In his homily this morning our Father Luke reminded us that in the Gospel of Saint Luke, Jesus is portrayed as a man of prayer. And so typically this morning before his Transfiguration, Jesus "went up the mountain to pray." Father Luke went on to say that our transfiguration, our transformation in Christ, will take place as we hold fast to our call to "pray without ceasing and never lose heart." Indeed as Saint Benedict admonishes us in Chapter 49 of his Rule, since our lives as monks ought to be a continuous Lenten observance, especially during these forty days we should devote ourselves to "tearful prayers, to reading and compunction of heart, and to abstinence."
Raphael, The
Transfiguration (detail), oil on wood, 1516-1520, 159” X 109”, Pinacoteca Vaticana.
