Our Lord had spoken to His disciples many times not only concerning His Passion, Cross, and Death, but also concerning the coming persecutions and afflictions that they themselves would endure. Since all these evils were near at hand, but the enjoyment of good things which they hoped to receive in their stead was yet to come, our Savior desired to give them full assurance, evidently and openly, concerning that glory which is prepared for those who endure to the end. Therefore, fulfilling that which He had promised shortly before, that "there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom" (Matt. 16:28), He took His three foremost disciples and ascended Mount Tabor, where He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light. Suddenly, together with this dread and marvelous effulgence of light, there appeared those pinnacles of the Prophets, Moses and Elias, who spoke with the Lord Jesus concerning His saving Passion which was about to take place. Standing before Him as reverent servants, they showed that He is the Lord of both the living and the dead, for Moses came forth from Hades, having died many centuries before, and Elias, as it were from heaven, whither he had been taken up while yet alive. After a little while a radiant cloud overshadowed them and out of the cloud they heard that same voice which had been heard at the Jordan at the Baptism of Christ, testifying to the Divinity of Jesus and saying: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased; hear ye Him" (Matt. 17: 5).

Such are the marvels, truly worthy of God, celebrated in this present feast, which is an image and prefiguring of the future state of the righteous, whose splendor the Lord spoke of, saying: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun" (Matt. 13:43). It is because of this that the Kontakion of this Feast is said daily (when there is not a great feast) in the Service of the Typica in perpetual commemoration of the glory that will be the lot of the Saints. According to tradition, the Lord's Transfiguration came to pass forty days before His Crucifixion; this is why the Transfiguration is celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Cross.

This saint was born in Athens in 862 to pious Christian parents. From an early age, he showed fervent faith and when he decided to withdraw to monastic life, he divided his property to those in need. He went a short way outside of Athens and many visited him to seek his council, which hindered his contemplation. For this reason, he fled to Argos in Peloponnesos in 880. There, he founded a church in the name of St. John the Forerunner after St. John appeared to him, and many went there to seek Theodosius' council. This angered certain priests, however, who denounced him to Archbishop (Saint) Peter of Argos.

St. Theodosios (patron saint of Theodosios the New) appeared in a dream to St. Peter, and asked him to end these conflicts. St. Peter at that time was in Constantinple visiting the Ecumenical Patriarch, who asked the Archbishop if he had a monk named Theodosios in his region. Recalling his dream to the Patriarch, St. Peter was asked to extend his blessing and reverence to the monk. So he went to visit St. Theodosius theNew to assess the accusations against him.

While he stopped to rest, St. Theodosius foresaw that he was coming to visit, and went ahead to greet him, offering him burning incense on charcoal which he held in his monastic hat. St. Peter was amazed that neither was St. Theodosius nor his hat burned. Impressed by his virtue, ordained him a deacon and a priest. Eventually, a monastery was built around this church and many monks became his disciples.

His fame spread throughout the region, and before his death he was granted the figt of foreknowing his death three days before, allowing his to give final counsels to his spiritual children. St. Theodosius died peacefully in old age around 922 AD.

His monastery is one of the oldest in Peloponnesos and today has become a famous shrine. Since 1942 it has functioned as a female convent. His relics work many miracles to this day.

St. Triantaphyllos (which is the Greek word for rose) was a sailor from Zagora of Magnesia. He was born in teh village of Stara Gora in Bulgaria in 1663. He was pressured by Muslim sailors to embrace the Islamic faith while in Constantinople but he refused, saying "I am an Orthodox Christian and will not deny my Savior Christ." This reuslted in his beheading in the Hippodrome on Aug. 8, 1680. He is esepcailly honored in Zagora and Alykes in Volos, Greece. A portion of his relics can be venerated at the Monastery of St. Nicholas on the island of Andros.

