Orthodox icon | Transfiguration of Jesus | 24835

The Transfiguration of the Lord denotes a revelation event that the disciples Peter, James, and John testify to as experiencing when they saw Jesus Christ on a mountain in a special, transfigured form and with the prophets Moses and Elijah. It is considered a secret of faith.

Christ stands in the center in a brilliant white robe: “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Mt 17:2)

Jesus speaks to Moses (right) and Elijah (left). Both are also standing on a mountain: Moses on Mount Sinai, where he received from God the tablets of the law with the commandments for the people of Israel (cf. Ex 19; 20) and Elijah on Mount Horeb, where God did not meet him in the storm, not revealed in earthquake and not in fire, but in a gentle, gentle whisper (cf. 1 Kgs 19:11-13).

Moses and Elijah point to Jesus. In him the promise that was made to her at that time is fulfilled. In his Son Jesus Christ, God has fully and unreservedly expressed himself. Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation. This signifies the dark and greatest mountain on which Christ stands.

Below: Peter, James and John.

The festival is celebrated in the liturgy of the Orthodox Church as a high festival. The date of the Solemnity is August 6th, which in the Old Calendar Orthodox Churches falls on August 19th according to the Gregorian calendar.

Icon placed in later panel.