On August 18, 2017 the Vigil was served for the great feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration. In addition to the brotherhood, neighbors, and some seminarians who have remained part of the summer, we were joined by many pilgrims, as is usual during the summer months. A group from Chicago, led by Fr. Leonardo Naidzions, cleric of the cathedral of the Protection of the Mother of God, joined us for the Divine Liturgy the following morning.

In his sermon, Igumen Theophylact spoke of the uncreated light, in which Our Lord was enveloped, which He had always had and now only showed to the selected apostles, as much as they were able to bear, so as to confirm them in faith before the upcoming His upcoming passion and also to show that He was the One Who gave the law to Moses and was prophesized by the great prophet of God, Elias, both of whom also appeared with Him on Mount Thabor. The Apostle Peter was chosen as he had recently declared that Jesus was the Son of God; Apostle James as he was to be the first martyred apostle of the twelve, and the Apostle John as he would evangelize concerning the divinity of Christ.

At the end of the Liturgy, after the prayer before the ambonion, the serving clergy processed to the back of the church, where the faithful had brought baskets of fruit to be blessed. Fr. Theophylact at the end of Liturgy spoke of the fruit being blessed, symbolizing the working of the Holy Spirit in creation, which provides us with the goodness of the fruits of the earth.