Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel lesson today, we read that the disciples travel to the top of Mt. Tabor with Jesus, and there beheld him transfigured into a being of light. Two long-dead prophetic figures also appear with Jesus, whom we are told are Moses and Elijah.

In the traditional icon of the Transfiguration, we also see the disciples languishing in dismay as they behold this otherworldly spectacle. Also, in cutouts on either side of the image, we see Jesus leading the disciples up to the mountain, and later, leading them down.

Jesus, who levitates in the image, exudes several rays of light that shine directly on the face of each disciple. The early church fathers taught that, in fact, the disciples were allowed briefly to glimpse the uncreated light of God, and to see Jesus revealed in his divinity. No wonder Peter babbled on about building tabernacles!

In addition to the visual elements, a voice came out of a cloud which had appeared, saying “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”

St. Ephriam the Syrian also taught that the Transfiguration was an event experienced by the prophets Moses and Elijah, for they beheld God revealed in the humanity of Jesus, a new experience for them.

As a counterpoint to this story, a piece of music that seems to depict a kind of human transfiguration, an end-of-life evaluation, is the Swansong of Arvo Pärt, following the embedded text of the Littlemore Tractus, which utilizes a sermon by John Henry Newman. (Cue this video from the Pärnu Music Festival to 34:20 for a unique performance.)

Pärt’s music seems to ask the question: how are we creatures “transfigured,” that is, transformed, into the persons God made us to be? Of course, these are two very different transformations, but they are also related to each other!

Yours in Christ,

—Justin