The Holy Transfiguration

As a mother feeds her child with the proper food, at the proper time, and with the proper utensils, the Church feeds us the Word of God in bite-sized portions of the Word of God, at different times of the Church year, using the golden spoon of the Fathers. In all Her wisdom, tender care and love, our Mother Church yearns to feed her children the Holy Scriptures and nourish them with the Bread of Life. The paramount objective in this series is to introduce believers to the “Trialogue of Faith”—the harmony among the Holy Bible, the writings of the Church Fathers, and the Divine Liturgy. This symphony of discourse explains the sayings of the Holy Scripture through the writings of the Fathers and the liturgical tradition of the blessed Church. It is our hope and prayer that these publications will help each faithful believer to enter into the depth of contemplation and worship. Previous publications of this series have focused on the Sunday Gospel readings of the Coptic Orthodox Lectionary. This small book contains sermons and homilies centered around the Minor Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. In 2013, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press published a collection of ancient homilies on the Holy Transfiguration of our Lord, translated edited and introduced by Fr. Brian E. Daley, S.J. This abbreviated collection also contains additional homilies such of St. Cyril of Alexandria, translated by the Very Rev. Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas, a Coptic homily attributed to St. Ephrem the Syrian translated by Archimandrite Ephrem, and a homily of St. Jacob of Serug. These homilies are introduced by an article on the Transfiguration from the thrice- blessed, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III.