His Beatitude explains how to gain spiritual fortitude
His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: screenshot from UOC video
On August 19, 2026, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St Agapitus of the Caves at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and addressed the faithful with a sermon on spiritual ascent and fortitude.
The Primate recalled the Gospel account of the Lord Jesus Christ ascending Mount Tabor together with the Apostles Peter, James and John. As the Savior prayed, He was transfigured before them: His face shone like the sun, His garments became white as light, and the apostles beheld His Divine glory, as well as the prophets Moses and Elijah speaking with the Savior. Metropolitan Onuphry noted that during Christ’s earthly ministry, the apostles witnessed many miracles and manifestations of His Divine power, but it was on Tabor that the Lord revealed His Divine glory to them.
According to the Primate, the names of the three apostles symbolically point to the path of spiritual ascent: Peter reminds us of faith, James of hope, and John of love. “In order to be worthy of seeing the beauty of the Divine nature, its majesty and its glory, a person must rise above earthly things, above everything temporal,” he said. According to His Beatitude, this path is pursued through prayer, fasting and other Christian ascetic labors, and its goal is the purification of the human heart, for “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Concluding his sermon, His Beatitude expressed the wish that the Lord would help Christians ascend spiritually toward the heights of perfection, preserve purity of heart and become capable of contemplating the glory of God. He said that a person who has experienced the joy of Divine glory gains the spiritual strength to remain steadfast amid sorrows and trials and to walk confidently along the path leading to salvation in Christ Jesus.
As the UOJ reported, His Beatitude on the anniversary of his enthronement stated that all our hope is in Christ alone.
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