The Book of Common Prayer is full of beautiful words of prayer and praise to God. The 1979 version has in it the Collects (prayers) of the church year in both traditional (King's English) and contemporary language. The Collect for the Last Sunday after Epiphany reads like this:
Traditional - O God, who before the passion of thy only-begotten Son didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Contemporary - O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The changes aren't really that profound, which is shame because I'd really like to know what I'm praying for. What does it actually mean to "be changed into [Christ's] likeness from glory to glory"? It comes from "beholding by faith the light of his countenance" and countenance, at least in its OT references, comes from the Hebrew for face. It is a strange prayer. Peter, James, and John don't see the Transfiguration and make any reference to being changed such that they become more like Jesus. The OT lesson is all about how Elijah is a prophet like Moses. Maybe it has to do with Paul's letter in that by beholding the face of Jesus we each experience our own apocalypse as the veil of unknowing is lifted and we are invited into the dream of God, where all of humanity is made to look like Christ in word and deed. I don't know. I guess I'll be digging through more books today, trying to figure out what the collect for Sunday actually means.
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