Word on the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ

“The Word on the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ” was pronounced by St. Gregory of Nyssa on May 18, 388. This is the earliest evidence of the Feast of the Ascension, which was already celebrated separately from Pentecost. *The title of the work in Greek is Εἰς τὴν ἀνάληψιν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ. *The title of the work in Latin is In ascensionem Christi. Word for the day, called according to local custom among the Cappadocians: Επισωζομένη, that is, on the feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ What a pleasant companion in human life is the prophet David! We meet him on all paths of this life. How appropriately it is applied to all spiritual ages, adapted to every category of those striving for perfection! According to Bose, he plays together with children, labors together with men, guides young men, serves as a support for old age; There is everything for everyone: for warriors - a weapon, for those who struggle - a mentor, for those who practice fighting - a school, for winners - a crown; a companion in joy, a consolation in sorrow. There is nothing in our life that would be deprived of this grace-filled participation (of the prophet). Is there any powerful prayer that David would not facilitate? Is there any joy of the holiday that the Prophet would not grace? This can be seen today; for this holiday, no matter how great it is in itself, the prophet did even more, offering, on his part, words of joy from the psalms, befitting the subject of it. For in one of them (Psal. 22) commands you to be a sheep, shepherd by God, and not deprived of any good, a sheep for whom the good Shepherd serves everything - grain for food, and water of rest, and food, and a tabernacle, and a path, and guidance, distributing his grace according to each need. With all this he teaches the Church that you must first of all be the sheep of the Good Shepherd, led by good catechumens to divine pastures and sources of teaching, so that you may be buried by baptism into death and not be afraid of this death, because it is not death, but the shadow and reflection of death; for “if... I go,” he says, “in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear” what will happen to me, as “evil, because You are with me” (Psalm 23:4). Then, having consoled the Spirit with the club, for the Spirit is the comforter, he offers a mysterious meal prepared “to resist” the demonic meal (Psalm 22:5); for demons plagued human life through idolatry; “against” them (is offered) the table of the Spirit. Then he anoints the head with the oil of the Spirit and, adding to this wine, which gladdens the heart, produces a sober rapture in the soul, firmly directing his thoughts from the temporal to the eternal. For he who has tasted this intoxication changes his short life to an endless one, continuing to dwell in the house of God for many days (Psalm 23:6). Having given us this in one of the psalms, in the next one David stirs up the soul to greater and more complete joy. If you wish, I will briefly explain to you the meaning of this (psalm): “The earth is the Lord’s, and its fulfillment” (Psalm 23:1 et seq.). And so, what is strange, O man, in the fact that our God appeared on earth and lived with people, when the earth is His creation and work? And so there is nothing new or indecent in the fact that the Lord came “to his own” (John 1:11); for He does not come to a strange world, but to one that He Himself created, having founded the earth on the seas and made it convenient for rivers to flow through it (Psalm 23:2). Why did He come? In order to take you out of the abyss of sin and lead you “up the mountain” (Psalm 23:3), if you use the royal chariot to ascend, that is, a virtuous lifestyle. For you cannot climb this mountain if virtues do not accompany you; For this you must be “free from hand,” not defiled by any evil deed, “pure in heart,” not turning your soul to anything vain, and not invent any deceit against your neighbor (Psalm 23:4). The reward for this ascent is “blessing”; the Lord grants such the mercy assigned to him (Psalm 23:5). “This is the generation of those who seek” Him, ascending to heights through virtue and “seeking the face of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 23:6). The next part of the psalm is perhaps higher than the Gospel teaching itself; for the Gospel tells of the Lord’s sojourn on earth and of his return from us; this high Prophet, having emerged from himself as if no longer burdened by the burden of the body and joining the heavenly powers, conveys to us their voices, as these powers, solemnly accompanying the Lord in his descent, command the angels on earth, to whom human life is entrusted, to lift up the entrances, saying: lift up your gates, princes, and lift up the eternal gates: and The King of glory will come in (Psalm 23:7). And since the One who contains everything within himself, wherever he descends, everywhere commensurates himself with the ability of those who receive (for he is not only a man among people, but, of course, accordingly, when he is among the angels, he reduces himself to their nature), then the goalkeepers ask the messenger: “Who is this King of glory?” (Psalm 23:8). In response to this, they declare to them that he is “mighty and mighty” (Psalm 23:8), who has the power to fight with the one who has taken human nature captive and to crush “him who has the power of death” (Heb. 2:14) in order to return the human race to freedom and peace after the destruction of the last enemy. Again he repeats the same voices (Psalm 23:9–10); for the mystery of death has already been completed, victory over the enemies has been won and a victorious sign has been erected against them - the cross. And again “he who captivated captivity ascended to the heights, giving people these good “gifts” (Psalm 67:19) - life and kingdom. The gates of grief must open again; in turn, our guards solemnly accompany him and command him to open the gates of the heavens so that he can again receive glorification through them. But there they do not recognize Him, clothed in the unclean garment (Zech. 3:4) of our life, the scarletness of whose garment (comes) from the winepress (Isa. 63:2) of human evils. Therefore, they greet those accompanying them with such a questioning voice: “Who is this King of glory?” This (follows) is not the same answer: “strong and strong... in battle,” but: “the Lord of hosts,” who has assumed power over everything, who has headed everything in himself, who is supreme in everything, who has restored everything to the previous state of creation, This “is the King of glory.” You see how David increased the sweetness of the holiday for us, adding his own joy to the joy of the Church. And so let us also imitate the Prophet in those things in which we can successfully imitate - in love for God, in meekness of life, in long-suffering towards those who hate us, so that the instruction of the Prophet would be a guide to life according to God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: