Слово на Вознесение Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. Святого Льва, папы Римского

Today, beloved, we have completed the fortieth number of holy days, after the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord extended His physical stay on earth during this time, so that faith in the resurrection would be protected by the necessary evidence. For the death of Christ too confused the hearts of the disciples and a certain numbness of unbelief invaded their minds, aggravated by the grief of execution on the cross, the loss of the spirit, and the burial of a lifeless body. Thus, when the holy women (Myrrh-bearers) announced, as the Gospel story tells, about the stone rolled away from the tomb - about the tomb in which no body was found - about angels testifying to the risen Lord: then their words seemed to the apostles and other disciples similar to madness. But the Spirit of truth would never have allowed such wavering slowness to dwell in the hearts of its preachers, if this fearful care and curious slowness had not laid the foundation of our faith. So, in the person of the apostles, He cared about our confusion, about our dangers: in the person of these men, He armed us against the slander of the wicked, against the weapons of earthly wisdom. Their sight guided us, their hearing taught us, their touch confirmed us. Let us thank the Divine economy and the necessary slowness of the holy fathers. They doubted so that we would not doubt. But, beloved, these days that elapsed between the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord did not pass idlely: during their course, great mysteries were revealed. In these days, the fear of death has been destroyed, the immortality of not only the soul, but also the body has been proclaimed. In these days, by the breath of the Lord, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all the apostles, and the blessed Apostle Peter was entrusted, after the keys of the kingdom, with the care of the flock of the Lord. In these days, a third companion, the Lord, joins the two disciples, and in order to drive away all the darkness of our bewilderment, the slowness of those who fear and doubt is condemned. Enlightened hearts are kindled with the flame of faith and those that were cold are inflamed when the Lord opens the Scriptures. Between these and other miracles, when the disciples were worried by thoughts of doubt, the Lord appeared among them and said: peace be with you! and, so that what was hidden in their hearts would not remain in their thoughts (for they thought that they saw the spirit, and not the flesh), he denounces thoughts that disagree with the truth, presents to the eyes of those who doubt (abiding on His hands and feet) the signs of the cross and convinces them (the apostles) to examine more carefully: since the traces of nails and spears were preserved for the healing of the wounds of unbelieving hearts, in order to that is, so that not by the faith of those who waver, but by the firmest knowledge, they would be convinced that the Lord was pleased to sit on the throne of God the Father by the very nature with which he was in the tomb. During all this time, beloved, which elapsed between the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord, God’s Providence took care of this, taught this, then inspired it in the eyes and hearts of His disciples, so that they would know the truly risen Lord, Who was truly born, suffered and died. Therefore, the blessed apostles and all the disciples, who were horrified by death on the cross and wavered in faith in the resurrection, were so strengthened by the evidence of the truth that when the Lord ascended to the heights of heaven, they were not only not struck with sadness, but were filled with even greater joy. And truly, great and unspoken was the cause of joy when, in the eyes of the holy assembly, the nature of the human race was exalted above the dignity of all heavenly creatures, was exalted above the ranks of angels, above the greatness of the archangels - having no means for its exaltation, if, received by the will of the eternal Father, it had not joined on the throne of that glory with which, by nature, it was united in the Son. So, since the ascension of the Lord is our exaltation, and where the Head has ascended with glory, there the body also strives in hope: then let us rejoice, beloved, with worthy joy and rejoice in the pious offering of thanksgiving. Now we are not only confirmed as the owners of paradise, but have also penetrated in Christ to the heights of heaven, having gained, by the unspoken goodness of Christ, more than we lost - through the envy of the devil: for those whom the poisonous enemy deprived of the bliss of the first dwelling, those the Son of God, sincerely uniting with Himself, seated at the right hand of the Father, with whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for all eternity. centuries. Amen 93. Bibliot. Patr. Concionator. tom. IV, p.p. 422–423; Wed Sunday Read XXIII (1859–60), pp. 51–52. You might be interested in: