The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord is celebrated with particular solemnity at the monastery of St. Marty and Mary on Holy Mount Grabarka. This holy place, close to the hearts of the Orthodox faithful of our Homeland, gathers tens of thousands of pilgrims every year from various parts of Poland and abroad. This year's celebrations were marked by the jubilee of the 1700th anniversary of the discovery of the Holy Cross of the Lord by St. Empress Helena.
As in previous years, numerous pilgrimages arrived at the monastery. Starting from August 17, the "Podlaskie Tabor mountain" began to be filled by pilgrims from Warsaw, Białystok, the Lublin-Chełm Diocese, Sokółka, Bielsk Podlaski, Hajnówka, Siemiatycze, and surrounding towns. Siemiatycze became the starting point for a pilgrimage of uniformed services and parishioners from the Polish Orthodox parish in Brussels. A bicycle pilgrimage from Warsaw also arrived at Grabarka, along with numerous coach pilgrimages and individual groups.
On the eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration, services dedicated to the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God were held.
On the vigil of the Feast of the Transfiguration, at 5:30 PM, a ceremony was held before the field altar to welcome His Excellency Archbishop Abel of Lublin and Chełm, and other members of the Council of Bishops of our Church, who, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and all of Poland, presided over this year's celebrations.
Before the start of the festive service, Archbishop Abel addressed the gathered faithful with an occasional word. The hierarch expressed gratitude to God for the opportunity to once again experience the Feast of the Transfiguration in this place sanctified by the generations of our ancestors. He emphasized that the hardship of pilgrimage falls during the fasting period before the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which further motivates both physical and spiritual effort. His Excellency thanked the pilgrims from home and abroad, as well as the pilgrimage organizers.
Subsequently, Archbishop Abel read an occasional address from His Eminence Metropolitan Sawa in connection with this year's jubilee. The head of our Church expressed thanksgiving to Almighty God for the opportunity to once again experience the celebrations of the Transfiguration in a place where generations of our ancestors prayed before us, and then presented the history of the discovery of the relics of the Holy Cross.
His Eminence emphasized that it is on this very day, in this place strewn with crosses, that we commemorate the event of the year 326. "Here, on Mount Grabarka, the Church teaches that the crucifixion of Christ on the tree of shame became glory and victory. In our hearts resonates the spiritual joy of St. Helena, who with faith and devotion found the Tree of the Savior." The hierarch stated that her joy is also our joy.
Metropolitan Sawa called upon the faithful, while standing by the spiritual crosses of our ancestors, to raise their prayers for the Church, the Homeland, and the whole world, asking God for peace, justice, and goodness, and that our hearts may experience transformation, so that together with the apostles we may say: "God, it is good for us to be here."
Then, His Excellency Archbishop Abel called upon the assembly to pray for Metropolitan Sawa, who was absent from this year's celebrations due to illness.
The next point of the celebrations was the consecration of the jubilee cross, which was placed near the Church of the Transfiguration.
Traditionally, throughout the evening, night, and morning, services and Holy Liturgies were held, during which the numerous gathered faithful prayed.
The central Holy Liturgy was presided over by His Excellency Archbishop Abel of Lublin and Chełm, assisted by hierarchs and clergy.
After the reading of the Gospel pericope, a sermon was delivered by Rev. Protopresbyter Dr. Adam Magruk. The preacher noted that the phenomenon of Holy Mount Grabarka stems from the message of the Feast of the Transfiguration. Anyone who—like the apostles on Tabor—has experienced the presence of the incarnate God and has tasted the presence of the Savior in this holy place, knows that no words can describe what happens in the human heart at that moment. The spiritual joy we experience in this monastery is surpassed only by that experienced on Easter Night.
This is why we return every year to this holy place, where God leans over every person carrying their cross. This year's feast took on an even deeper dimension in connection with the jubilee of the discovery of the Life-Giving Cross by St. Helena. Today, two great mysteries of faith intertwine—Tabor and Golgotha, light and the Cross—which in the person of Christ constitute one inseparable mystery.
The clergyman, quoting St. Gregory Palamas, emphasized that the light of the Transfiguration of the Son of God is the same light that shone from the empty tomb of the Risen Jesus. The same light burned in the heart of St. Empress Helena when she found the Holy Cross in 326.
The preacher emphasized that the Cross pricks the conscience of the contemporary world, immersed in sin and passions, which does not want to see Him and despises Him, treating Him as an unnecessary call to transform one's life. By rejecting the Cross, man experiences an illusory freedom while simultaneously leaning toward downfall, losing hope and foundation. Orthodoxy teaches that the solution to the problems of the modern world is to entrust one's life to Christ, who revealed His divine power in suffering, weakness, and fragility.
The main Holy Liturgy, concluding the celebrations at the monastery on Holy Mount Grabarka, ended with a solemn procession around the monastic temple, during which the fruits brought by the faithful were blessed.
Summarizing the celebrations, His Excellency Archbishop Abel greeted the assembly on behalf of His Eminence the Most Blessed Sawa, Metropolitan of Warsaw and all of Poland, assuring them of his spiritual connection. At the same time, he wished him health and strength in continuing to lead our Church.
The hierarch also thanked the episcopate and clergy for conducting the festive services, the pilgrimage organizers and pilgrims, the medical service, police, and fire brigade for ensuring safety, representatives of uniformed services and state and local government authorities of all levels for participating in the service, the choirs, the numerous faithful, and everyone who contributed to the smooth running of the celebrations. Special thanks were directed to the youth from the camp organized by the Central Board of the Orthodox Youth Brotherhood in Poland.
During the main services, a combined choir of students from the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Warsaw and the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw sang, under the direction of Prof. Włodzimierz Wołosiuk.
Rev. Andrzej Stremkowski
Photos: Jarosław Charkiewicz