[Sermon on the Transfiguration] And he is the Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten from the
Father, and only begotten from a mother. I confess the same to be perfect God and perfect man,
acknowledged in the two natures united hypostatically, or in person, indivisibly, unconfusedly and
unchangeably; having put on flesh that is animated by a rational and intelligent soul, in all things
becoming passible like us, sin alone excepted. He is both earthly and heavenly, temporary and eternal,
starting and without beginning, timeless and subject to time, created and uncreated, passible and
impassible, God and man, perfect in both, one in two and in two one. One person of the Father, one
person of the Son, and one person of the Holy Spirit. One godhead, one power, one kingship in
three persons or hypostases. So we glorify the Holy Unity in Trinity, and the Holy Trinity in
Unity. In this the Father cried out, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him”.
All this the holy Catholic Church of God has received. In this Holy Trinity it baptizes for eternal life. Into
this Trinity it sanctifies with equal honour, confesses it without separation, without division; worships it
without error, confesses and glorifies it. To this Unity in three persons belong glory, thanksgiving,
honour, might, majesty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
(Ephraem, Sermon on the Transfiguration of Christ; CPG 3939)
o Greek: Καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ μονογενὴς ἐκ Πατρός, καὶ ἐκ μητρὸς
μονογενής. Ὁμολογῶ τὸν αὐτὸν Θεὸν τέλειον καὶ ἄνθρωπον τέλειον, ἐν δύο ταῖς φύσεσι καθ'
ὑπόστασιν, ἤτοι πρόσωπον, ἡνωμέναις γνωριζόμενον ἀδιαιρέτως τε καὶ ἀσυγχύτως καὶ
ἀτρέπτως· σάρκα ἐνδυσάμενον τὴν ἐμψυχωμένην ψυχῇ λογικῇ τε καὶ 30 νοερᾷ, κατὰ πάντα
γενόμενον ἡμῖν ὁμοιοπαθῆ, δίχα μόνης τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Ὁ αὐτὸς ἐπίγαιος καὶ οὐράνιος,
πρόσκαιρος καὶ ἀΐδιος, ἠργμένος καὶ ἄναρχος, ἄχρονος καὶ ὑπὸ χρόνον, κτιστὸς καὶ ἄκτιστος,
παθητὸς καὶ ἀπαθής, Θεὸς καὶ ἄνθρωπος, κατ' ἄμφω τέλειος, εἷς ἐν δύο, καὶ ἐν δυσὶν εἷς. Ἓν
πρόσωπον τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ ἓν πρόσωπον τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ ἓν πρόσωπον τοῦ Ἁγίου
Πνεύματος. Μία θεότης, μία δύναμις, μία βασιλεία ἐν τρισὶ προσώποις ἤτοι ὑποστάσεσιν.
Οὕτω δοξάζομεν τὴν Ἁγίαν Μονάδα ἐν Τριάδι, καὶ τὴν Ἁγίαν Τριάδα ἐν Μονάδι. Ἐν ᾧ
ἔκραξεν ὁ Πατὴρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός· αὐτοῦ ἀκούετε. Ταῦτα
ἐδέξατο ἡ ἁγία τοῦ Θεοῦ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία. Ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ Ἁγίᾳ Τριάδι βαπτίζει εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
Εἰς αὐτὴν ἁγιάζει ἰσοτιμίᾳ, καὶ εἰς αὐτὴν ὁμολογεῖ ἀμερίστως, ἀχωρίστως, καὶ αὐτῇ προσκυνεῖ μὴ
σφαλλομένη, καὶ ὁμολογεῖ καὶ δοξάζει. Αὐτῇ τῇ τρισυποστάτῳ Μονάδι πρέπει δόξα, εὐχαριστία,
τιμή, κράτος, μεγαλωσύνη· τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς
αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. (Ephraem, Sermon on the Transfiguration of Christ; Assemani,
Sancti patris nostri Ephraem Syri Opera omnia quae extant graece, syriace, latine, vol. 2,
Rome, 1743, p. 49; Add MS 9348, f35v; CPG 3939)
Comments:
• [Dikova] Even though of dubitable authorship, this sermon was most probably first created in Syriac.
Yet, the earliest found Syriac manuscript of it – burnt later on – was noted to attribute the work to St.
John Chrysostom. [fn. 7, p. 127. Cf. M. Geerard, Clavis Patrum Graecorum, vol. 2: Ab Athanasio ad
Chrysostomum, Turnhout, 1974, p. 390. On the same attribution see also S. P. Brock, St. Ephrem: A
Brief Guide to the Main Editions and Translations, s. loc., 2012. Available at
<
http://syri.ac/brock/ephrem> (04.04.2020). Here CPG 3939 is seen as part of the group of 15 texts
attributed to Ephrem “which have a Syriac original that can be identified” but some of which “cannot be
genuine Ephrem”. M. Geerard, Clavis Patrum.., p. 390 notes – after D. Hemmerdinger-Iliadou – not
only the attribution of the same sermon to Isaac of Antioch but also another Syriac manuscript (a
fragment) in which the homily is anonymous. In the Georgian manuscript tradition the homily was
occasionally attributed also to Тheodoros Abu Qurra (Ch. Hannick, Maximos Holobolos in der
kirchenslavischen homiletischen Literatur, Wien, 1981, 244). The overall authorship, manuscript, and
translation traditions of St Ephrem’s works are extremely complicated in all languages – also due to his
The Witness of God is Greater
Mike Ferrando Page 119
vast popularity even during his lifetime.] (Ekaterina Dikova, "The Sermon on the Transfiguration of
Christ (CPG 3939) Ascribed to St. Ephrem the Syrian in South Slavonic Translation: The Construction
of Rhetorical Rhythm" in Translations of Patristic Literature in South-Eastern Europe, 2020, p. 127)