Rising Up

Si apud Christum thesaurus noster est, sicut Apostolus dicit: Scio cui credidi et certus sum, quia potens est depositum meum servare in illum diem: sit ibi cor nostrum, ubi est thesaurus noster. Disponamus ascensiones in corde nostro, et si non possumus corporaliter ascendere, saltem recordatione et desiderio coelestium spiritualiter ascendamus, sicut ille qui dicit: Haec recordatus sum et effudi in me animam meam, quonaim transibo in locum tabernaculi usque in domum Dei. Et: Memor fui Dei et delectatus sum, exercitatus sum, et defecit spiritus meus. Quid est quod dicit, concupiscit anima mea? Et iterum: Memor fui Dei et delectatus sum, et defecit spiritus meus? Quia in hac vita mortali aut potius in hac morte vitali comprendere, aut cogitate non sufficimus gloriam illam, quam nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit quae, Deus, praeparasti diligentibus te. Porro cum reformaverit Deus corpus humilitatis nostae configuratum corpori claritatis suae, tunc omnia implebit in nobis, qui omnia fecit pro nobis. Et hoc est quod Apostolus ait: Christus qui descendit, ipse est qui ascendit, ut adimpletet omnia quae adimplere voluit: nativitatem scilicet, resurrectionem, ascensionem, ut renascentes a peccato, resurgentes a morte animae resurgamus de virtue ad virtutem, donec videatur Deus deorum in Sion. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXIII, In Ascensione Domini Source: Migne PL 207.629b-d

If our treasure is with Christ, as the Apostle says, 'I know in whom I have believed and I am certain that He is able to guard what I have committed to Him against that day,' let our hearts be where our treasure us. Let us dispose ascents in our hearts, 1 and if we are not capable of ascending in the body, yet with remembrance and desire let us make a spiritual ascent to heaven, as he who says, 'These things I remembered and I poured out my soul in myself, because I shall pass into the place of the tabernacle, even to the house of God.' And again, 'I was mindful of God and I delighted, and I exerted myself, and my spirit fainted.' 2 What is this that the soul desires? And what is to remember God and to be delighted and to have the spirit faint? Because in this mortal life, or rather in this living death, we are not able to grasp or understand that glory 'which neither the eye has seen, nor the ear has heard, nor has it risen up in the heart of a man, what God has prepared for those who love Him.' 3 However when God refashions this body of our humility to a likeness of His own glorious body, 4 then He shall fulfill everything in us, He who has done everything for us. And this is what the Apostle says, 'Christ who descended is He who ascends, so that he might fulfill everything which He wishes to fulfill,' 5 that is, the Nativity, and the Resurrection, and the Ascension, so that being reborn from sin, and rising from the death of the soul, we may rise up 'from virtue to virtue, until the God of gods is seen in Sion.' 6 Peter of Blois, from Sermon 23, On The Ascension of the Lord 1 2 Tim 1.12, Mt 6.21, Ps 83.6 2 Ps 41.5, Ps 76.4 3 1 Cor 2.9 4 Phil 3.21 5 Ephes 4.10 6 Ps 83.8

Flying

Sed quid putamus, fratres, quomodo tunc repente de terris ad coelos evolare poterit, qui nunc exercitio et usu quotidiano volitare non didicerit? Si quaeris quo doctore, quo duce, numquid non Christus sicut aquila provocabat hodei ad volandum pullos suos, quando super eos volitabat, cum scilicet, videntibus illis elevaretur, diuque sequerentur oculis euntem in coelum? Poterat utique repente in ictu oculi, ex oculis eorum rapi, et ubi vellet, consitiui. Sed plane, sicut aquila provocans ad volandum pullos suos, et super eos volitans, et corda sursum levare post se nitebatur pollicebatur exemplo corporis sui: sicut Apostolus ait, aeterni, conscius mysterii, quia et nos bajluis nibibus rapiemur obviam Christo redeunti. Ipse quidem ascenit super Cherubim, et volvavit super pennas ventorum, id est, supergressus est virtutes Angelorum: tuae tamen condescendens infirmitati, expandet alas suas, et assumet te, atque portabit in humeris suis, si modo pullus degener non existas, ut a terra levari, et aura puriore perfruit non extimescas. Guerricus Ignaciensis, In Die Ascensionis Domini Sermo Source: Migne PL 185.156b-c

