Forefeast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Every year on August 18, the pre-feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord is celebrated Forefeast in Orthodoxy is the day that precedes major Orthodox holidays Designed to prepare for the celebration During it, prayers are read that are dedicated to the subsequent holiday The Transfiguration of the Lord is a holiday that is included in the Orthodox Church in the twelve, that is, the 12 most important This is the day when Christ allowed three of his disciples, namely the apostles Peter, James and John, to see the Kingdom of God on earth On Mount Tabor they saw the Uncreated Divine Light (later it received the name “Tabor Light”) Having experienced unknown happiness and spiritual joy The description of these events is found in the Gospels of Mark, Luke and Matthew They are very similar to each other They climbed the mountain with the Son of God to pray to the Heavenly Father, and while they prayed, the face of Christ brightened like the sun, and the whiteness of his clothes became like snow They were so impressed by what they saw that Peter even offered to stay on the mountain But then they were surrounded by a cloud, being in which they heard the voice of God, who said that Christ was his son and they needed to listen to him The vision ended, and the disciples were instructed not to mention these events until His Resurrection occurred from the dead They began to celebrate this event in the fourth century This is due to the fact that at that time a temple was built on Mount Tabor by Queen Helen, Equal to the Apostles On the day of Transfiguration, according to church charter, earthly fruits are illuminated to commemorate the new harvest at the end of the Liturgy (apples, grapes and other fruits and vegetables), and after they are donated to the poor and to the temple Apple Spas is the popular name given to this holiday What is connected with lighting of fruits and vegetables On this day, believers are allowed to taste the fruits of the new harvest for the first time After the beginning of Peter's Lent and until the beginning of the holiday, this was prohibited According to the gospel, the events took place 40 days before Easter, which takes place in the spring The postponement of the celebration to the summer is explained by fasting In order not to distract Christians from it, it was moved to summer time This is typical for the east Similar events have already occurred before On the day of baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended, everyone who was present heard the voice of the Father In Jesus Christ He recognized His Son And during the Transfiguration he calls to listen to the teaching This event shows the unity of two natures - human and Divine Disputes about this continued unabated for many centuries among Christian theologians The Holy Fathers interpreted this as a sign of the future transformation of all people into the Kingdom of Heaven