NOTES for Mat 17:1-9
Today I very much want to recall, if only in fragments, Boris Pasternak's wonderful poem devoted to the Transfiguration of the Lord (‘August’).
<...>
I remembered why
The pillow was slightly damp.
I had dreamt that, to bid me farewell,
You walked through the forest, one after another.
You walked in a crowd, apart and in pairs,
Suddenly someone remembered that today
Was the sixth of August, Old Style,
The Transfiguration of the Lord.
Usually a light without flame
Comes forth from Tabor on this day,
And autumn, clear as a sign,
Holds every gaze.
<...>
Everyone could physically sense
Someone's calm voice nearby.
It was my former prophetic voice
Ringing out, untouched by decay…
Whether or not the poet was aware of it, the whole fabric of his wonderful poem belongs to the tradition of liturgical poetry in which the Transfiguration is understood as preparing the disciples to know the Resurrection: ‘…To chosen witnesses from the living and the dead, from heaven and earth, who stood before you on Tabor, you revealed the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in you, anticipating the radiance of your resurrection…’ (Akathist to the Transfiguration of the Lord, kontakion 1). It is precisely resurrection in the flesh that the poet foresees: everyone could physically sense it. This physical reality of Christ's divine nature was revealed to the disciples; they could sense it. We too must strive for a faith that can be truly, physically sensed both by ourselves and by those close to us. This is our transfiguration, without which there will be no resurrection either. For such is the path Jesus has shown us.