The Cayman Islands are within the ancient
Episcopal Jurisdiction
of The Bishop of London granted him by the
Crown in 1634
St Alban’s (Grand Cayman) & St Mary’s (Cayman Brac)
Church & Office – 461 Shedden Road P O Box 719, Grand Cayman KY1-1103, CAYMAN ISLANDS
Tel (345) 949 2757 : Fax (345) 949 0619
rector@churchofenglandcayman.com
19 Feb 2012
Welcome to St
Alban’s Anglican Church
Today's Scripture: 2 Kings 2: 1-12
2 Corinthians 4: 3-6 S. Mark 9: 2-9
Today: 8.35a.m. Matins;
9.00a.m. Church Sch; 9.30 a.m. Holy
Eucharist; 6 p.m. E. Prayer; 7.30 p.m. Holy Eucharist in Cayman Brac
This Week: Tues, Thurs: 12.30p.m. Midday Prayers; Ash
Wednesday: 9.00 a.m. Matins; 9.30 a.m. Commination,
Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion; Fri (S. Matthias): 5 p.m. Holy
Communion.
Next Sunday: 8.35a.m.
Matins; 9.00a.m. Litany; 9.30 a.m. Holy
Eucharist; 6.00 p.m. EP.
Quinquagesima
O Lord
God, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth:
Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of
charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee: Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake.
THE
TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST
The Transfiguration of Christ
is the revelation of Christ's divine glory on Mount Tabor in Galilee (Matthew
17:1-6; Mark 9:1-8; Luke 9:28-36). After revealing to His disciples that He
would be put to death in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21), Christ, along with Ss.
Peter, James, and John, went up the mountain. There, St. Matthew writes, "he was
transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments
became white as snow."
The brightness was not
something added to Christ but the manifestation of His true divine nature
united to a perfect humanity. For Peter, James, and John, it was also a glimpse
of the glories of heaven and of the resurrected body promised to all
Christians. As Christ was transfigured, two others appeared with Him: Moses,
representing the Old Testament Law, and Elijah, representing the prophets. Thus
Christ, Who stood between the two and spoke with them, appeared to the
disciples as the fulfilment of both the Law and the prophets.
At Christ's baptism in the
Jordan, the voice of God the Father was heard to proclaim that "This is my
beloved Son" (Matthew 3:17). During the Transfiguration, God the Father
pronounced the same words (Matthew 17:5).
Despite the importance of
this event, the Feast of the Transfiguration was not among the earliest of the
Christian feasts. It was celebrated in Asia starting in the fourth or fifth
century and spread throughout the Christian East in the centuries following.
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that it wasn't
commonly celebrated in the West until the tenth century. To celebrate the great
Christian victory at the Siege of Belgrade in 1456, during which the Muslim
Turks were routed and the Islamic advance into Europe was halted, the
Transfiguration was elevated to a feast of the universal Church.