Feast of the Lord
Leavetaking of the Transfiguration
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The Church concludes the festal celebration of Christ's divine glory revealed on Mount Tabor.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Leavetaking of the Transfiguration, Orthodox Church in America — Leavetaking of the Transfiguration, Orthodox Church in America — The Orthodox Faith: Transfiguration. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
Completion of the Feast
On August 13 the Orthodox Church celebrates the leavetaking of the Transfiguration, bringing the festal period to its liturgical completion. The hymns of August 6 are heard again so that the mystery may be carried into daily Christian life.
A leavetaking is not a second historical event. It is the Church's final solemn celebration of a feast before the liturgical cycle moves onward.
The Uncreated Light
On Mount Tabor Christ revealed His glory to Peter, James and John as far as they were able to bear it. Moses and Elijah appeared, and the Father's voice identified Jesus as His beloved Son.
Orthodox theology understands the light of the Transfiguration as divine glory, not an ordinary created effect. The disciples were strengthened before the Passion and shown the destiny of humanity united to Christ.
Liturgical Meaning
The festal blessing of grapes and fruits expresses thanksgiving for creation and its transfiguration in Christ. The leavetaking renews the call to listen to the Son and descend from the mountain into faithful service.
August 13 — Leavetaking of the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord.
From the Orthodox Synaxarion
On the Leavetaking the Church repeats the principal hymns of the Transfiguration, completing the festal cycle liturgically. The faithful again confess that the light revealed on Tabor belongs to Christ’s divine glory.
Historical Record and Ecclesiastical Tradition
The Leavetaking is a liturgical conclusion to the festal period of the Transfiguration, not a second historical event in Christ's earthly life. Its theology is governed by the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration and by the hymns repeated from August 6, while the date and observance belong to the Orthodox liturgical calendar.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Leavetaking of the TransfigurationOrthodox Church in America — Leavetaking of the TransfigurationOrthodox Church in America — The Orthodox Faith: Transfiguration