But what are we to think, brothers, how then shall a man be able to fly off suddenly from earth to heaven to whom now by daily custom and use flight is not given? If you seek some teacher, or some leader, shall it not be Christ who today like the eagle exhorts his little ones to fly when He hovers over them, when, that is, He is lifted up over those watching, and for a time their eyes follow him going into heaven? 1 And then He was able suddenly, and in the blink of an eye, to be taken from their eyes, and to be established where He wished. But certainly, as the eagle exhorts its young to fly by hovering over them, so He was able to teach with the example of His body that we should strive to lift up our hearts on high after Him, as the Apostle, conscious of eternal mysteries, says that even we shall be seized up in the cloud with Christ when He returns. 2 He who ascended over the Cherubim and flew on the wings of the wind, 3 that is, He who ascended over the powers of the angels, yet coming down to your infirmity, shall stretch out His wings, and He shall take you up and carry you on His shoulders, if you are not a degenerate offspring, so that you may be lifted off the earth, and you shall not fear to enjoy the purer air. Guerric of Igny, From a Sermon on the Ascension of the Lord 1 Deut 32.11, Acts 1.9-10 2 1 Thes 4.16 3 Ps 17.11

Ascending And Descending

Quod autem ascendit, quid est nisi qui et descendit in inferiora terrae? Positum est in psalmo ascendens altitudinem ex quo verbo capiamus intelligentiam quia is ascendit, qui descendit. Natura etenim rei sic se habet, ut ascendere in coelum non possit nisi qui inde descendit. Hoc circa coelestia: nam circa alia hujusmodi terrena potest aliquis ascendere, qui non descendit: sed in coelum atque in coelos nemo ascendit, nisi qui inde descendit. Sic enim Salvator in Evangelio dixit: nisi quis renatus fuerit, non potest regnum Dei tenere. Deinde subjunxit, quoniam quod ex carne nascitur, caro est; quod autem ex spiritu nascitur, spiritus est. Spiritus autem de supernis est; ergo spiritus ad superna redit. Nam et cum resurrectio fuerit, omnia spiritus erunt; et totus homo spiritus factus, in coelum ascendet, scilicet per spiritum. Ergo necessarium factum est ut qui ascendit in coelum, ipse sit qui descendit. Christus ergo, de quo dictum est, quia ascendit in coelum, intelligitur quod descenderit: et si descendit, utique in terrae inferiora descendit; non solum in terram, sed in inferiora terrae. Lectum est enim, quia in infernum descendit Salvator passione illa crucis, ut omnem animam liberaret, et ex omnibus locis redimeret membra sua. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Secundus, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 8.1273d-1274a

And who ascends but he who descends into the interior of the earth? 1 It has been written in the Psalm: 'Rising to the height,' 2 from which we should understand that this one who ascends is he who descends. Indeed the nature of it is such that he who ascends into heaven cannot do so unless he came down from there. And this ascent is into the heavenly places, for someone is able to ascend into some other terrestrial place who does not descend, but no one ascends into heaven and heavenly things unless he who descends from there. So the Saviour says in the Gospel: 'Unless a man has been reborn, he is not able to lay hold of the kingdom of God.' Then He continues, 'Because what is born from flesh is flesh and what is born from the spirit is spirit.' 3 And the spirit is from above, therefore the spirit returns to things above. For come the resurrection everything will be spirit, and having been made a spirit the whole man will ascend into heaven, that is, through the spirit. Therefore it was necessary that he who ascends into heaven is he who descends. Therefore Christ says about this that he who ascends into heaven is understood as he who has descended, 4 and if he descends, he descends even into the interior of the earth; and not only to earth, but even into the interior of the earth. For it is written that in the passion of the cross the Saviour descended to hell so that he might free every soul and redeem his members from every place. 5 Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book Two, Chapter Four 1 Ephes 4.9 2 Ps 67.19 3 Jn 3.5-6 4 Jn 3.13 5 1 Peter 3.18-19

