When examining the Byzantine liturgy of the feast of the Transfiguration in order to find an answer to this question, one gets the impression that even the liturgy confirms the opinion that the crucified Christ is bypassed here. Describing the Transfiguration on Tabor, the Gospels quite clearly mention the suffering and death of Christ: Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus "about His exodus, which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). In general, the Transfiguration on Tabor took place precisely when Jesus Himself "began to reveal to His disciples that He must go up to Jerusalem, and suffer much at the hands of the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again" (Matt. 16:21). Christ Himself inwardly unites transfiguration, suffering, and death. Meanwhile, the Byzantine liturgy of the feast of the Transfiguration does not take into account this inner connection at all. Indeed, in several places of Great Vespers and Matins of the feast it is mentioned that Christ conversed with Moses and Elijah, but the content of this conversation, namely suffering and death in Jerusalem, is touched upon only once (Great Vespers, Litiya) and only as an event that seems insignificant in comparison with the Transfiguration. On Mount Tabor, Moses and Elijah appear not as foreshadowers of suffering and death, but rather as witnesses of Christ's glory and heralds of His triumph. "And Thou hast brought the supreme prophets, Moses and Elijah, bearing unquestioning witness to His Divinity," sings the Eastern Church at Great Vespers (Litiya) and at Matins (Ode 3). The Liturgy of the Feast of the Transfiguration also glorifies Moses, Elijah and the Apostles, who rejoice at the glory of Christ (cf. Matins, Cantos 7, 8, and 9). In the Divine services of this feast there is not even a thought that the light of Tabor will soon be extinguished and that the darkness of death will obscure the radiance of the transfigured Christ. The radiance of Christ's deified humanity fascinates the Eastern Church so much that the imminent death of the Savior slips from her field of vision. The soul of the Eastern Christian seems to catch the upcoming celebration of Paschal morning, the beginning of which is revealed in the Transfiguration, and it, like Peter on Tabor, begins to forget what Moses and Elijah talked about with Christ.

      And yet it would be a great mistake to consider the Liturgy of the Feast of the Transfiguration as a kind of generalization and the image of Christ appearing in it as exclusively characteristic of the entire Eastern Church. The Eastern Church does especially revere and admire the shining Kyrios – this is true, but not all of it, for the suffering Christ is by no means forgotten here. Moreover, the suffering Christ is the deepest experience of the Eastern Church in her prayerfulness. We often forget about this or simply do not notice it, for the suffering Christ is understood differently by the Eastern Church than by the Western Church. However, it is this other point of view that deepens our experience of Christ's suffering and death and reveals Him as inexpressibly close to us, our own. For it is not suffering and death as such that make Christ our brother, but His taking on our suffering and mortal nature, which Christ took on out of love for us, humbling Himself to the utmost degree. The self-abasement of Christ is what excites and delights the soul of the Eastern Christian.

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS,

used by the author in the work on the first chapter

     1. V. Lossky, Die mystische Theologie der morgenlandischen Kirche, Graz 1961.

      2. Athenagor, Apologie. Bibliothek der Kirchenvater. Fruhchristliche Apologeten, Kempten 1913, t. I.

      3. Der hl. Justin, Apologien. Bibliothek der Kirchenvater, t. I.

      4. L. Ouspensky, Essai sur la Theologie de I'Icone, Paris 1960.

      5. V. Zenkovsky, Freedom and Sobornost, in the journal "The Way", Paris 1927, Nr. 7.

      6. G. Dejaifve, Sobornost ou Papaute, «Nouvelle revue theologique», Louvain 1952, Nr. 84, 85.

      7. P. B. Plank, Katholizitat und Sobornost', Wurzburg 1960.

      8. Hymnen der Ostkirche. Dreifaltigkeits, – Marien – und Totenhymnen, Munster 1960.

      9. Vl. Solovyov, Reading on God-manhood (1877-81), Collected Works, St. Petersburg 1901-03, vol. III.