Editing Transfiguration of Jesus (section)

== Feast and commemorations ==
[[File:Fruits Transfiguration jp.jpg|thumb| [[First Fruits]] brought to be blessed on the Feast of the Transfiguration ([[Japanese Orthodox Church]])]]

Various Christian denominations celebrate the [[Feast of the Transfiguration]]. The origins of the feast remain uncertain; it may have derived from the dedication of three basilicas on Mount Tabor.{{sfn|Baggley|2000|pp= 58–60}} The feast existed in various forms by the 9th century. In the 15th century [[Pope Callixtus III]] made it a universal feast celebrated on August 6 to commemorate the lifting of the [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|siege of Belgrade]]{{sfn|Puthiadam|2003|p= 169}} in July 1456.

The [[Syriac Orthodox]], [[Indian Orthodox]] and [[Revised Julian]] calendars within the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, and [[Anglican]] churches mark the Feast of the Transfiguration on August 6. In those Orthodox churches which continue to follow the [[Julian Calendar]], August 6 in the church calendar falls on August 19 in the [[Gregorian Calendar|civil (Gregorian) calendar]]. Transfiguration ranks as a major feast, numbered among the [[Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church|Twelve Great Feasts]] in the [[Byzantine rite]]. In all these churches, if the feast falls on a Sunday its liturgy is not combined with the Sunday liturgy, but replaces it.

In some [[liturgical calendar]]s (e.g. the [[Liturgical calendar (Lutheran)|Lutheran]] and [[United Methodist]]) the last Sunday in the [[Epiphany season]] is also devoted to this event. In the [[Church of Sweden]] and the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland]], however, the feast is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after [[Trinity Sunday|Trinity]] (the eighth Sunday after [[Pentecost]]).

In the [[Roman rite]], the gospel [[pericope]] of the transfiguration is read on the second Sunday of Lent – the liturgy emphasizes the role the transfiguration had in comforting the Twelve Apostles, giving them both a powerful proof of Christ's divinity and a prelude to the glory of the resurrection on Easter and the eventual salvation of his followers in view of the seeming contradiction of his crucifixion and death. The [[Preface (mass)|Preface]] for that day expounds this theme.{{sfn|Birmingham|1999|p=188}}