Christ Jesus on a certain day
Upon a mountain went to pray,
Commanding Peter to be there,
And John and James to join in pray’r:
When, lo! the fashion of his face
Was alter’d through exceeding grace,
And all his garments glist’ring white
By far outshone the morning-light:
And, lo! two men talk’d with them there,
Which Moses and Elias were,
Who came in glory from their peace,
And spake to him of his decease,
To happen in a certain space,
And nam’d Jerusalem the place.
Peter mean time and th’ other twain
Slept sound, and when they woke again,
The bright appearance that he made,
And two men with him they survey’d:
Now haply as they went away,
The elder saint began to say,
‘Lord, it is pleasant to abide,
‘And in this place let us provide
‘Three tabernacles for the three,
‘Elias, Amram’s son, and thee’
This spake he on that great event,
Not understanding what he meant.
A cloud descended over-head,
And cover’d them, as this he said;
And now their hearts began to quake,
As in the cloud they entrance make:
And from the cloud a voice there broke,
Which thus the trembling saints bespoke,
‘This is my best beloved Son,
‘Attend that his commands be done!’
When those disciples heard the sound,
They straight fell prostrate to the ground.
But Christ approaching to their aid,
And touching them, ‘Be not afraid,
(He cry’d) ‘but instantly arise’
And when they lifted up their eyes,
No man they either see or hear,
Save Jesus only standing near:
And as the mountain’s brow they leave,
From Christ they this command receive,
‘This vision to no man explain,
‘Till Christ your Lord be ris’n again.’
Our Saviour’s want, and friendless state,
Which all the race of worldlings hate,
Were one great cause the restif Jews
Did his blest ambassage refuse:
Hence ev’n the very twelve were prone
To flee and leave the Lord alone
He therefore shew’d this glorious sight,
Transfigur’d into ghostly light,
To fortify the faith of those
Which from the chosen he had chose.
The caution giv’n, that they should hide
This vision, till their Master died
And rose again, was on this wise,
Lest envy ’mongst the nine should rise;
Or drive the Jews by crime on crime,
To cut off Christ before his time.​

Christopher Smart, 1722-1771

‘It is one thing to see beauty and another thing to understand the secret of beauty. Let us ascend the Mount of Transfiguration and kneel with the apostles and see the face of Jesus shining, and let us try to understand the secret of His beauty.
 
If we may dare to use such language, the face of Jesus shone because He had found that for which He had been seeking all His life. He had found the Father’s will. All His life Jesus had been seeking His Father’s will. When the Blessed Mother and St Joseph found Him in the Temple, He was talking to the great Rabbis there about it. In His forty days of fasting in the wilderness He was seeking all the time to know it. Now He has spent the night in prayer, and that night was one of a succession of God know how many nights of profound and perfect prayer. As a result of this prayer came His perfect choice; as a result of that choice came the transfigured beauty of Jesus. He sees completely what the Father’s will is: that out of the human nature He has taken shall shine forth over the ages and over the whole universe the revelation of Love; and that that Love can only be shown by sacrifice, by going to the last length to which Love can go. In  that long night of prayer on the mountain we may believe that all the circumstances that would surely lead up to Calvary became clear to Him, and He accepted them with His will. With His own will He chose the bitterest path a man can know. There is the secret of the beauty of our Lord’s face as He was transfigured – the unutterable loveliness of His choice’.

​Father Andrew SDC, 1869-1946

‘There are two icons of the transfiguration which struck me very deeply when I saw them in the original in the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow. One is by Rublev and the other by his master, Theophan the Greek. In both there are three mountain peaks, the Lord Jesus in the centre, with Moses and Elijah on the right and left-hand sides, and the three disciples on the slopes of the mountain. The difference between the two icons lies in the way in which the things are seen. The Rublev icon shows Christ in the brilliancy of his dazzling white robes which cast light on everything around. This light falls on the disciples, on the mountain and the stones, on every blade of grass. Within this light, which is the divine splendour - the divine glory, the divine light itself inseparable from God - all things acquire an intensity of being which they could not have otherwise; in it they attain to a fulness of reality which they can have only in God. The other icon is more difficult to perceive in a reproduction. The background is slivery and appears grey. The robes of Christ are silvery, with blue shades, and the rays of light falling around are also white, silvery and blue. Everything gives an impression of much less intensity. Then we discover that all these rays of light falling from the divine presence and touching the things which surround the transfigured Christ do not give relief but give transparency to things. One has the impression that these rays of divine light touch things and sink into them, penetrate them, touch something within them so that from the core of these things, of all things created, the same light reflects and shines back, as though the divine life quickens the capabilities, the potentialities of all things, and makes all reach out towards itself. At that moment the eschatological situation is realised, and in the words of St Paul, “God is all and in all”’. 

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, 1914-2003