Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies + The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation, by C. Veniamin + The Transfiguration of Christ, by C. Veniamin

I am most grateful for the Homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas. I have only read a handful so far—providentially, among a few others, I was happy to find homilies that corresponded to the Gospel readings for the Sundays we celebrated the Divine Liturgy in our fledgling St. Herman of Alaska Mission, as well as those on the Transfiguration. The way Saint Gregory brings out such abundant meaning from the text and applies it to the challenges of our walk with the Lord is truly masterful and illuminating. Thorough and skillful in his cross referencing and application of Scripture to Scripture, his perspectives and insight are both delightful and sobering. In the rush and scramble of modern life, making thoughtful, quiet study and reflection difficult in the extreme, these homilies, obviously fruit of genuine hesychasm, greatly help me linger with the passages and ponder their depths, faint and imperfect though my attempts may be. I shared his Homily 32 last Sunday, on Christ walking on the water and about temptations. When I went over the part where St. Gregory gives “another significance” of the passage, I happened to be looking at one of our catechumens, and seeing the splash of enlightenment on his face when the additional figurative meaning hit him was priceless. I am a late comer to Orthodoxy, and did not have the blessing in my approach of experiencing a Liturgy or meeting someone actually living the faith. It is painful for me to realize how much time I wasted on “that which is not bread… and which satisfieth not” (Isaiah 55:2), and likewise discouraging to realize how much truly feeding and edifying teaching I will simply not have time nor the capacity to absorb now in this life. Having this treasure, “the most complete synthesis and perfect formulation of the apostolic tradition of all generations”, as Archimandrite Zacharias put it in the foreword, is most comforting and encouraging. Please pray for me, that I can make time to effectively absorb these marvelous teachings and faithfully pass them on to the little flock that has been entrusted to me. Thank you for sharing these treasures with us and for all you do to help build up the Church.