After Judas by transgression fell from his apostleship (Acts 1: 25), and hanging himself out of despair ended his life with a wretched and shameful death (Matt. 27: 5), then, that the number of the Twelve not be lacking, all the disciples gathered in one place after the Ascension of the Savior (the number of men and women being 120), and they chose two men from among them, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was also surnamed Justus, and Matthias, and they set them in the midst. Then they prayed to God and cast lots, "and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles" (Acts 1: 15-26). And thus, having taken the place of Judas, Matthias fulfilled the work of apostleship and the prophecy concerning Judas, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David: "And his bishopric let another take" (Ps. 108:7). After this, it is said, Matthias preached the Gospel in Ethiopia, and completed his life there in martyrdom.

This Saint, who was born in Spain, was the Archdeacon of the Church of Rome, caring for the sacred vessels of the Church and distributing money to the needy. About the year 257, a harsh persecution was raised up against the Christians by Valerian. Pope Sixtus, who was from Athens, was commanded to worship the idols, and refused; before his martyrdom by beheading, he committed to Laurence all the sacred vessels of the Church. When Laurence was arrested and brought before the Prefect, he was questioned concerning the treasures of the Church; he asked for three days' time to prepare them. He then proceeded to gather all the poor and needy, and presented them to the Prefect and said, "Behold the treasures of the Church." The Prefect became enraged at this and gave command that Laurence be racked, then scourged with scorpions (a whip furnished with sharp iron points - compare II Chron. 10:11), then stretched out on a red-hot iron grill. But the courageous athlete of Christ endured without groaning. After he had been burned on one side, he said, "My body is done on one side; turn me over on the other." And when this had taken place, the Martyr said to the tyrants, "My flesh is now well done, you may taste of it." And when he had said this, and had prayed for his slayers in imitation of Christ, he gave up his spirit on August 10, 258.

In 1716, the Turks with 50,000 troops and many ships, had the island of Corfu (Kerkyra) under a tight siege. The Turkish armies were concentrated at the far walls of the city. Andrea Pisani, a general of hte Venetial Republic which had occupied the Ionian islands since 1386) was anticipating the attack there.

At daybreak on Aug. 11, 1716, St. Spyridon, the patron saint of the island, appeared in front of the enemy lines holding a glistening sword in his right hand. His austere appearance horrified the aggressors, who began to recede, panic-stricken by the awesome attack, abandoning weapons, machinery and animals. The Turks left behind 120 cannons, a large number of ammunication and food.

After this miralce, the Catholic Andrea Pisani wanted to install a Latin altar inside the Orthodox Church of St. Spyridon, but the saint appeared to him ina dream, saying "Why are you bothering me? The altar of your faith is unacceptable in my Temple!" when he reported this, the Latin Cardinal dismissed it as an evil fantasy, so Pisani ordered the materials to begin constructing the altar. To the Orthodox priests and Greek leaders who protested, he answered "As a ruler, I will do whatever I please.:

That same night, St. Spyridon appeared to Pisani as a monk and again warned him to stop. Again, Pisani reported this to the Latin Cardinal who now accused the general of being a faithless coward. So Pisani continued construction. That evening a terrible storm broke out, unleasing a barrage of thunderbolts on teh Old Fort, Pisani's ammunication barracks, which was consumed by the explosion. 900 Latin soldiers and civilians were killed, including Pisani and the Cardinal. Historical sources testify to the authenticity of the event  upon the expulsion of the papal powers from the island.

These Martyrs contested in Nicomedia about the year 288. When Diocletian stirred up his persecution of the Christians, Anicetus presented himself openly and said that all who worship idols are blind and senseless. He was beaten with rods so ruthlessly that his bones appeared from the rents and wounds in his flesh. As he was suffering further torments, his nephew Photius came and embraced him, calling him his father and his uncle. He was also put to many tortures with him. They were then imprisoned together for three years. Finally they were cast into a furnace, where they gave up their spirits, and their bodies were preserved unharmed. Saint Anicetus is one of the Holy Unmercenaries.