Mateus 17
Remigius of Rheims
Mateus 17:1
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] In this Transfiguration undergone on the mount, the Lord fulfilled within six days the promise made to His disciples, that they should have a sight of His glory; as it is said, And after six days he took Peter, and James, and John his brother. When the Lord was about to show His disciples the glory of His brightness, He led them into the mountain, as it follows, And he took them up into a high mountain apart. Herein teaching, that it is necessary for all who seek to contemplate God, that they should not grovel in weak pleasures, but by love of things above should be ever raising themselves towards heavenly things; and to show His disciples that they should not look for the glory of the divine brightness in the gulph of the present world, but in the kingdom of the heavenly blessedness. He leads them apart, because the saints are separated from the wicked by their whole soul and devotion of their faith, and shall be utterly separated in the future; or because many are called, but few chosen, It follows, And he was transfigured before them. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:2
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] If then the face of the Lord shone as the sun, and the saints shall shine as the sun, are then the brightness of the Lord and the brightness of His servants to be equal? By no means. But forasmuch as nothing is known more bright than the sun, therefore to give some illustration of the future resurrection, it is expressed to us that the brightness of the Lord's countenance, and the brightness of the righteous, shall be as the sun. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:4
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Otherwise; At this view of the majesty of the Lord, and His two servants, Peter was so delighted, that, forgetting every thing else in the world, he would abide here for ever. But if Peter was then so fired with admiration, what ravishment will it not be to behold the King in His proper beauty, and to mingle in the choir of the Angels, and of all the saints? In that Peter says, Lord, if thou wilt, he shows the submission of a dutiful and obedient servant. He was wrong moreover, in desiring that the kingdom of the elect should be set up on earth, when the Lord had promised to give it in heaven. He was wrong also in forgetting that himself and his fellow were mortal, and in desiring to come to eternal felicity without taste of death. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:5
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] He says therefore, Hear ye Him, as much as to say, Let the shadow of the Law be past, and the types of the Prophets, and follow ye the one shining light of the Gospel. Or He says, Hear ye Him, to show that it was He whom Moses had foretold, The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet unto you of your brethren like unto me, Him shall ye hear. (Deut. 18:18.) Thus the Lord had witnesses on all sides; from heaven the voice of the Father, Elias out of Paradise, Moses out of Hades, the Apostles from among men, that at the name of Jesus every thing should bow the knee, of things in heaven, things on earth, and things beneath. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:6
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Whereas the holy Apostles fell upon their faces, that was a proof of their sanctity, for the saints are always described to fall upon their faces, but the wicked to fall backwards. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:9
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, because if His majesty should be published among the people, they should hinder the dispensation of His passion, by resistance to the chief Priests; and thus the redemption of the human race should suffer impediment. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:17
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] It may be known also, that not now for the first time, but of a long time, the Lord had borne the Jews' stubbornness, whence He says, How long shall I suffer you? because I have now a long while endured your iniquities, and ye are unworthy of My presence. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:18
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] In which deed He left an example to preachers to attack sins, but to assist men. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:21
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, fasting is here understood generally as abstinence not from food only, but from all carnal allurements, and sinful passions. In like manner prayer is to be understood in general as consisting in pious and good acts, concerning which the Apostle speaks, Pray without ceasing. (1 Thess. 5:17.) — Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Mateus 17:22-23
[(as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)] Or, fasting is here understood generally as abstinence not from food only, but from all carnal allurements, and sinful passions. In like manner prayer is to be understood in general as consisting in pious and good acts, concerning which the Apostle speaks, Pray without ceasing. (1 Thess. 5:17.) The Lord often foretold to His disciples the mysteries of His passion, in order that when they come to pass, they might be the lighter to them from having been known beforehand. — Catena Aurea by Aquinas