The Transfiguration—The Eucharist
As compelling as the Transfiguration of the Lord is, it pales in comparison to the Eucharist in which there is not a temporal transfiguration but an eternal transubstantiation of the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Without the Transfiguration and the other events of Jesus’ life, it would be difficult to grasp the totality of the paschal mystery and its implication for the life of faith. The Eucharistic liturgy fulfills the mystery of the Transfiguration and ties it into the paschal mystery. Just as the gifts of bread and wine are offered up and Christ comes down to dwell in them, so the hearts of all believers are lifted up and transfigured by the grace-filled condescension of the Godhead at Holy Communion, with as much glory as each person can receive.
Mandorla in Iconography & Divinization
In Eastern iconography, the mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with the vesical or lens shaped. It is perhaps the most ancient sacred symbol known to humanity and it is said to have been inscribed on the Ark of the Covenant. Adding to its lens shape, the aureola is also known as the vesica piscis or “a type of lens or mathematical shape formed by the intersection of two disks with the same radius that intersect in such a way that the center of each disk lies on the perimeter of the other.” In Christian icons, Jesus is often depicted against an oval shaped backdrop with rays emanating out of it with the mandorla representing the radiance of Christ’s uncreated glory.
In Saint Luke’s account of the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah speak with Christ about His coming death, “Moses and Elijah…spoke of his exodus (Gk. ἔξοδον) that He was going to accomplish at Jerusalem.” (Lk 9:31). The Greek word exodon implies an exit, a departure from a place, or a going out. The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt can be understood as an allegorical type of the promise of forgiveness and deliverance from sin, ultimately fulfilled in the Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Moses therefore represents the repentance and forgiveness aspect of deification or theosis (Gk. θέωσις) or, in Catholic terminology, divinization. Theosis is the transformation of human flesh or fallen human nature, which is achieved through the Incarnation. Christ brings light and radiates glory through the repentant human heart by the mystery of Baptism. Such a deification or divinization is only made possible by Christ who altered His Divine form when He took on human flesh.
With the glory of God totally manifested and shining forth through Jesus, the holy men who lived before Christ, particularly Moses and Elijah, portend the future and hint at the truly divine nature of Christ. Their lives exemplify the participation in the divine life of God, by those of His human followers who are able to look upon God and still live: Moses, though a mere mortal, was able to see the glory of God and worship YHWH, the God of Israel. By physically going into the meeting tent, when God would come down, the tent was filled with glorious light or shĕkhīnāh glory. Moses’ vision of divine light and his response, then, can be considered to prefigure subsequent Christian worship.
Excerpted from Christopher B. Warner. The Dispatch in Catholic World Report. 6 August 2022 (originally published 6 August 2013)
Nature and dignity 