A Revealing Change

Et facta est, dum oraret, species vultus ejus altera, et vestitus ejus, albus et refulgens. Dicit igitur: Et facta est, non quidem per transmutationem substantiae, vel circumpositionem qualitatis, vel figurae alienae, quia fingere non convenit veritati: sed potius per effulsionem claritatis internae mortalis habitus tunc non clausit quomodo ante. Et sic nihil assumpsit alienum, nihil amisit sibi et nobis proprium. ...species ejus... Hoc est,speciositas ejus 'altera' non alia. Et in hic solo altera,quia mortalis species exterior non clausit fulgorem deitatis interiorem: nec fulgor interior consumpsit mortalem speciem exterior, sed obtexit horam. Et in hoc solo species vultus ejus facta est altera. Quia cum ante in colore vultus humani esset speciosus forma pro filius hominum, nunc resplendens super solem in vultu divino humanato, speciosus factus est prae vultibus Angelorum: ostendens quam mirabilis est humanitatis nostrae futura glorificatio, quae in suo vultu praemonstrata omnium Angelorum excessit claritatem. Hanc videns in spiritu Psalmista ait, Psal. xliv: Specie tua et pulchritudine tua intende, prospere procede, et regna. Hoc figuraturn est, Exod. xxxiii ubi in monte ex consortio Domini resplenduit facies Moysi: ita ut dicat Apostolus, II ad Corinth. iii, quod non poterant intendere filii Israel in faciem Moysi propter gloriam vultus ejus, nisi velaretur. Sed veritas excedit umbram: quia incomparabiliter plus illuxit facies nostri Salvatoris ex consortio unitae sibi deitatis, quam facies Movsi ex consortio divini sermonis. Unde, Matth. xvii dicitur, quod resplenduit facies ejus sicut sol. Et impletum est Isaiee, lxii vaticinium: Egrediatur ut splendor Justus ejus, et Salvator ejus ut lampas accendatur . Sicut enim pellis lucernae retinendo omnia propria, emittit ex se splendorem luminis, et non tegit ipsum: et videtur candens in lumine in se clauso, et non in colore proprio, quem tamen vere habet: ita resplenduit unita carnis deitas in colore mortalis corporis. Et color corporis in candore splendoris videbatur, et non amittebatur. Est enim Dei Filius etiam in humana carne splendor gloriae Patris, et figura substantise ejus, sicut habetur, ad Hebr. i. Sapient. vii: Speculum sine macula Dei majestatis, et imago bonitatis illius. Et, ibidem dicitur, quod est candor lucis aeternae. Unde non mirum si vel semel candor ille immensus emicuit et refulsit, ut fides regni Dei in nobis confirmaretur. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Lucam, Caput IX Source: Here p657-8

'And it happened that as He prayed His face and His vestments were changed, being made white and shining.' 1 'And it happened,' not through a transmutation of substance, nor an imposition of quality or some foreign form, because a pretence is not fitting for the truth, but rather it was by an effusion of internal brightness through the mortal covering which no longer hid as it did before. And so He took to Himself nothing that was not Himself, nor did He lose anything of Himself. ...His face... That is, His appearance changed but not into something else. And not into something else because his exterior mortal form no longer hid the blaze of Godhood within, and nor did this inner brightness consume the exterior mortal appearance, but it covered it for a time. In this only is the appearance of His face changed. Because before His face was human in hue and the form of His appearance was as a son of man, 2 but now the face is resplendent beyond the sun with Divine humanity, made fair before the faces of angels, showing how wonderful is the future glorification of our humanity, which in His face is foreshown to exceed the brightness of all the angels. Seeing this in the spirit the Psalmist said, 'With your appearance and fairness revealed, go forward prosperously and rule.' 3 This figure was given when the the face of Moses shone on the mountain from meeting the Lord, 4 and thus the Apostle says in the Second Letter to the Corinthians, 'The children of Israel could not look on the face of Moses unless it was veiled because of the glory of his face.' 5 But truth exceeds the shadow, for the face of our Saviour shone incomparably more from His association with the unity of the Deity than the face of Moses because of his association with the Divine speech. Whence in Matthew it is said, 'His face shone like the sun.' 6 And the prophecy in Isaiah is fulfilled, 'His righteous one shall go out as a splendour and His Saviour shall blaze up like a lamp.' 7 For as a covering on a lamp keeps in what is proper to it and it emits the splendour of its light when it is uncovered, but it is still blazing with light when it is covered and has not its proper colour which it truly has, thus shone the union of Godhood with flesh in the hue of the mortal body. And the hue of the body in the brightness of the splendour appeared and was not lost, for the son of God even in human flesh is 'the splendor of the glory of the Father and a figure of His substance,' as it says in Hebrews. 8 And Wisdom says, 'A mirror without flaw of the majesty of God and an image of His goodness.' And in the same place it is said, 'that is the brightness of eternal light.' 9 Whence one should not wonder if that immense brightness flashed forth and shone so that faith in the kingdom of God might be strengthened in us. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 9 1 Lk 9.29 2 Ps 44.3 3 Ps 44.5 4 Exod 33.9 5 2 Cor 3.7 6 Mt 17.2 7 Isaiah 62.1 8 Heb 1.3 9 Wisdom 7.26