By Fr. Elias Makos
The faithful in Albania went to churches and celebrated the great event of the Transfiguration of Christ, when some rays of God’s glory and splendor, previously veiled by His human nature, were revealed.
According to tradition, the grapes were blessed at the end of the Divine Liturgy.
At the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Tirana, at the “Tabor” Spiritual Center, Bishop Astios of Velidon presided, assisted by local priests.
At the Church of the Transfiguration in Korça, Metropolitan John officiated and in his homily mentioned that the glory of the Lord seen by the disciples is a foretaste of what we will experience at His Second Coming.
Metropolitan Antonios of Elbasan presided at the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Gramsh. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Transfiguration of the Savior icon was carried in procession around the churchyard.
In the metropolises of Berat (where at the end of the Divine Liturgy a memorial service was sung for the late Metropolitan Ignatios of Berat and Kanina), Gjirokastër and Fier, the Transfiguration of the Savior was also celebrated. During the Transfiguration, Christ’s disciples were dazzled and frightened by the extraordinary sight.
The splendor of the Lord’s form shook them. They forgot earthly things, and a holy desire inflamed them: to have their souls flooded with divine joy.
We too must strive for this transformation of ourselves. We will achieve our transformation if we do not forget or neglect our duties. If we do what we have to do as Orthodox Christians and in the right way.
Today we have reached the point where we congratulate those who fulfill their Christian duty. But this is a duty for believers.
Do you know why? Because there are fewer and fewer of those who fulfill their duties. This means that we are diminishing in quality.
For our good, we must continually rise, transformed. There is no fear that our transformation will fail if we work with God, for God, under God…
This is how God wants us to be, to be in partnership with Him. Together with Him, we must work on our transformation and achieve it with secure conditions. To become builders and architects of ourselves.
Transformation, moral transformation, which is the fruit of a living faith in Christ and of progress in virtue, must be a fundamental characteristic of a Christian. The faithful who suffer tribulations endure because they believe in God. And faith helps them to transform their lives.
This transformation makes the Christian optimistic and peaceful and keeps him steadfast and strong in the struggle of life. For it does not come from man, who, whoever he may be, is by nature fragile, mortal, and transient. It comes from God, who is eternal, unchanging, and almighty.
