The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ
In Transfiguratione Domini Nostri Iesu Christi
This feast commemorates the day on which our Lord Jesus Christ, upon a high mountain, was transfigured before three of his Apostles, revealing the glory of his Godhead and strengthening them for the trial of his Passion.
The feast of the Transfiguration celebrates a great mystery of the life of our Lord, related by three of the Evangelists. Taking with him Peter, James, and John, Jesus went up onto a high mountain — held by tradition to be Mount Thabor — and was there transfigured before them. His face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light; and Moses and Elias appeared, speaking with him of the death he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.
The glory revealed
The three Apostles, who were to witness their Master’s agony, were granted first to behold his glory. Peter, beside himself with wonder, desired to remain upon the mountain and to raise three tabernacles. But a bright cloud overshadowed them, and out of the cloud came the voice of the Father: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.” At this the Apostles fell upon their faces in fear, until Jesus came and touched them, bidding them rise and not be afraid; and lifting up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only.
In this mystery the Church beholds the glory of the eternal Son, veiled for a moment’s space beneath the lowliness of his humanity and now shining forth. The presence of Moses and Elias — the Law and the Prophets — bears witness that all the Scriptures speak of Christ; and the voice of the Father proclaims him the beloved Son, to whom all must hearken. The Transfiguration was given, the Fathers teach, to strengthen the disciples against the scandal of the Cross, that having seen his glory they might not lose heart when they saw him suffer, and might believe that the same Lord who was to be crucified would rise again in glory.
The feast
The mystery of the Transfiguration was honoured in the Christian East from early times, and its observance spread throughout the Church; the keeping of this feast on the sixth of August was made universal in the Western Church by Pope Callistus III in the fifteenth century, in thanksgiving for a great deliverance of Christendom. It is celebrated as a feast of our Lord, in white vestments and with joy.
The collect of the feast recalls that, in the glorious Transfiguration of his Only-begotten Son, God confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the witness of the Fathers, and wondrously foreshowed, by the voice that came from the bright cloud, the perfect adoption of his sons; and it prays that we may be made co-heirs with the King of glory and partakers of that same glory. In this feast the faithful lift up their hearts to the glory of Christ, and to the hope that they too, transformed in him, shall one day behold him face to face.
The Collect
O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of thine Only-begotten Son didst confirm the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers, and didst wondrously signify, by the voice that came in the bright cloud, the perfect adoption of thy sons: mercifully grant that we may be made co-heirs with the very King of glory, and partakers of his glory.
Deus, qui fídei sacraménta in Unigéniti tui gloriósa Transfiguratióne patrum testimónio roborásti, et adoptiónem filiórum perféctam, voce delápsa in nube lúcida, mirábiliter præsignásti: concéde propítius; ut ipsíus Regis glóriæ nos coherédes efficiámur, et eiusdem glóriæ tribuáris esse consórtes.
Common Questions
When is the feast of the Transfiguration?
It is kept on 6 August in both the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Second Class feast, and in the modern calendar, where it is observed as a Feast of the Lord. The date is unchanged.
What is the Transfiguration?
It is the event, related in the Gospels, in which our Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured before the Apostles Peter, James, and John upon a high mountain: his face shone as the sun, Moses and Elias appeared with him, and the Father’s voice proclaimed him the beloved Son. It revealed the glory of his Godhead and strengthened the disciples for his coming Passion.
Why does the Church celebrate the Transfiguration?
The feast honours the revelation of Christ’s glory, foreshadowing both his Resurrection and the glory promised to those united to him. The keeping of the feast on 6 August was extended to the whole Western Church by Pope Callistus III in the fifteenth century in thanksgiving for the deliverance of Christendom.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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