The Transfiguration of Jesus: Meaning, Feast and Gospel

The Transfiguration is the event in which Jesus, on a high mountain, was transformed before Peter, James and John: “his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow,” Moses and Elijah appeared with him, and the Father’s voice declared, “This is my beloved Son.” The Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 6, and the event is the fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary. Below is the Gospel, what the Transfiguration means, the feast and its history, and a prayer.

The Transfiguration in the Gospel

The Transfiguration is told in Matthew, Mark and Luke. St. Matthew’s account:

And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart:
And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.
And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him.
And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.
And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid.
And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them, Arise, and fear not.
And they lifting up their eyes saw no one but only Jesus.

What the Transfiguration means

A glimpse of Christ’s glory. “For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s confession” (CCC 555). The light came from within: he is God the Son.
Strength before the Cross. It happened shortly before Jesus went up to Jerusalem to suffer. Luke says Moses and Elijah spoke with him “of his decease that he should accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). The apostles who would see his agony in Gethsemane first saw his glory.
Moses and Elijah. They stand for the Law and the Prophets: the whole Old Testament bears witness to Jesus.
The Trinity. The Father speaks, the Son is revealed, and the bright cloud is a sign of the Holy Spirit.
Our future. The Transfiguration shows what awaits us in the resurrection, when Christ “will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory” (Philippians 3:21).
“Hear ye him.” The Father’s command sums up the Christian life: listen to Jesus.

The feast of the Transfiguration

The feast is kept on August 6 (in 2027, a Friday). It was celebrated in the East from early centuries; Pope Callixtus III extended it to the whole Western Church in 1457, in thanksgiving for the victory at Belgrade in 1456, news of which reached Rome on August 6. Tradition places the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in Galilee, where a basilica now stands. Pope St. Paul VI died on the evening of the feast in 1978.

The Gospel of the Transfiguration is also read every year on the Second Sunday of Lent.

The traditional prayer of the feast

From a 1916 daily missal:

O God, who by the testimony of the Fathers didst confirm the sacred evidences of faith by the glorious Transfiguration of thy only Son and thy voice coming down from a bright cloud, wondrously foreshow the fact of our adoption as sons, graciously grant that we may become by thine action co-heirs of the king of glory, with fellowship in his glory. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

The Luminous Mystery

The Transfiguration is the fourth of the Luminous Mysteries, added to the Rosary by St. John Paul II in 2002. See the Luminous Mysteries.

A prayer for the feast

Written for this page:

Lord Jesus, transfigured in glory on the mountain,
let me see your light when my way is dark,
and listen to you, the beloved Son of the Father.
When the Cross comes, remind me of your glory,
and bring me one day to see your face for ever. Amen.

Frequently asked questions

Where did the Transfiguration happen?

The Gospels say “a high mountain.” Tradition identifies it as Mount Tabor in Galilee; some scholars suggest Mount Hermon.

Why did Moses and Elijah appear?

They represent the Law and the Prophets, which point to Christ, and both had met God on a mountain (Sinai and Horeb).

What mystery of the Rosary is the Transfiguration?

The fourth Luminous Mystery.

More about the life of Christ

Texts and sources

Scripture: Matthew 17:1–8; Luke 9:31; Philippians 3:21, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
Collect: The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916), public domain (archive.org).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 554–556.