Слово на Вознесение Господне. Блаженного Августина

Now the bright and solemn day of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ has dawned: let us rejoice and be glad on it. Christ descended, and the things below were hidden; Christ ascended, and the things above became clear. Christ in the tomb - let the guards slander; Christ in hell - may the departed receive the Visitor; Christ is in heaven - let all nations believe. May He also give us the word, Who gives us salvation. And truly, who will we speak to you about if not the One who has now spoken to us all in the Gospel?.. Preparing to ascend to the Father, He (the Savior) said to His disciples: These words are spoken in you: The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and the Father will send Him in My name, He will teach you everything, and He will remember to you everything that has been said to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor be afraid. Hear how I said unto you: I go to the Father (John 14:25–28). When (the Lord) said that He was ascending to the Father, the apostles were saddened, because (the Savior) was leaving them in a bodily form. And the Lord said to them: Because these words have spoken to you, your hearts will be filled with sorrow (John 16:6). Because they loved Me quickly, they rejoiced quickly, for I am going to the Father: for My Father is sick and I am (John 14:28). The Lord seemed to be saying this: “I will take away from your eyes this image of the slave, in relation to whom the Father is a painful One, so that, after moving away from the carnal eyes of the image of the slave, you can see the Lord spiritually.” Thus, bearing in mind the true image of the servant, which he perceived, the Lord said the truth: I am a sick Father (for God, of course, is greater than man); and having in mind the true image of God, in which he always abides with the Father, he said the truth: I and the Father are one. So, He (the Savior) ascended to the Father according to humanity, but always remained in the Father according to Divinity, for, having come to us in the flesh, He did not depart from the Father. The Word ascended, I say, to the Father, Who became flesh to dwell in us, and promised His presence: Behold, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Meaning the image of God, St. speaks of Him. Apostle John: this is the true God and the eternal Life (1 John 5:20). Having in mind the image of God, St. also speaks about Him. Apostle Paul: He who is in the form of God is not equal to God by admiration; but He made Himself a little lower, and took on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6, 7). Bearing in mind the image of God, the Lord says about Himself: I and the Father are one (John 10:30), and according to the property of the image of a slave he says: My soul is sorrowful until death (Matthew 26:38). Why that confidence and this fear? The first word comes from the Divine being, the second from the perceived weak nature. Let us, beloved, observe prudence in the explanation of the Holy Spirit. Scripture, make this distinction when reading; and so that we do not err in discerning, let us ask for understanding from the Lord Himself, to Whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen 84. Bibliot. Patr. Concionator, vol. IV, p. 414; compare Sunday XVII (1853–54), pp. 51–52. You might be interested in: