The feast of the Transfiguration commemorates an important and mysterious event from the Gospels (e.g., St. Mark 9:2-9). The Transfiguration provides one of the most distinctive and dramatic manifestations of Jesus' divinity. In the synoptic Gospels, our Lord takes Peter, John, and James up onto a mountain where He has a shining appearance during prayer. Moses and Elijah appear and converse with Jesus, and a divine voice proclaims, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him" (Mark 9:7 ESV).
Although the Transfiguration is in the Bible, it has not always received much emphasis. In the Eastern church, the observance goes back to the fourth century, but it did not spread quickly in the Western church. Shortly before the Reformation, the Western church began to observe it as a universal feast on August 6. In liturgical simplifications after the Reformation, the Feast of the Transfiguration was removed from calendars in most of Germany. However, the Transfiguration was observed on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany among some Lutherans. This practice seems to be a new contribution to the Church calendar, begun in the sixteenth century by reformers Johannes Bugenhagen and Viet Dietrich. These Lutheran reformers viewed the Transfiguration as an epiphany or a manifestation of Christ's identity, similar in some respects to the coming of the Magi and Christ's Baptism.
This Reformation liturgical tradition has resurfaced in recent common lectionaries. From the 1970's onward, a Transfiguration gospel has been used on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany (or the Last Sunday before Lent) in all three years among many Lutherans, Anglicans, and some others. This certainly seems both a more biblical and reasonable way to conclude the Epiphany season than the medieval confusion of the Pre-Lenten season (sometimes called the "Gesimas" from the Latin names of the Sundays). It is also an appropriate reminder of our Lord's glory before we enter the somber season of Lent.
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