Feast of the Ascension

Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation

In the great solemnity of to-morrow we will select for the two points of our meditation two articles of the Creed: 1st, Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven; 2d, He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; and we shall see that in both these mysteries Jesus Christ is, as always, full of love for us. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to raise our thoughts and our affections to heaven, where is Jesus Christ, our advocate, our High-Priest, our Head; not to have any longer any attachment to this world, and henceforth to live only for heaven; 2d, to place all our confidence in our Mediator who is in heaven. We will retain as our spiritual nosegay the words of the Church, “Lift up your hearts!” and these other words of the Apostle: “I am straitened between two: having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ” (Philipp. i. 23).

Meditation for the Morning

Let us transport ourselves in spirit to the Mount of Olives, there to assist in thought at the triumphant ascension of the Saviour. Let us adore Him not ascending to heaven like Elias upon a chariot of fire, but raising Himself by the sole means of His virtue, followed by all the just of the Old Law, whom He has liberated from their prison. Let us admire Him received by all the heavenly court, in the midst of a thousand canticles of adoration, of admiration, of praise, and of love. Let us unite our homage with that of all the princes of heaven.

FIRST POINT

Jesus Christ has Ascended to Heaven

Jesus Christ ascended to heaven by means of the same principle which had made Him descend from it; He had descended through love for us, and He ascended also through love. He desired to go: 1st, in order to open to us the gates of heaven; 2d, to prepare a place for us there; 3d, to shed upon us from thence His blessings. Until the ascension, the doors of heaven had been closed against all the children of Adam, and neither the innocence of Abel, nor the faith of Abraham, nor the zeal of Moses, nor the holiness of the prophets and the patriarchs had been able to open the entrance to it. All, after their death, were relegated to limbo, without possessing any other consolation than that of hope; but to-day, O day of happiness! Jesus makes them leave their prison, and takes them with Him to heaven; He opens the doors of it to them, and He enters first through the merits of the blood which He has shed; and thus are accomplished the types of the ancient law. It no longer exists, that mysterious sanctuary, which was wont to remain closed during the whole year, that Holy of holies wherein the high-priest alone could enter once a year, bearing in his hands the blood of the victims. Jesus Christ, the sole true Pontiff, has entered this day, not into the sanctuary made by the hands of man, which was only a figure of the true sanctuary, but into heaven itself, the true sanctuary inhabited by God; He has entered there, not with the blood of others, but with His own blood; He has torn and made the veil to disappear which hid from the people the Holy of holies and symbolized the doors of heaven closed until then to man through sin. O Jesus, a thousand times amiable, it is thus that Thou dost open to us heaven to-day; we have nothing to do but to enter into it. What gratitude do we not owe Thee! But Thou didst not stop even there. Like a good father who occupies himself in finding a suitable place for his son, Thou dost Thyself say to us: “I go to prepare a place for you” (John xiv. 2). I will that you should be where I am, and that My throne should be yours (John xvii. 24; Apoc. iii. 21). O adorable Saviour! Thou dost us too much honor. What! I shall be seated upon Thy own throne! my nature so poor and miserable in itself shall be raised in heaven above even the angels, up to the throne of a God! Oh, what a beautiful place Thou art gone to prepare for us, and how precious is Thy ascension to me! How it excites my admiration, my gratitude, and my love! 

It is not even yet all! From the highest heaven Thou dost bless us, says the Gospel (Luke xxiv. 50). O beloved blessing, which helps our weakness to rise where Thou dost call us! O Saviour, bless us always, and attract our hearts to Thee, in order that henceforth we may live only for heaven (Cant. i. 3).

SECOND POINT

Jesus, on the Day of His Ascension, is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father

What does that mean, Lord? It means that Thou dost to-day enter into the divine and eternal repose which was so well earned by Thee after so many labors; it means that Thou dost take possession of Thy throne as King of kings, of Thy tribunal as Judge of the living and the dead; it means that in heaven Thou art equal to God, being God Thyself. And, oh, how admirable it is! In this lofty position Thou dost not forget the man with whose nature Thou didst clothe Thyself. Lest our fragility should make us lose the place Thou hast prepared for us, Thou dost constitute Thyself in the presence of Thy Father as our advocate, our pontiff, our head. As our advocate Thou dost ceaselessly plead our cause by the voice of all Thy wounds, by all the beatings of Thy heart (Heb. vii. 25); ceaselessly dost Thou present us before the face of God (Ibid. ix. 24). When weakness has drawn us away into sin, Thou dost interfere to take our defence upon Thee; of our cause Thou dost make Thy own, and Thou dost prove, by Thy blood, which was shed and which speaks better than that of Abel, what mercy ought to be shown to us (I. John ii. 1, 2). As our pontiff, Thou dost offer Thyself for us constantly in sacrifice (Heb. viii. 1; iv. 14). Lastly, as our head, Thou dost draw us after Thee, for the members are obliged to follow their head; Thou art our precursor (Heb. vi. 20), and wouldst Thou be if we do not follow Thee? Thou art that mysterious eagle which flies above its little ones to excite them by its example to take their flight towards the sun (Deut. xxxii. 11). Lord, attract me to Thee by Thy graces, by Thy charms, by Thy beauty, and Thy perfections, which ravish the angels. Oh, how I long to see Thee in the splendor of Thy glory, and to enter that beautiful heaven where we can no longer offend Thee, and where we shall love Thee always!

Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.