Rising Up

Videntibus illis elevatus est, nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum Hodie factum est germen Domini in magnificentia et gloria, et fructus terrae sublimis, fructus terrae fructus est uteri virginalis. Hodie impletum est verbum illud praedixerat Dominus per Prophetam: Nunc exsurgam, et nunc sublimabor. Exsurgam a mortuis, sublimabor in coelum. Hodie consummatur et perfecte clauditur tua inconsultilis tunica, Christe Jesu, id est integritas fidei Christianae, quia post praedicationem, post tentationes, post miracula, post laborem, post mortem et ignominiam crucis, post gloriam resurrectionis, postquam operatus fuisti salutem in medio terrae, tandem ostendisti te Deum et Dominum coeli, ponens nubem ascensum tuum, et ambulans super pennas ventorum. Caro itura ad Patrem, quae non erat ad Patrem, quae non erat a Patre prius, per gloriam resurrectionis omnem infirmitatem exuit. Accinxit se potentia amicta lumine sicut vestimento. Decebat enim ut Filius hominis, impleta obedientia propter quam venit, se in ornatu plenioris gloriae paternis aspectibus praesentaret. Hoc Daniel quandoque praesenterat dicens, Aspiciebam in visionis noctis, et ecce Filius hominis veniebat in nubibus colei: usque ad Antiquum dierum pervenit, qui dedit ei potestatem et honorem et regnum ejus quod non corrumpetur. Caro Christi prius mole nostrae mortalitatis aggravata, postquam gloria et honore coronata est, postquam decorem et fortitudinem induit, coelos potenter ascendit. Descendit in carnem, ut carnales in carne doceret, ut eos de carne transferret ad spiritum. Unde et Apostolus dicit, innuens glorificanionem carnis: Et si cognovimus Christum secundum carnem; sed jam non novimus. Quod aeris et coeli Dominus per aerem libere et potestative ascendit, qui de aere ejecerat principem hujus mundi, et aerias potestates suae cruci affixerat. Nemo ascendit in coelum, nisi qui de coelo descendit. Ideo descendit ut ascenderet, et ut secum ascendendo nos traheret. Cum exaltatus, inquit, fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum. Deus immensus erat, neque crescere, neque ascendere poterat. Ut ergo cresceret, minoratus est paulo minus ab angelis. Ideo autem ascendit, ut in sua ascensione angelicam transcenderet dignitatem. Apparuit quidem humanitas et benignitas Christi in nativitate ipsius, apparuit potentia et gloria ipsius in resurrectione ejusdem. Sed in ejus ascensione praecipue nobis gaudendum est: in qui nobis aperta est via vitae, roborata est fides, firmata est fiducia nostra, ut illuc eamus quo transiit caput nostrum, sine membris suis caput esse non potest. Volo, inquit Pater ut ubi ego sum, illic sit et minister meus. Ob reverentiam suam exauditus est filius, et voluntate labiorum suorum non fraudavit eum Pater. Ubique nobis ministrat, ubique salutis nostrae negotium benigne procurat. Vado, inquit, parare vobis locum; et si abiero, iterum veniam ad vos, et assumam vos ad me ipsum. Verbum Christi est: Nemo venit ad me, nisi Pater meus traxerit eum: sed et nemo venit ad Patrem, nisi traxerit eum Filius. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXIII In Ascensione Domini Source: Migne PL 207.627b-628c

They saw Him lifted up, and a cloud took him away from their sight. 1 Today the bud of the Lord is magnificent and glorious, and the fruit of the earth is high, 2 and the fruit of the earth is the fruit of the virginial womb. Today is fulfilled the word which the Lord spoke through the prophet: 'Now I shall rise up, now I shall be exalted.' 3 I shall rise up from the dead, I shall be exalted in heaven. Today it is consummated, and perfect is the finishing of your garment for the untutored, O Christ Jesus, that is, the integrity of the faith of the Christian, because after preaching, after trials, after miracles, after toil, after death and the disgrace of the cross, after the glory of the resurrection, after you worked salvation in the midst of the world, at last you show yourself God and Lord of heaven, 'who place the cloud for your ascension, and walk on the wings of the wind.' 4 The flesh, which was not with the Father, is going to the Father, that which was not with the Father before, has sloughed off every weakness through the glory of the resurrection. He has bound himself with power, 'clothed with light as a garment.' 5 For it is fitting that the Son of Man, fulfilling the obedience for which He came, shall present himself in the adornment of full glory for the paternal gaze. That which Daniel once foresaw, saying, 'I had a vision in the night, and, behold, the Son of Man was coming on the clouds of heaven, and even to the ancient of days he came, who gave to him power and honour and his kingdom which shall not pass away.' 6 Before the flesh of Christ was weighted down with the mass of our mortality, after it was crowned with glory and honour, after it was endowed with beauty and strength, and in power it rose up to heaven. He descended in the flesh, that He might teach those in the flesh, so that they might pass over to the spirit. Whence the Apostle says, referring to the glorfication of the flesh, 'And if we knew Christ according to the flesh, yet we no longer know Him so.' 7 Because the Lord of the air and of heaven is able to ascend in power and freedom through the air, He who cast the prince of the world out of the air, and He nailed his powers of the air to the cross. 'No one ascends to heaven, unless the one who has come down from heaven.' 8 Therefore He descended so that He might ascend, and that He might draw us into ascending with Him. He who said: 'When I am lifted up from the earth I shall draw all things to me.' 9 God was great, He did not grow, nor was He able to ascend. That thus He might grow He was reduced 'to a little less than the angels' 10 Therefore He ascends, so that by His ascension He might transcend the dignity of angels. The humanity and kindness of Christ appeared in His nativity, His power and glory in His resurrection. But in His ascension is what is especially joyful for us, for in it the way of life is opened for us, faith is strengthed and our confidence is made firm, that we shall go from here where our head has gone, for the head cannot be without its members. 11 He has said that where He is there is His servant. 12 Because of His piety the Son is heard, and the Father does not disappoint the wish of His lips. 13 Everywhere He serves us, everywhere He kindly attends to the business of our salvation. 'I go,' He says, 'to prepare a place for you, and if I shall go, I shall come to you again and I shall take you up to myself' 14 The word of Christ is: 'No one comes to me unless my Father brings him,' 15 but also no one comes to the Father unless the Son brings him. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 33, On the Ascension of the Lord 1 Acts 1.9 2 Isaiah 4.2 3 Isaiah 32.10 4 Ps 103.3 5 Ps 103.2 6 Dan 7.13 7 2 Cor 5.16 8 Jn 3.13 9 Jn 12.32 10 Ps 8.6 11 Ephes 1.22-23 12 cf Jn 12.26, Jn 17.24 13 Ps 20.3 14 Jn 14.2 15 Jn 14.6

Jubilation And Cries

Ascendit Deus in jubilatione: Dominus in voce tubae. Veniunt filii Core ad secundum modum, ubi tempus illud pia laude concelebrant, quando corporalibus oculis ascensio Domini gloriosa veritate conspecta est. In jubilatio vero propterea dictum est, quoniam stupentes apostoli tale miraculum ineffabili cordis laetitia replebantur; quorum felicibus oculis datum est ad coelos euntem videre Dominum Salvatorem. Jubilationem vero diximus nimiam quidem esse laetitiam, sed non quae sermonibus explicatur. Vocem quoque tubae verba significant angleorum, quae magno strepitu percussi aeris fragore tonuerunt. Tunc enim de tali visione apostolis stupentibus dixerunt angeli: Viri Galilaei, quid admiramini? Hic Jesus qui assumptus est a vobis sic veniet, quemmadmodum vidistis eum euntem in coelum; ut mundus firmius crederet quod talibus praeconibus insonaret. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XLVI Source: Migne PL 70.334c

God ascends in jubilation, the Lord in the voice of the trumpet. 1 The sons of Kore come to the second measure, where is the time they celebrate with pious praise when with the bodily eyes the glorious ascension of the Lord was seen in truth. 'In jubiliation' it was said, because the Apostles had their hearts filled with ineffable joy by such a miracle, those to whom it was given to look toward the heavens with happy eyes at the Lord Saviour's going. Whatever cannot be expressed in words but is excessively joyful we name 'jubilation.' Now the voice of the trumpet signifies the words of the angels, which strikiing the heavens with a great cry made it resound with thunder. And then, concerning the sight, the angels said to the astonished Apostles: 'Men of Galilee, what are you wondering at? This Jesus who was taken up shall come to you in like manner, as you have seen him going into heaven.' 2 And that the world might more firmly believe it cried out for such preachers. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 46 1 Ps 46.6 2 Acts 1.11

The Seven Seals

Ecce vicit leo de tribu Juda, radix David, aperire librum, et solvere septem signacula ejus. Septem signacula sunt, temporalis nativitas, legalis circumcisio, matris purgatio, fuga in Aegyptum, carnis necessitudo, baptismus, passio. Haec siquidem sunt vera quaedam humanitatis insignia, quibus se teneri ac ligari voluit incarnata Dei Sapientia. Ipsa quippe est secunda in Trinitate persona: et licet eamdem incarnationem simul fecerint Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus; non tamen Pater aut Spiritus sanctus est incarnatus, sed solus Filius. Implevit quidem et Pater et Spiritus sanctus carnem Filii, a quo neuter eorum poterat separari; sed implevit majestate, non susceptione. Ideoque Filius ostendit in carne potentiam Patris per opera, exhibuit bonitatem Spiritus sancti remittendo peccata; et quod suum erat, imo quod ipse erat, id est Sapientia, se occultavit per illa praedicta signacula. Facta est igitur res mira et obstupenda. Infirmata est virtus summa, et (ut ita dicam, si dici liceat, quod tamen reverenter dico) quasi infatuata est sapientia. Nec crubesco dicere, quod non erubuit Doctor gentium docere. Sic nempe credidit, sic docuit, sic scriptum reliquit. Nos, inquit, praedicamus Christum crucifixum, Judaeis quidem scandalum, gentibus autem stultitiam: ipsis autem vocatis Judaeis atque Graecis, Christum Dei virtutem, et Dei sapientiam; quia quod stultum est Dei, sapientius est hominibus; et quod infirmum est Dei, fortius est hominibus. Verumtamen haec virtus abscondenda erat, et in humilitate perficienda; ut omnium implerentur oracula prophetarum. Passus est ergo in cruce impassibilis Deus, et in carne nostra mortali mortuus ac sepultus immortalis Dei Filius. Sed ecce tertia die resurrexit a mortuis: et, qui agnus exstiterat in passione, leo factus est in resurrectione. Surrexit et vicit leo de tribu Juda; quia mortem, quam ex infirmitate nostra pertulit, ex virtute sua resurgendo calcavit. Resurgens enim a mortuis, jam non moritur, mors illi ultra non dominabitur. Resurgendo autem et in coelum ascendendo, librum aperuit, quia nimirum ex auctoritate sacrae Scripturae, quod Deus esset, innotuit manifeste. Unde scriptum est: Exaltare super coelos, Deus, et super omnem terram gloria tua. Septem quoque ejusdem libri signacula solvit, quando intellectum eloquii sacri fidelium mentibus reseravit: et quidquid de mysteriis suis lex et prophetae sub allegoriis praedixerant, de his scilicet, quae per hominem temporaliter gessit; haec de se praedicta, et in se ac per se completa, luce clarius indicavit. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones de Diversis, Sermo LVII, De septem signaculis per Christum solutis Source: Migne PL 183.680d-681c

'Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David, even to open the book and break its seven seals.' 1 There are seven seals: the temporal nativity, the circumcision, the purification of the mother, the flight to Egypt, the necessity of the flesh, the baptism, the passion. These are all true signs of humanity, to which the incarnate wisdom of God wished to be held and bound. He certainly is the second person of the Trinity, and it is possible than the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit together made the incarnation, yet is was not the Father or the Holy Spirit that was incarnated but only the Son. Both the Father and the Holy Spirit filled the flesh of the Son, from which He could not be separated, but they filled with majesty not by taking up. Therefore the Son in the flesh showed the power of the Father through works, and He exhibited the benevolence of the Holy Spirit by forgiving sins, and what was His, or rather what He was, that is, Wisdom, He hid by the aforementioned seals. Therefore a wonder and unspeakable thing was done. Weakness is the height of strength, and, if I may say, if it is permitted, yet I do speak reverently, foolishness is wisdom. I do not blush to speak, because the teacher of the Gentiles did not blush to teach. So certainly he believed as he taught and as he left in his writings. 'We,' he said, 'preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to the Jews, foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those Jews and Greeks who have been called, Christ is the virtue of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than man.' 2 Truly this virtue was hidden and in humility perfected, that all be fulfilled according to the oracles of the prophets. Therefore the impassible God suffered on the cross and in our mortal flesh died, and the immortal son of God was buried. But, behold, on the third day He rose from the dead, and He who was the lamb in the passion was made the lion in the resurrection. The lion of Judah arose and conquered, because death, which He took on from our infirmity, in his rising He crushed down with His own virtue. 'For rising from the dead, now He cannot die, death had no more dominion over him.' 3 Rising, then, and ascending into heaven, He opened the book, because certainly from the authority of Holy Scripture, because He was God, He became known openly. Whence it is written, 'Exalted over the heavens is God, and over the whole earth His glory.' 4 Also He broke the seven seals, when the understanding of His sacred words opened the minds of the faithful, and whatever the Law had spoken about His mysteries and the prophets had done allegorically, concerning these things certainly which He bore for a time as man, the things spoken before about Himself, in Him and through Him completed, in splendour he declared most clearly. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons On Various Things, Sermon 57, On the Seven Seals Broken by Christ. 1 Apoc 5.5 2 1 Cor 1. 23-25 3 Rom 6.9 4 Ps 107.6

Showings And Ascension

Cur secundum Mattheaum et Marcum mandat discipulis: Praecedam vos in Galiliaeam, ibi me videbitis: secundum Lucam vero et Joannem etiam intra conclave obtulit se vivendum? Et quidem quod se videndum frequenter obtulerit, et plusquam quingentibus fratribus, et Patro, et Jacobo, etiam Apostolico probavimus testimonio. Et Lucas in Actibus apostolorum docuit quod discipulis manifestaverit se vivere post passionem suam, in multis argumentis apparens his, et disputans de regno Dei. Ergo quia saepiius et diversis apparuit, cum in Galilaea quando sit visus, nequaquam praescriptum ac definitum tempus Scriptura designaverit: in Hierusalem quando se obtulerit, et diem et horam expresserit; timidiores intra conclavia revisuntur, fortiores ad montem convenerunt. Denique intra conclave, ostiis clausis, inducit Joannes discipulos congregatos propter metum Judaeorum: quos non undecim Lucas, sed plures scripsit fuisse: istos autem Matthaeus undecim solos in Galilaea convenisse non siluit. Denique sic habes: Undecim autem discipuli abierunt in Galilaeam, in montem ubi constituerat illis Jesus, et videntes eum adoraverunt: quidam autem dubitaverunt. Quibus docendi et baptizandi tribuit potestatem. Undecim quoque discumbentibus discipulis et Marcus in fine apparuisse scribit quando similitar praecandi his totum orbem mandat officium. Unde hoc conventientius arbitror, quod Dominus quidem mandaverit discipulis ut in Galilaea se viderent: sed illis metu intra conclave residentibus, primo se obtulisse, postea vero confirmatis animis, undecim illos Galilaeam petisse.Vel certe, hoc quoque diligentibus scriptoribus placuisse reperio, nihil obstat si dicamus pauciores intra conclave, in monte complures fuisse. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber X Source: Migne PL 15.1850b-d

