Transfiguration

Transfiguration mosaic, 6th century. St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt.

Questions

-What do you see in this mosaic?

-What has your experience with mosaics been versus paintings, sculptures, or architecture?

-Who do you see in this depiction of the Transfiguration?

Reflection

This reflection is in honor of my beloved husband, as today is his birthday. I let him choose what art piece I would be reflecting upon and he chose this beautiful mosaic of the Transfiguration that is located in the St. Catherine's monastery on Mount Sinai. This monastery is quite special because it is said to be the place where Moses encountered God in the burning bush. I think it is gives insight on what early Christians believed about Christ and how He fulfilled the Old Testament. The burning bush was the first symbol of God revealing Himself to Moses and the Israelites in the desert. When the Transfiguration occurred on Mount Tabor, there was an understanding that Christ was again revealing God to all of humanity. This event is found the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke in slightly differing detail but giving the same experience.

We see the Lord clothed in white robes as rays are emanating outward from Him. The Disciples fall down in amazement and I am sure in a great deal of fear to what is happening. Standing on Jesus' right (our left as we look at this picture) is Elijah, while Moses is seen at His left (our right as we look at this picture). John is kneeling below Elijah, while James is below Moses. Peter is directly below Christ's feet. Peter is the rock of the Church, which is the manifestation of the Body of Christ. This mosaic beautifully foreshadows and communicates the reality of who Peter is to Jesus and to the whole Church. Christ's glory today is able to be experienced in its fullest in the Church, which He gifted to Peter. The foundation of our faith today is a continuation of what Christ gave Peter and the Apostles to continue, build and uphold. Our faith does not exist in a vacuum or was a response to the problems in the world, but was something that we were made for and invited into by God. There is a continuity from the Old Testament that was fulfilled and experienced in the New that we live in today. We are a part of salvation history and have as much connection to Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John as we do to the person in the pew next to us on Sunday.

During His life, Christ hid His full Glory as God behind the plainness of His Humanity. The Transfiguration was one of those times in which He shed the guise of humanity to show the full glory of God. As humans, we have the mark and stain of original sin. Our bodies and even our souls cannot show or experience the fullness of who we are made to be. We are made in the image and likeness of God, but this is blurred by our sinful doings and inclinations. It is like looking in a mirror that has been dirtied over years of misuse, misunderstanding, and slowly being forgotten about. When we look into it, we cannot see our reflection. The clarity of who we are and how we are made like God is lost to the dirtiness of our sin. We must wash ourselves clean of our sin through penance, works of mercy and justice, and relationship with Christ to be able to see ourselves clearly. This clarity of image and perfection of being reveals that we have the Divine Likeness in us.

"It is for us now to follow him with all speed, yearning for the heavenly vision that will give us a share in his radiance, renew our spiritual nature and transform us into his own likeness, making us for ever sharers in his Godhead and raising us to heights as yet undreamed of."

- St. Athanasius of Sinai

The journey to glory is through suffering and the laying down of our life. As we enter into Holy Week, it is a wonderful time to reflect over the purification and struggle that we have gone through this Lent. You may have been able to take up your penance, fasting, and almsgiving with joy and ease experiencing spiritual consolation. Or this may have been a time of desolation where each choice to follow Christ and do the harder thing was difficult and caused great pain. No matter how this Lent has gone, Christ has been walking with you in it. Now it is our turn to walk with Him on the path of the cross. The Transfiguration event tells us that Christ will be forever in the glorified state only after the cross, after his death. Before glorification comes purification which we ourselves have experienced and will continue until we ourselves die and eventually reach our heavenly home.

The glory of heaven is coming and we shall see God face to face. We live in a moment of time where the Holy Spirit lives among us and within us, giving us a foretaste of the grace and glory that we will partake in. But we are still in a season of waiting, a season of hope for what is to come. Eternal life is an event of changing into glorifying God forever and ever, becoming who God intended us to be. Our transformation into a saint begins from the moment we receive the Holy Spirit and are brought into God's family. The moment of our creation God has ordained as a choice that He wants us to exist. He wants communion with us and to experience creation with and through Him. The more we reach towards Him and allow Him to come into our lives, the more His work can take effect in us. The Holy Spirit turns the soil of our souls so Christ may tend the seeds in which He created, planted, and will bring to fruition. The Lord wants us to experience transformation and conversion in the same way that He showed Himself fully on Mount Tabor.

The power of the Uncreated Light is seen plainly in the Transfiguration. The apostles could not stand the sight of the Lord in His power, they experienced an excess of light infinitely beyond what human eyes can bear. This luminosity reminds us that we cannot see the face of God in this state as sinful, broken humans. The light that emanates from Christ in the mosaic goes to each one of the men with Him on the mountain. Christ's light, glory and love is not directionless, but it intentional on each one of us. Elijah and Moses who had been raised with God can enjoy the beatific vision and the true light that God is. Jesus Christ is the light of the world and the darkness cannot overcome it. The sun is a darkness compared to the light of Christ. This light entered the world as the tiniest child, but reoriented all of humanity and creation towards itself. It is now Jesus who brings all towards the Father. He does not want to perfect just man, but all that He has created. He does not want to just make it go back to its original state unaffected by sin, that is now not enough. He now wants to glorify and perfect it all beyond our understanding. He puts on all of creation as a garment by becoming man. But it is in this wrapping that it becomes part of His own Uncreated divinity that can only be perfect, glorified, and fulfilled beyond its original meaning. We can now put on God by His own grace to live a holy life of adoration of the Good Father and Ultimate Creator. Christ in the Transfiguration, showed the beauty beyond all understanding and experience to Peter, James, and John. He made known His presence and identity as God, just as He did with Moses in the burning bush. Christ truly dwells with us and when we become aware of it there is no going back. We cannot help but see the grueling, loving, joyful and suffering process of being purified so that we too may be glorified and brought to the light of God Himself.

