Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

"This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased." -2 PT1:17

In the Transfiguration, Christ enjoyed for a short while that glorified state which was to be permanently His after His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The splendor of His inward Divinity and of the Beatific Vision of His soul overflowed on His body and permeated His garments so that Christ stood before Peter, James, and John in a snow-white brightness. The purpose of the Transfiguration was to encourage and strengthen the Apostles who were depressed by their Master's prediction of His own Passion and Death. The Apostles were made to understand that His redeeming work has two phases: The Cross, and glory—that we shall be glorified with Him only if we first suffer with Him.

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Pictured is the reproduction of Raphael’s “Transfiguration” directly above the cathedra at the Cathedral. The painting presents Christ’s manifestation to His apostles James, John, and Peter, the patron saint of the Cathedral Church. The original work of art is in the Vatican Museum.

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O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of your Only Begotten Son confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship, grant, we pray, to your servants, that, listening to the voice of your beloved Son, we may merit to become co-heirs with him.