Today, the last Sunday in the Epiphany season, the church remembers The Transfiguration of Our Lord.
In these accounts, Jesus and three of his apostles, Peter, James and John, go to a mountain (the Mount of Transfiguration) to pray. On the mountain, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light. Then the prophets Moses and Elijah appear next to him and he speaks with them. Jesus is then called "Son" by a voice in the sky, assumed to be God the Father, as in the Baptism of Jesus.
The Transfiguration is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. This miracle is unique among others that appear in the Canonical gospels, in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself. Thomas Aquinas considered the Transfiguration "the greatest miracle" in that it complemented baptism and showed the perfection of life in Heaven. The Transfiguration is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. In 2002, Pope John Paul II introduced the Luminous Mysteries in the Rosary, which includes the Transfiguration.
In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is a pivotal moment, and
the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where human nature
meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with
Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between
heaven and earth.
The Feast of the Transfiguration
is celebrated by various Christian denominations. The origins of the
feast are less than certain and may have derived from the dedication of
three basilicas on Mount Tabor. The feast was present in various forms by the 9th century, and in the Western Church was made a universal feast on August 6 by Pope Callixtus III to commemorate the lifting of the Siege of Belgrade (1456).
In the Syriac Orthodox, Indian Orthodox, Revised Julian Calendars within Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches, the Feast of the Transfiguration is observed on 6 August. In those Orthodox churches which continue to follow the Julian Calendar, August 6 in the church calendar falls on August 19 in the civil (Gregorian) calendar. Transfiguration is considered a major feast, numbered among the twelve Great Feasts in the Byzantine rite.
In all these churches, if the feast falls on a Sunday, its liturgy is
not combined with the Sunday liturgy, but completely replaces it.
In some liturgical calendars (e.g. the Lutheran and United Methodist) the last Sunday in the Epiphany season is also devoted to this event. In the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, however, the Feast is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Trinity, the eighth Sunday after Pentecost.
In the Roman rite, the gospel pericope
of the Transfiguration is read on the second Sunday of Lent, whose
liturgy emphasizes the role the Transfiguration had in comforting the
Twelve Apostles, giving them a powerful proof of his divinity, and a
prelude to the glory of the Resurrection on Easter and the eventual
salvation of his followers in view of the seeming contradiction of his
Crucifixion and death. This theme is expounded in the Preface for that day.
O God, in the transfiguration
of your Son you confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the witness of
Moses and Elijah, and in the voice from the bright cloud declaring Jesus
your beloved Son, you foreshadowed our adoption as your children. Make
us heirs with Christ of your glory, and bring us to enjoy its fullness,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_Jesus