Why according to Matthew and Mark did He command His disciples: 'I shall go before you into Galilee, 1 there you will see me,' 2 but according to Luke and John He brought Himself into the room to be seen? 3 And certainly He often brought Himself to be seen, 4 even to more than fifty, and to Peter, and to James, for we approve the Apostolic testimony. 5 And in the Acts of the Apostles Luke teaches that He had manifested Himself to His disciples after His passion, appearing to them in many ways, and speaking of the kingdom of God. 6 Therefore because He often appeared, and in different ways, Scripture does not designate a definite and foretold time as to when He would be seen in Galilee, but it tells the day and hour when He brought Himself to Jerusalem, so that the more fearful within the room, seeing Him again, be made stronger, that they might gather at the mount. Finally John introduces the disciples gathered in the room with the doors closed on account of fear of the Jews, 7 and in Luke there were not eleven of them but he wrote there were more, 8 and Matthew was not silent that only these eleven gathered in Galilee. So he has: 'The eleven disciples went out to Galilee, onto the mount where Jesus had commanded them, and seeing Him they adored, but a few doubted.' 9 To whom He gave the power of teaching and baptising. Mark, at the end of his Gospel, also writes that He appeared to eleven sitting disciples. 10 when similarly He bestows on these the office of preaching throughout the whole world. Whence I judge this is most appropriate: that the Lord certainly announced to His disciples that they would see Him in Galilee, but since they were fearful in the room, He first showed Himself to them there, and after, when their souls had been fortified, the eleven went to Galilee. Or certainly, and this report has also pleased dutiful writers, there is no obstacle if we say that there were fewer in the room and more on the mountain. Saint Ambrose, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 10 1 Mt 26.32 2 Mk 16.7 3 Lk 24.36 4 Jn 20.19 5 1 Cor 15.6 6 Acts 1.3 7 Jn 20.19 8 Lk 24.33-36 9 Mt 28.16-17 10 Mk 16.7

Many Ascensions

Qui aedificat in caelo ascensionem suam, et fasciculum suum super terram fundavit: qui vocat aquas maris, et effundit faciem terrae: Dominus nomen ejus. LXX: Qui aedificat in caelo ascensionem suam, et promissionem suam super terram fundat, qui vocat aquas maris, et effundit faciem terrae: Dominus nomen ejus. Dominus Deus omnipotens, qui respicit, sive tangit terram, et commovet eam, ipse est qui quotidie aedificat in coelo ascensionem suam, et dicit in Evangelio: Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor. Et non solum de costa Adam in typum Ecclesiae semel aedificavit Evam, sed quotidie credentes et membra corporis sui aedificat, et de terris ad coelum levat, ut in illis ipse conscendat. Ascendit Dominus in coelum cum Enoch, ascendit cum Elia, ascendit cum Moyse, cujus sepulturae locus, quia in coelum ascenderat, in terra non potuit inveniri. Ascendit cum Paulo qui vas electionis, in apostolum de persecutore mutatus est, er de humilibus raptus in sublimia, ita ut ascenderet in coelum tertium, et per Spiritum sanctum et Filium perveniret ad Patrem, et audiret verba ineffabilia, mysterii Trinitatis, quae hominibus audire non licitum est. Iste ergo qui quotidie ascendit in sanctis, fasciculum suum fundavit super terram, de quo in Evangelio loquitur: Ne timeas, grex parvule, quia complacuit Patri meo habitare in te. Iste fasciculus una Domini religione constrictus est. Unde et ipsa religio a religando, et in fascem Domini vinciendo nomen accepit. Porro juxta Septuaginta, repromissionem suam fundat super terram, ut omnes illius repromissiones quas sancti prophetae suo ore cecinerunt, non inanem sonum habeant, et cassa solius tropologiae nomina; sed fundentur in terra. Et cum historiae habuerint fundamenta, tunc spiritualis intelligentiae culem accipiant: ut vere Christus de Virgine natus sit, vere Lazarum mortuum suscitarit, vere ad tactum ejus a)imorrousa sanata sit, vere in adventu Domini caeci viderint, claudi cucurrerint, contractae manus extensae sint, lepra mundata sit; licet secundum tropoligiam quotidie de anima virginali nascatur sermo divinus, quotidie peccato mortui, et vitiorum funibus alligati, de sepulcro scelerum suorum jubeantur exire, quotidie sangunis opera constringantur, caeci in fidelitate Christi lumen ascpiciant, claudicantes prius fide, currant in via Domini, et aridae manus avaritia, extendantur ad eleemosynam, et lepra Mariae, quae contaminat quidquid attigerit, recipiat pristinam puritatem. Iste autem Dominus amarissimas quoque aquas maris vocat, et effudit eas super eos, qui faciem suam verterunt ad Dominum. Ideo autem vocat amaras aquas, ut dulces faciat et educat ventos de thesauris suis, et graves salsugine aquas sua in altum jussione suspendat, eliquansque eas, et aethero calore decoquens, dispenset in pluvias, et emittat super faciem terrae, ut arentia quaeque rigentur imbribus, et ubi abundavit peccatum, superabundet gratia. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentariorum In Amos Prophetam, Lib III, Cap IX Source: Migne PL 25.1089c-1890c

