On Tuesday 6 August, the day of the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land gathered in the place which commemorates this event: Mount Tabor .
Standing on an upland of 580 metres above sea level, which rises alone in the Jezreel Valley, this is the place where tradition, from St Cyril of Jerusalem in the 4th century, places the event of the Transfiguration of Jesus: “up a high mountain […] his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17, 2).
Three churches were then built on this mountain (in memory of the “three tents” that Peter wanted to erect, for Jesus, Moses and Elijah) where the monks used to keep vigil, day and night, in prayer (as described by the Armenian monk Eghisce in the 7th century). The community of the Franciscans of the Custody settled on the mountain from 1631. Today, the Franciscan friars, with their Guardian Brother Ricardo Bustos, and the Carmelite nuns of the Institute of Our Lady of Mount Carmel live permanently in the parish.
LuxTenebra: the Jubilees of Tabor and Gethsemane
The major celebration was part of the Jubilee of the centenary of the Basilica, completed in 1924 by the architect Antonio Barluzzi on the site of the Benedictine monastery from Crusader times.
The special jubilee anniversary coincides with that of the Basilia of the Nations on the slopes of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Very recently a day of study (the full video-link is here) was held here, organized by the “Scientific committee for the celebrations of the jubilees of the Basilicas of Tabor and Gethsemane” and dedicated to the two Basilicas, in which there were two exhibitions, “LuxTenebra,” which covered their historical and artistic stories.
The Eucharistic celebration
As is the local custom, some Christian families from Galilee gathered at the Shrine as early as the previous evening, spending the night in tents. This tradition dates back to the Ottoman era when the friars possessed the place, but had the right to go there only once a year, for the Transfiguration.
It was fr. Ibrahim Faltas, Vicar of the Holy Land, who presided over the celebrations. Following tradition, the homily was given by fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh, the parish priest of Nazareth, the city most of the local faithful present come from.
The Transfiguration prelude to the Resurrection
“The vision of Jesus transfigured,” said fr. Ibrahim, “leaves the hearts of disciples so immersed in His contemplation full of joy and sweet consolation, that they no longer want to go down, but remain on the Mount. Seeing Jesus transfigured, they understand that after suffering and death there is always the resurrection. And the Resurrection will be so splendid that it will let those who give their lives for love forget all the suffering; the last word will not be for suffering or for death, but for consolation and eternal life.”
At the end of the celebration, the friars and the faithful set off in a procession towards the Descendendibus Chapel, situated at the entry to the shrine of Tabor. The name alludes to the descent of the apostles from Tabor. “As they were coming down [descendentibus, in the Vulgate Latin Bible] from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead” (Matthew 17, 9). Here the Vicar fr. Faltas, following tradition, gave the friars and the faithful some branches of the oak of Mount Tabor, an evergreen which stands behind the Church, a symbol and souvenir of the place and of the celebration.
Silvia Giuliano
