Iconographer Kelly Latimore says that what “sacred art can do . . . is help us see each other in a new way.” Further, his icon The Transfiguration (commissioned by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Salisbury, North Carolina) has “something to show us about who we are and who God is. We can learn how to observe . . . and how to see one another and to see God.”

Jesus’ transfiguration was a moment of encounter between human beings and the divine; brief, but utterly extraordinary. The disciples were certain that their teacher was like themselves—but now, clearly, somehow unlike. He spoke with Moses and Elijah . . . his clothing shone dazzling white. Latimore seeks less to capture the “whiteness” of Christ’s
tunic than the “brightness,” using silver leaf for the garment to reflect the light in the church where the icon is displayed. The disciples see Jesus as they might see a solar eclipse: his
human body at the center, brightness shining all around, eclipsing the sun and making stars visible behind him.
Peter, James, and John are knocked off their feet, left terrified and practically speechless. Not knowing what to say, Peter suggests building three tents, but suddenly a voice from heaven is heard—This is my beloved Son. Listen to him. Then . . . the moment is past. The disciples have an entirely new and different understanding of Jesus. They have shared an experience of the divine, and they’re left scratching their heads about what he says to them: the Son of Man will rise from the dead. Like those early disciples, we must know him—and each other—more deeply if we are ever to understand what this might mean!
—Br. Ælred Senna

Ælred Senna, OSB, is a monk of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville,
Minnesota, and publisher of Give Us This Day.