He who builds His ascension in heaven and has founded His bundle on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the Lord is his name. The Septuagint has: He who builds His ascension in heaven and has founded His promise on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the face of the land.' 1 The Lord God Almighty is He who looks on, or touches, the earth, and moves it. He is the one who every day builds His ascension in heaven, and He says in the Gospel, 'My father even now works, and I work.' 2 And not only did He once make Eve from the rib of Adam as a type of the Church, 3 but every day He makes the faithful into members of His own body, and He lifts them up from earth to heaven, that He rise up in them. The Lord ascends into heaven with Enoch 4 He ascends with Elijah 5 He ascends with Moses, he who because he ascended into heaven has no place on earth where his tomb can be found. 6 He ascends with Paul, that vessel of election, who was changed from a persecutor to an Apostle and from low things was translated to high things, so that he ascended to the third heaven, and through the Holy Spirit and Son came to the Father and heard ineffable words, the mystery of the Trinity, which men are not permitted to hear. 7 He, then, is the one who ascends every day in His holy ones, 'He has established His bundle on the earth,' concerning which it is said in the Gospel, 'Do not fear, little flock, because it has pleased the Father to dwell among you.' 8 And this bundle of the Lord is bound up with religion, whence the name religion is from 'religio', 'to tie up', and with the fasces of the Lord He receives the name of conquerer. However, according to the Septuagint we have: 'He establishes His promise', all His promises which the mouths of the prophets sang, which were not an empty cry, nor the inane name of a mere trope, but established on the earth, and when they had the foundations of the history, then they received the point of spiritual understanding, that truly Christ was born from a Virgin, that truly He rose up Lazarus from the dead, that truly He healed the bleeding woman with His touch, that truly with the advent of the Lord the blind saw, the lame walked, the withdrawn hand was extended, leprosy was cleansed, and, according to the tropological sense, that every day from the virginial soul the Divine word shall be born, that every day where there is death from sin and binding with the bonds of the vices, even from the tomb of crimes they shall be ordered to come out, that every day the works of blood shall be fettered, and the blind in the faith of Christ shall see the light, and those who were cripples by faith shall run in the way of the Lord, and the hand that was withered with avarice shall be held out with alms, and the leprous Miriam who contaminated everything she touched, shall receive her former purity. 9 This Lord also calls the waters of the sea most bitter, and He has poured them out over those who have turned their faces toward the Lord. Therefore He calls the waters bitter which He will make sweet, and He will release His winds from his treasury, and the heavy salty waters shall hang in the heights by His command, and He shall cleanse them and with heavenly heat boil them, and He shall distribute them as rain, and send them forth upon the face of the earth, that aridity be moistened with rain, and where sin abounds, grace be superabundant. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Amos, Book 3, Chap 9 1 Amos 9.6 2 Jn 5.17 3 Gen 2.21-23 4 Gen 5.24 5 4 Kings 12.11-12 6 Deut 34.6 7 2 Cor 12.1-4 8 Lk 12.32 9 Num 12

