Press release I

He who in past times had spoken with Moses on Mount Sinai, is presently transfigured on Mount Tabor, showing how in Him human nature acquired once again the archetypal beauty of the image (Troparion of the Great Vespers of the Transfiguration)

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE – PATRIARCHATE OF MOSCOW
MONASTERY OF BOSE
REGION PIEDMONT – UNIVERSITY OF TURIN

The Transfiguration of Christ
in Orthodox Spiritual Tradition

The XV International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality will be held from 16 to 19 September 2007, at the Monastery of Bose (Magnano, Province of Biella, Italy). Organized with the support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Conference follows in a long tradition of ecumenical encounters and offers an opportunity for a fraternal exchange of views and shared reflection on essential topics of spiritual life, where Eastern and Western Christian tradition intersect with the profound questions that beset modern man.

This year the Conference will focus on the mystery of the Transfiguration of Christ. The event is told in the Synoptic Gospels (Mt 17. 1-9; Mk 9. 2-10; Lk 9. 28-36): Jesus of Nazareth is transfigured on ‘a high mount’ in front of some of the disciples. It has been always considered by Christian theologians in both East and West as a revelation of the mystery of Christ’s divinity; but in Eastern spiritual tradition the Transfiguration of Christ also outlines the the transfiguration of man, who is called upon to ‘become God’, as the first fruits of the transfiguration of the entire Creation.

The Conference intends to examine in depth the biblical, liturgical, theological and anthropological aspects of this mystery, which is central to the Christian faith and at the same time so rich in entreaties and expectations for modern man. The reflections of the church fathers will be studied together with the artisitc expression of the Transfiguration in creative works of monks, hymnographers and icon-painters in the entire Eastern Christendom, from Sinai to Mount Athos, from Byzantium to Holy Russia, from the early centuries to the present day.

Along with prominent world scholars, the Conference will be attended by metropolitans, bishops, and monks form the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Reformed Churches.

In the evening of the first day of the Conference, Sunday 16 September at 21.00, the Ensemble Odhecaton will perform – in the framework of “Festival Milano-Torino” – the Missa Sancti Jacobi by Josquin Desprez at Bose Monastery Church.