…his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. (Mark 9:3)
In 1831, Nicholas Motovilov wrote of seeing St. Seraphim of Sarov transfigured with divine light. They had been discussing how a person can acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, but Motovilov was puzzled:
“I do not understand how I can be certain that I am in the Spirit of God,” he asked. And then, by way of reply, Father Seraphim took him firmly by the shoulders and said, “We are both in the Spirit of God now, my son. Why don’t you look at me?’ Motovilov replied, “I cannot look, Father, because your eyes are flashing like lightning. Your face has become brighter than the sun, and my eyes ache with pain.” Father Seraphim reassured him, “Don't be alarmed, your Godliness! Now you yourself have become as bright as I am. You are now in the fullness of the Spirit of God yourself; otherwise you would not be able to see me as I am.”
The righteous, says Christ, will "shine like the sun."
The divine light which Peter, James and John saw on the holy mountain, on Mount Tabor, the light which belongs to Christ by nature as light from light, as the only begotten Son of the Father, is real and offered to us by grace.
We see it in St. Sarov, Paul saw it on the road to Damascus and it struck him blind. It suffused St. Stephen testifying before the Sanhedrin, “his face was like that of an angel,” and again with Moses who talked with God on Sinai and in the Tent of Meeting, whose face shone with such brightness from the encounter that he had to veil it. Perhaps you have seen it yourself.
To return to the Russian holy man. It's said that he spoke with bears and in particular, Misha:
Two other sisters witnessed such a scene: Fr. Seraphim sat on a log, when suddenly out of the woods came an enormous bear on his hind legs. The nuns were quite startled. The Elder said: “Misha, why are you scaring the orphans? You’d better go and get some sort of consolation, or I won’t have anything to treat them to.” The bear returned in two hours bringing with him a fresh honeycomb, covered with leaves. The elder took the honey, gave him a piece of bread and bade him depart.
I love this short story, it speaks of the peace which passes all understanding and the reversal of the Fall, a return to Eden. Strive to walk in the light, in the divine radiance.
God bless you all,
LSP
