The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrates Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor
From the General Secretariat of the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem
On Tuesday, the 6th/19th of August 2025, the Patriarchate celebrated the Despotic Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The centre of this feast was Mount Tabor, for upon it, according to the most ancient tradition of the Church, the event of the Lord’s Transfiguration took place.
According to the Gospel narratives, the Lord took with Him three of His disciples, those called the “foremost”, Peter, James, and John, and ascended a high mountain. In front of them, the face and garments of the Lord became white beyond the brightness of the sun, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and the Prophets Moses and Elias appeared with Him—the one, Moses, as representative of the departed, and the other, Elias, as representative of the living. They conversed with Him and spoke concerning His Passion upon the Cross, which was to be accomplished in Jerusalem. Then the Apostle Peter proposed that they should make three tabernacles and remain upon the mountain. And a voice was heard from heaven, saying: “This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him” (Luke 9:35, Mark 9:7, Matt. 17:5).
This marvellous event of the Taboric vision and Grace was wrought by the Lord, to strengthen His disciples before His Passion upon the Cross, revealing unto them His Divine nature, and to remind all, through His Transfiguration, of the possibility of the restoration of the Divine Grace and the primeval beauty of mankind, as well as of the foreshadowing of His Resurrection and of the resurrection of the whole human race.
For the celebration of this event, His Beatitude Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, went forth from Jerusalem to Mount Tabor on the eve of the aforementioned feast day, and presided over the outdoor all-night Vigil, concelebrating with His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina and His Eminence Metropolitan Makarios of Ptolemais–Acre, with Holy Sepulchre Hieromonks, the representative of the Patriarchate of Moscow Archimandrite Nikon, the representative of the Patriarchate of Romania Archimandrite Ioan, Arabic-, Russian- and Romanian-speaking Priests, and other visiting Priests, together with Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Prodromos. The chanting was delivered in Greek by Fr George of the Holy Metropolis of Ilia, and in Arabic by the choir of Acre. Present also were the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, with his colleagues, and a congregation of the faithful, whom the Israeli Police Authorities permitted to ascend to the Monastery.
To them, His Beatitude proclaimed the divine word in Greek, as follows:
“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter, 1,16), the Apostle Peter preaches.
Beloved brethren in Christ,
Pious Christians and pilgrims
The grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us all in this Holy Mount of Tabor, to solemnly celebrate the great event of the Divine Providence, that of the Transfiguration of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
As the Evangelist Luke says, during His Transfiguration, as Jesus was praying, “the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering” (Luke 9,29). As also the Evangelist Matthew narrates, “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him” (Matthew 17,1-3).
Saint Gregory Palamas quotes Saint Chrysostom to explain the meaning of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ: “He opened, as He was well pleased, a little of the Godhead, and shewed unto the initiated the indwelling God.” And, more fully explained, Christ partially unveiled His divine nature, as He willed, and revealed unto His disciples who knew Him, the God dwelling within Him.
It is noteworthy that this marvelous event occurred on Mount Tabor a little while before the Passion of the Cross and the three-day burial of our Saviour Jesus Christ, as the hymnographer describes: “He that once spake in figures unto Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: I am He Who Is, today was transfigured upon Mount Tabor before the disciples. Having taken on the nature of man, He showed in Himself the original beauty of His image. And bringing Moses and Elias into His presence as witnesses of this grace, He made them partakers of the gladness, foretelling His departure by the Cross, and His saving Resurrection” (Vespers, Aposticha, Troparion 1).
Indeed, the Transfiguration, as the hymnographer writes, foretells the glorious day of Pascha on the one hand, which will lead Christ at the peak of His divine glory through the Passion on the Cross; on the other hand, it confirms the Apostle Peter’s confession of faith about Christ, according to the testimony of Evangelist Mark, “And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ” (Mark 8,29).
This very Christ, is no other than the “I am” the God Word, who showed the archetypal beauty of the image, namely, the glory of His divine features, assuming the human nature”.
The fact that God assumed the human nature in the Holy Spirit, through the Ever-Virgin Theotokos Mary, is confirmed also by the fact that “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Luke 9, 34-35)…
This news was originally published on the website of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, click here to read.