Information

The Monastery of St. Catherine is the oldest active Eastern Orthodox monastery in the world, but this location is significant for Christianity, Judaism and Islam because they all hold the tradition of this place to be where God appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush. The main basilica was built by Emperor Justinian in the middle/late 6th century, while the rest of the monastery structure was added later throughout the centuries. This mosaic was added shortly after the basilica was finished in the 6th century, making it an extraordinary piece of artwork from the Byzantine empire. This mosaic is set in the curved apse (domed roof) over the main altar in the basilica. It is assumed that the building's original name was after the Transfiguration because of the connection between Christ appearing in the burning bush as well as at the Transfiguration. It was not until the 9th century that is was given the name St. Catherine after the Egyptian Saint Catherine of Alexandria, whose body was found there.

For something so old, it is important to keep it in as good of condition as possible. In 1847 a Russian monk did an incredible amount of restoration work on the mosaic. Archaeologists in 1957 recognized the deteriorating condition of the mosaic, which was made worse by an earthquake in 1995. It was not until 2005 that actual conservation work began to help restore the mosaic. Mosaics are made by setting tiny pieces of glass, ceramic, or stone pieces one by one into mortar, which is a substance like cement. By then over 20,000 tiles were missing, some which were in boxes that the monks had saved when they would fall from above. While this seems like a large number in reality it was only 4% of the total number of tiles. I think that is amazing how many tiles it had taken to make a piece like this and the integrity of the mosaic over several centuries. Several of the tiles that did remain were loose or not attached the base layer or mortar.

There was also the choice of what to do with tiles that were completely lost and where there were holes in the mosaic. In restoration there are a few different theories and methods when it comes to this situation. Some conservators leave the gaps blank to keep intact everything that was originally there and let people know the wearing of a piece over time. Others will paint with watercolor or other paints to fill in the gaps but let people know that there is still something missing. The last option would be to insert new tiles, making a more cohesive mosaic where you cannot necessarily tell what is old or new. Eventually the conservators went with this last decision after hearing from monks, iconographers, priests, and the faithful. Iconographers who create with paint or mosaics are keenly aware of the spiritual as well as artistic importance of light, especially the light reflected off of mosaic tiles. Since the mystery and miracle of the blinding light experienced at the Transfiguration and burning bush are really at the core of this mosaic and really the entire monastery, it was important to keep this experience intact.

This monastery is special because it is so ancient and along with it houses several valuable and ancient manuscripts, icons, liturgical objects, and church buildings. The most well known icon is the Christ Pantocrator, which is dated back to the 6th century. What makes these even more amazing is that these were created before the iconoclastic period. This was a time in the church where there was great argument over whether images, icons, mosaics, and statues were graven and against God's law. Uniquely this monastery was never sacked and has preserved these beautiful pieces of art from this time period. A great deal of art and history had been lost during this time due to the controversy.

You can see that the right hand of Christ is lifted up as the sign of blessing and His left hand is holding a scroll that signified that He actually is the Word of God in the flesh. The halo around His head represents His divine glory and perfect holiness, as well as union with the Father. Although you cannot see it in this picture, Christ has an "O" written in the halo which means "I AM", which refers to the name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus.

Peter, James and John are what I think to be a perfectly reasonable response to seeing the Transfigured Christ in their midst. They are a bit terrified and have fallen to the ground. The hands of James and John are open in reception of this miraculous and mysterious event that they are witnessing. They are underneath the prophets Elijah and Moses, symbolizing how they are to usher in the Lord's law and works into the world, announcing the good news. Peter is in the middle, falling prostrate, with one hand raised expressing the desire to build three tents for the prophets and Jesus. Their garments are in disarray as they are incredibly impacted by the sight of Christ.

Elijah and Moses both had powerful encounters with God on mountains. It is the physical sign of a hard journey, discipline in the climb, working towards something over time, and ascent to God. The top of a mountain is a place far away from the world below, where the air is thinner and there tends to be more clarity. It is a time to be away and alone with yourself and God. Elijah represents the prophets while Moses represents the Law, both of which foreshadow the coming of Christ. They raise their hands in acknowledgement of Christ fulfilling the Law and Prophets, completely revealing God. The two men also represent the dead and the living. Elijah represents the living as he was taken up by a chariot of fire to heaven while Moses tasted natural death. God rules both the dead and the living and has a hand in their continued existence and entrance into heaven.

More Questions

-Do you identify more with Peter or James and John when meditating on the Transfiguration?

-Where does the Lord desire to transform you more fully?

-How has Jesus Christ purified you and made you more like Him this Lent?

Let us pray -

Lord, thank you for showing us your face in your Son, Jesus Christ. He was the best gift to the world that you did not have to give. Your love for us moves me to praise you, thank you, cry out with wonder and awe, and try to love you as much as you do me. Help me to see how you are purifying me in the trials and tribulations of life. Help me to be more like you and imitate you in all that I do. When you show up in my life, may I fall down in wonder and amazement, acknowledging how good it is for you to be here. Thank you for being present in me and revealing your glory through your Church, your Creation, and those around me. May you everyday reveal more of your glory and goodness so that I may praise you all the more.

Amen.