live on the mount with Christ. He was reserving this for you, Peter, after death. But for now He says, “Come down, to labor on the earth; on the earth to serve, to be despised, and crucified on the earth. The Life came down, that He might be slain; the Bread came down, that He might hunger; the Way came down, that life might be wearied in the way; the Fountain came down, that He might thirst; and yet you refuse to work? Seek not your own. Have charity, preach the truth; so shall you come to eternity, where you shall find security.”(St. Augustine of Hippo)
he Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we contemplate today assumed body and soul into heaven, reminds us very definitely that our permanent abode is not on earth but in heaven where she, with her divine Son, has preceded us in all the fullness of her human nature. This is the dominant thought in today’s liturgy. “O Almighty and everlasting God, who hast taken up body and soul into heavenly glory the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Son: grant, we beseech Thee, that, ever intent upon heavenly things, we may be worthy to be partakers of her glory” (Collect).
The [Solemnity] of the Assumption is a strong appeal to us to live “ever intent upon heavenly things,” and not to allow ourselves to be carried away by the vicissitudes and seductions of the world. Not only was our soul created for heaven, but also our body, which, after the resurrection, will be welcomed into our heavenly home and admitted to a participation in the glory of the spirit. Today we contemplate in Mary, our Mother, this total glorification of our humanity. That which has been wholly realized in her, will be realized for us, as well as for all the saints, only at the end of time. This privilege was very fitting for her, the all-pure, the all-holy one, whose body was never touched by even the faintest shadow of sin. but was always the temple of the Holy Spirit, and became the immaculate tabernacle of the Son of God. It is a reminder to us to ennoble our whole life, not only that of the spirit, but also that of the senses, elevating it to the heights of the celestial life which awaits us. “O Mother of God and of men,” exclaims [Venerable Pope] Pius XII in his beautiful prayer for the Assumption, “we beg you to purify our senses, so that we may begin to enjoy God here on earth and Him alone, in the beauty of creatures.”(Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene)
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)
