Calendar

Collect:

O God, our refuge and our strength: Thou didst raise up thy servant Martin Luther to reform and renew thy Church in the light of thy word. Defend and purify the Church in our own day and grant that, through faith, we may boldly proclaim the riches of thy grace which thou hast made known in Jesus Christ our Savior, who with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The season after the Epiphany ends in glory, with Jesus revealed once more as Christ. There are many epiphanies within the season: the visit of the magi, the presentation of Jesus in the temple (and Simeon's response), the Lord's baptism, his first miracle at Cana. On this Sunday, the last of the Epiphany season before Ash Wednesday takes us into Lent, we see Christ in all his glory, his transfiguration, atop the mountain.

We celebrate the Transfiguration twice each year: on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, and on the feast day itself, August 6.

At Saint Thomas, there have been many sermons over the years which are helpful in understanding this miraculous event. Among them are these:

►Fr Austin's Love We Can Hardly Bear to See, delivered on February 14, 2010. An audio recording of this sermon is available in addition to the written text.

►Two sermons by the Rector: The Transfigured Cross on August 6, 2006, and A Glimpse into Glory on August 5, 2007.

►Two sermons by Fr Stafford, both on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, one in 2007 and one in 2009.

Collect:

O God, who before the passion of thy only-begotten Son didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us that we, beholding by faith the light of his ountenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.