Fathers

2 Corinthians 3

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Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

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What the Fathers say

2 Corinthians 3:18

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

But what is, "we reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image." This indeed was shown more clearly when the gifts of miracles were in operation; howbeit it is not even now difficult to see it, for one who hath believing eyes. For as soon as we are baptized, the soul beameth even more than the sun, being cleansed by the Spirit; and not only do we behold the glory of God, but from it also receive a sort of splendor. …

Homily 7 on 2 Corinthians ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

We enjoy, he says, such freedom and nobility, that all of us who are faithful, not as there — Moses alone, "with unveiled face" (for believers have no veil) "beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory," that is, we receive the same glory, and, like a mirror, receiving radiance, we reflect it. …

Commentary on 2 Corinthians ↗

Cosmas Indicopleustes

But we all with unveiled face beholding reflected as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory even as from the spirit of the Lord; as if he said, when the Lord is nigh, all we the faithful, in the most manifest manner, without any veil, behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror—and are transformed into the same image as the Lord has, partaking of his glory for our own glory. …

The Christian Topography, Book 5 ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another, he shows how the faithful of Christ are altogether free of this veil. He says, therefore: I say that this veil will be removed from them, when a person may be converted as we are; not a particular one, but we all who are Christ's faithful: "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables" (Lk. 8:10). …

Commentary on 2 Corinthians ↗

Bernard of Clairvaux

The love of God begets the love of the soul, and his preceding intention makes the soul intent, and his solicitude makes it solicitous. For I know not by what closeness of nature, once the soul shall have been able to behold the glory of God with face unveiled, it is necessary that it soon be conformed to it and transformed into the same image. Therefore, as you shall have prepared yourself for God, so it is necessary that God appear to you.

Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69 ↗

Bonaventure

Augustine explains this power as follows: "But we all, with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord:" Not "as in mirrors," that is, from afar, but "as in a mirror." But we still see through this mirror in an obscure manner, for a man who sees clearly is in the state of beatitude. Augustine indicates the form of this mirror in the fifteenth book of his work "On the Trinity," chapter four, where he seeks to show both God's unity and trinity. …

Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 11 ↗