Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The
date for this feast - 6th August - seems to have been chosen in order
to be exactly forty days before 14th September, the Feast of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross, because of a tradition that the
Transfiguration took place forty days before the crucifixion.
Jerusalem origin
This feast began to be
celebrated in and around Jerusalem in the fourth and fifth centuries.
The day seems to have been chosen in order to be exactly forty days
before 14th September, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Day, because of a tradition that the Transfiguration took place forty
days before the crucifixion.
A major feast at Constantinople
The feast
probably reached Constantinople during the time of the great hymn-writer
Andrew of Crete (c. 660-740), who was a monk at the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre from 675 until 685, when he moved to serve at the Great Church
of Sancta Sophia, Constantinople. Later he became Archbishop of Gortyna
in Crete. It was a major feast, which developed a magnificent series of
hymns and readings.
Spain, Cluny and Rome
The feast appeared in the
West, first in Spain in the eleventh century, then at Cluny, when Peter
the Venerable was abbot (1122-56). Its introduction to Rome is
associated with the Christian defeat of the Turks at Belgrade on 22 July
1456. The news reached Rome on 6th August, so Pope Callixtus III
(Alfons de Borja 1455-8), a Valencian sensitive to the memory of Moorish
domination in Spain, decreed it as a feast for the Roman Church
beginning on 6th August 1457.
Gospels' account
All three synoptic Gospels –
Mark, Matthew, and Luke – give us an account of the Transfiguration of
Jesus on top of Mount Tabor (Mark 9:1-8, Matthew 17:1-6, Luke 9:28-36).
After Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the One sent
by God to redeem mankind, and Jesus prediction of His own passion and
death, Jesus, together with three of His disciples – Peter, James, the
son of Zebedee, and John – went up the mountain.
Moses and Elijah
Matthew says Jesus "was
transfigured before them. His face shone as the sun: his garments became
white as snow". Two other figures appeared with Him: Moses and Elijah.
Christ thus stood between the two prominent figures in the Old
Testament. Then, a voice was heard from above saying, "This is My Son,
the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him."
Significance
Jesus ordered the three not to tell
others what they had seen until he had risen on the third day. Even if
they did not fully comprehend what had happened on Mount Tabor, for the
apostles Peter, James, and John, it was a glimpse of the glories of
heaven and of sharing in the resurrection of Christ promised to all who
believe in Jesus as the One promised by God. That event served as an
inspiration for them to persevere and be steadfast in their faith in
Jesus who would suffer and die but would be resurrected after three
days.
Symbol and hope of glory
Jesus's transfiguration
is the symbol and hope of our glory in heaven. For us celebrating the
Feast of the Lord’s Transfiguration today - we hope it will give us some
foretaste of our own Easter. For a world that remembers the dropping of
the atomic bomb on Nagasaki and the destruction of 166,000 people, we
hope and pray for the voluntary abolition of all nuclear weapons.