Today is the observance of The Transfiguration of
Jesus. That is true for United
Methodists and some other Methodist groups; it is also the day on which the
several Lutheran groups in the United States mark the event. American Presbyterians have also included the
celebration in their liturgical calendars since their acceptance of the Consultation
on Church Union lectionary (now the “New Revised Common Lectionary”) which COCU
first published in 1974. In the liturgical calendar of these groups the feast
occurs on the last Sunday after The Epiphany.
To put it another way, the Transfiguration takes place on the Sunday
before Ash Wednesday.
Most of the rest of the Christian Church observes The
Transfiguration on August 6. Through the
ages the church looked upon this event as a minor feast, when it raised it up
at all.
Much of the Eastern Church counts The Transfiguration as a
Trinitarian Feast, as it recognizes all three persons of the Holy Trinity as
taking part (the Son experiences transfiguration; the Father speaks; and the
Holy Spirit is present in the form of the cloud).
The Anglican and Episcopal Churches have had a sort of
love/hate relationship with the feast.
At times in the churches’ history these communions omitted the
recognition altogether. Recent Books of
Common Prayer include the day and locate it on August 6.
The August 6 date that many worldwide denominations select for this recognition usually marks a relationship to an
important occurrence in the secular calendar.
For instance, it was on August 6,1456 that news that the Kingdom of Hungary had repulsed an Ottoman invasion
of the Balkans by breaking the Siege of Belgrade. In thanksgiving the Pope
declared that the minor observance of The Transfiguration on that date become a
major feast.
In placing the feast at the end of the Season After The
Epiphany, churches that observe this date bookend Ordinary Time with two
theophanies: The Baptism of the Lord and The Transfiguration. Placing these two events in these spots
provides emphasis to the revelatory nature of this season.
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