TRANSFIGURATION
19
TRANSFIGURATION
numerous chapels, as at Santa Croce at Florence.
The prototype of this design can also be proved to
have existed in the East and the districts under its
influence. The doubling of the transept, however,
seems to have been peculiar to Western architecture;
this type of transept appeared both in the Roman-
esque and in the Gothic periods, although the manner
of producing it varied greatly. Many Romanesque
churches are constructed at the west end the same
as at the east, that is, the west end also contains a
transept and choir. The earliest known church with
this double transept is the eighth-century church
of St-Riquier at Centula in France. The style was
also adopted in the Church of St. Pantaleon at Co-
logne (981), and almost at the same time by Mittel-
zell on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance,
and in many other churches. The west transept
disappeared in Gothic architecture, excepting that
in England some of the great cathedrals have a
second, short transept added to the east choir, as
at Salisbury. Gothic architecture also emphasized
the choir by giving it in the large cathedrals three
ai.sles; in this way very beautiful vistas are produced.
In the effort to" gain large, well-lig)ited .spaces the
architecture of the Renai.ssance and the Baroque
periods enlarged the transept and covered the bay
with a cupola which caused the transept to dominate
the entire structure.
Graf. Opus fnlnciaenum (Stuttgart, 1878); Strztoowski, Klemnsicn {I.eipng, 1003).
Beda Kleinschmidt.
Transflgviration.^The Transfiguration of Christ is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting-point, and His Ascension its end. Moreover, this glorious event has been re- lated in detail by St. Matthew (xvii, 1-6), St. Mark (ix, 1-8), and St. Luke (ix, 28-36), while St. Peter (II Pet., i, 16-18) and St. John (i, 14), two of the privileged witnesses, make allusion to it. About a week after His sojourn in CiEsarea Philippi, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them to a high mountain apart, where He was trans- figured before their ravished eyes. St. Matthew and St. Mark express this phenomenon by the word licTffwpipiidri^ which the Vulgate renders IrnnnfiquraUis est. The Synoptics explain the true meaning of the word by adding "his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow", according to the Vulgate, or "as light", according to the Greek text. This dazzhng brightness which emanated from His whole Body was produced by an interior shining of His Divinity. False Judaism had rejected the Messias, and now true Judaism, represented by Moses and Elias. the Law and the Prophets, recognized and adored Him, while for the second time God the Father proclaimed Him His only-begotten and well-beloved Son. By this glorious manifestation the Divine Master, who had just foretold His Passion to the Apostles (Matt., xvi, 21), and who .spoke with Moses and Elias of the trials which awaited Him at .Jerusa- lem, strengthened the faith of his three friends and prepared them for the terrible struggle of which they were tO'be witnes.ses in Gethsemani, by giving them a foreta,ste of the glory and heavenly delights to which we attain by suffering.
Already in Apostolic times the mount of the Tran.sfiguration had become the "holy mount" (II Pet., i, 18). It seems to have been known by the faithful of the country, and tradition identified it with Moimt Thabor. Origen s.aid (\.t>. 2.^1 -.51) "Thabor is the mountain of Galilee on which Christ was transfigured" (Conim. in Ps. Ixxxviii, 13). In the next century St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech., II, 16) and St. .lerome (Ep. xlvi, ad Marcel.; Ep. viii, ad Paulin.; Ep. cviii, ad Eu.st.) likewise declare it categorically. Later St. Proculus, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 447; Orat. viii, in Transfig.),
Agathangelus (Hist, of Armenia, II, xvii), and Amo-
bius the Younger (d. 460; Comm. in Ps. Ixxxviii, 13)
say the same thing. The testimonies increase from
century to centui-y without a single dissentient note,
and in 5.53 the Fifth Council of Constantinople
erected a see at Mount Thabor (Notitia; Antioch.
. . . patriarch.). Some modern WTiters claim that the
Transfiguration could not have taken place on Mount
Thabor, which, according to Josephus, was then sur-
mounted by a city. This is incorrect; the Jewish
historian speaks neither of a city nor a village; he
simply fortified, as he repeats three times, "the
mount called Itabyrion" ("Bell. Jud.", II, xx, 6; IV, i,
8; "Vita", 37). The town of Atabyrion of Polybius,
the Thabor or Celeseth Thabor, the "flank of
Thabor" of the Bible, is situated at the foot of Mount
Thabor. In any case the presence of houses on a
wooded height would not have made it impossible
to find a place apart. It is again objected that Our
Lord was transfigured on Mount Hermon, since He
was at that time in its vicinity. But the Synoptics
are all expUcit concerning the lapse of time, six days,
or about eight days including those of departure and
arrival, between the discourse in Caisarea and the
Transfiguration, which would infer a somewhat
lengthy journey. Moreover the summits of Hermon
are covered with snow as late as June, and even the
lesser peaks of 4000 or 5000 feet are likewise snow-
covered in February and March, the period of the
Transfiguration. Finally, the ancients judged of the
height of mountains by their appearance, and Thabor
especially was considered a "high mountain", if not
by David and Jeremias, at least by Origen and St.
Jerome and the pilgrims who made the ascent.
Knabenbaueb. Comment, in Evang. S. Matth. (Paris, 1895); Robinson. Biblical Researches in Palesline. Ill (Boston. 1841); DiDON, Jesus-Christ (Paris, 1891); Meistermann, Le mont Thabor (Paris, 1900).
Barnabas Meistermann.
Transfiguration of Christ, F^ast op, 6 August, double second class, celebrated to commemorate the manifestation of the Divine glory recorded by St. Matthew (xvii). The Armenian bishop Gregory Arsharuni (about 690) ascribes the origin of this feast to St. Gregory the Illuminator (d. 337?), who, he says, substituted it for a pagan feast of Aphrodite called Vnrlavarh (roseflame), retaining the old api)cllation of the feast, because Christ opened His glory like a rose on Mount Thabor. It is not foun<l however in the two ancient Armenian calendars printed by Cenybeare (Aimenian Ritual. 527 sq.). It probably originated, in the fourth or fifth century, in place of some pagan nature-feast, somewhere in the highlands of Asia. The Armenians at present keep it for three days as one of the five great feasts of the year (seventh Sun- d.ay after Pentecost); it is preceded by a fast of six days. Also in the Syriac Church it is a feast of the fir.st class. In the Greek Church it has a vigil and an octave. The Latin Church was slow in adopting this feast; it is not mentioned before S.50 (Martyrology of Wandelbert, Gavanti, "Thcs.'iurus litiu-g". H, Au- gust); it was adopted in the lit ui-gyabciut t lie tenth cen- tury in many dioceses, and was celcljrated mostly on 6 Aug.; in Gaul .and England, 27 July; .at Meissen, 17 March; at Halberst.adt, 3 Sept., etc. (Grotefend, "Zeitrechnung", 11,2,80; Ebner, "Mi.ssale R. Iter llalicum"). In 14.56 Callixtus III extended the feast to the Universal Church in memory of the victory gained by Hvmyady at Belgrade over the Turks, 6 Atig., 1456. Callixtus himself composed the Office. It is the titular feast of the Later.tn Basilica at Rome; as such it was raised to a double secoml ilass for the Universal ('hurch, 1 Nov., 1011. On this day the [wpe at Mass uses new wine or presses a bunch of ripe grapes into the ch.alice; raisins are also blessed at Rome (Hampson, "Cal. medii »vi", II, 176). The Greeks and Russians bless grapes and other fruit.
