Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Mount Tabor
August 6, 2021
Mass at 10:30 AM
The Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church each 6 August, and in the Orthodox Church on 19 August, confirms Christ’s Divinity and shows how he fulfills the Old Testament, by the presence of Moses and Elijah.
The Feast is celebrated each year on Mount Tabor from as early as 1620. His Paternity, Fr. Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, celebrates on the high main altar, reserved for this Feast. The mosaic of the Transfiguration is in the apse directly above the altar.
At the end of the celebration, the congregation moves in procession to the Descendenibus Chapel, near the entrance of the shrine. According to tradition, this is where Christ warns Peter, James and John not to tell anyone what they have seen until “the Son of man has been raised from the dead”. (Matthew 17:9
All the Synoptic Gospels contain this event (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). God the Father manifests himself in a cloud, as he did to the Israelites in the desert. His glory is reflected on the Son, whose garments become “dazzling white”. The event points to the need for the Incarnation and also shows the disciples who witness it the future Resurrection.
On the 2nd Sunday of Lent each year, one of the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration is read. The Gospel for the 1st Sunday of Lent is the story of the temptation of Christ in the desert. The affirmation of Christ’s humanity and the proclamation of his Divinity – two distinct but inseparable natures – is laid out for us as we prepare to enter into His Passion with him.
Like Peter, we too might be afraid to enter into the cloud – be it from fear or the knowledge that it is beyond our capacity to fully comprehend. Or perhaps we are not ready to bear witness to the truths that have been revealed to us in the way that God is asking of us. The Transfiguration was a temporary event; it was meant to strengthen the faith of the disciples so that they could move forward in the work to which Christ was calling them.
Photo © Marie-Armelle Beaulieu/CTS_____________________
References
Ciavolella, V. (2020, August 18). The Meaning of the Transfiguration of the Lord. National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/the-meaning-of-the-transfiguration-of-the-lord/
Transfiguration of the Lord | Franciscan Media. (2020, August 6). Franciscan Media - Saint of the Day. https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/transfiguration-of-the-lord