Arguably the most common form of theology in the form of music that most of us come across is the singing of hymns. As this post is to be published on the feast of the transfiguration, I will indulge by writing about my favourite hymn (there may be readers who breathe a sigh of relief that I have not defaulted once again to Messiaen at this juncture, whose oratorio on the Transfiguration is indeed magnificent, but perhaps for this blog in another year…).

Probably the hymn most associated with the Transfiguration is ‘Tis good Lord to be here, but I am not going to go with that: instead, the line ‘thy brightness unto them appears’ from the hymn ‘how shall I sing that majesty?’ is my link to the occasion – as well as the fact that the hymn was sung on this day some years ago, which I remember because this is my wedding anniversary.

The text of the hymn is the first item in a collection of Spiritual Songs; or, Songs of Praise to Almighty God upon Several Occasions published in 1683, and there is no reason to think that the writer – a Calvinist English vicar named John Mason – made the connection that I see to the Transfiguration, so much as to Psalm 104 verse 2 and Psalm 139 verse 6.

Mason is understood to have suffered from frequent headaches, and is said to have complained that at times his own low voice in prayer was enough to cause him pain; perhaps in those circumstances it is even more valid to ask the leading question ‘how shall I sing?’ in leading into a comparison of the splendour of the Lord to the smallness of the human condition.

Later in life, Mason believed himself to have had a vision of Christ wearing a glorious crown, which, added to his increasing tendency as he aged and preached to interpret apocalyptic signs of the coming millennium, led him to convince a number of followers that the second coming was both immanent and likely to happen in the village of Water Stratford in Buckinghamshire. His followers indeed, set up something of an encampment at the village, which they called ‘Holy Ground’.

Holy was the ground where St Peter in his charmingly enthusiastic way wanted to build tabernacles after seeing the glory of Christ transfigured, as was the ground before the burning bush. Christ is the eternal brightness that continues to transfigure humanity as it inheres in Him. As the plainchant Alleluia for the feast reminds us, citing Wisdom: candor est lucis aeternae speculum sine macula et imago bonitatis illius.