In the Russian tradition, the Transfiguration is regarded as the second of three major feasts of the Savior during the month of August. Each of these feasts is associated with the blessing of a late-summer agricultural product: the Cross, on August 1, with honey; today, August 6, with apples; and August 16, the feast of the Holy Mandylion, with bread. Consequently, a folk name for today’s feast is “Apple Savior.” May the sweetness of the fruits that we bless this day – whether grapes, apples, or otherwise – remind of the true Sweetness, our Lord himself, the sweetest Jesus Christ. In the heavenly Jerusalem, where the Lamb himself is the light (Rev. 21:23), the saints always delight in the brightness of that most glorious countenance, a brightness once beheld by the apostles on Tabor long ago.
O transfigured Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, grant us never to be content with the passing sweetness of this present life, but to long for and ever strain toward the unsurpassed sweetness of thy holy countenance; and have mercy on us!