Exaltations

Ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum. In verbis istis duo praedicit Dominus: primo, passionis suae modum, cum dicit: Cum exaltatus fuero; secundo, passionis suae fructum , cum dicit: Omnia traham ad me ipsum. Ait ergo: Cum exaltatus fuero a terra. Nota, quod multiplex est exaltatio. Est enim exaltatio hominis-Christi, et hominis iusti, et hominis mali. De exaltalione Christi nota, quod Christus fuit exaltatus in passione, in ascensione et in Apostolorum praedicatione. In passione fuit exaltatus in poena; de qua hic: Cum exaltatus fuero etc.; et Ioannis tertio: Sicut exaltavit Moyses serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis. In ascensione fuit exaltalus in gloria. Tunc enim Deus exaltavit illum et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen, ut in nomine lesu omne genu flectatur caelestium , terrestrium et infernorum , et omnis lingua confiteatur , quia Dominus lesus in gloria est Dei Patris, ad Philippenses secundo. In Apostolorum praedicalione fuit exaltalus in fama; de quo in Psalmo: Exaltabor in gentibus et exaltabor in terra; et iterum: Exaltare super caelos Deus; quod factum est in ascensione; et in omnem terram gloria tua; quod factum est in Evangelii promulgatione. Sequitur de exaltatione hominis iusti, quae multiplex est. Exaltat enim Deus hominem iustum in gratia, in gloria et in fama. In gratia exaltat, quando de culpa ad gratiam vocat; unde Psalmus: Qui exaltas me de portis mortis. Portae mortis, quibus intratur ad mortem, peccata sunt; portae vero vitae, gratia et virtutes. Tunc ergo exaltatur homo de portis mortis, quando revocatur de statu peccati ad statum gratiae. De hac exaltatione Lucae decimo octavo: Omnis, qui se exaltat, humiliabitur. In gloria exaltat, cum de miseria ad regnum vocat, secundum illud Psalmi: Cornu eius exaltabitur in gloria. De hac exaltatione Lucae decimo quarto: Omnis, qui se humiliat, exaltabitur, et qui se exaltat humiliabitur. In fama exaltat, quando eius gloriam in Ecclesia manifestat, cura facit, ut exaltent eum in ecclesia plebis et in cathedra seniorum laudent eum, secundum quod dicitur in Psalmo, et Matthaei vigesimo tertio: Omnis qui se humiliat, exaltabitur etc, ubi praedicat Dominus de non quaerenda fama in praesenti sive gloria. Nota, quod meretur quis exaltari per tria. Solet enim exaltari servus, quia est officiosus in domo; solet exaltari amicus quia est familiaris in consilio; solet etiam exaltari miles , quando probatus est in proelio. Ista tria genera hominum solent reges exaltare, videlicet fideles servos, amicos familiares et probatos milites: primos propter suum obsequium, secundos propter suum consilium, tertios propter suam fortitudinem. Nota igitur, quod activi exaltabuntur, sicut servi, ratione obsequii; Isaiae quinquagesimo secundo: Ecce, servus meus intelliget et exaltabitur et elevabitur et sublimis erit valde; Matthaei vigesimo quinto: Euge, serve bone et fidelis, quia super pauca fuisti fidelis etc. Exaltantur amici, scilicet contemplativi, propter suam sapientiam; Proverbiorum quarto: Arripe sapientiam, et exaltabit te, et glorificaberis ab ea, cum eam fueris amplexatus. Exaltantur perfecti, sicut Martyres, quasi propter suam militiam, secundum illud Psalmi: De torrente in via bibet, propterea exaltabit caput. Omnibus istis dicitur primae Petri quinto: Humiliamini sub potenti manu Dei, ut vos exaltet in tempore visitationis. Sequitur de exaltatione hominis mali, quae multiplex est. Exaltantur enim mali in corde per superbiam, in ore per iactantiam, in conversatione per pompam. Exaltantur ergo in corde per superbiam, quod prohibetur in Psalmo: Qui exasperant non exaltentur in semetipsis; et lob decimo quinto: Quid te elevat cor tuum , et quasi magna cogitans attonitos habes oculos? Exaltant se in ore per iactantiam, sicut ille Pharisaeus, de quo dicitur Lucae decimo octavo: Quia omnis, qui se exaltat , humiliabitur.  lactabat enim se de bonis suis. Exaltantur in conversatione per pompam, licet non diu; unde in Psalmo: Inimici Domini mox, ut honorificati fuerint et exaltati, deficientes, quemadmodum fumus deficient. Talis exaltatio fugienda est, quia ignominiosa, momentanea et periculosa. Ignominiosa, quia, quanto magis exaltantur, tanto magis eorum crimina conspectius videntur, secundum illud Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se Crimen habet, quanto maior qui peccat habetur. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput XII, Collatio XLVII Source: Here, p622

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all things to myself. 1 In these words the Lord speaks of two things, firstly of the way of His passion, when He says: 'When I am lifted up from the earth,' secondly of the fruit of His passion, when He says: 'I shall draw all things to myself.' Therefore He says: 'When I am lifted up from the earth.' Note that 'lifting up' is manifold. There is the lifting up of the man Christ, and of the righteous man, and of the wicked man. Concerning the lifting up of Christ, note that Christ was lifted up in the Passion and in the Ascension and in the Preaching of the Apostles. In the Passion He was lifted up in punishment, concerning which here: 'When I am lifted up...' And in the third chapter of John, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.' 2 In the Ascension he was lifted up in glory. 'Then God exalted Him and gave to Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heaven, and of the earth, and of hell, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father,' according to the second chapter of Philippians. 3 In the Preaching of the Apostles He was exalted in fame, concerning which the Psalm says: 'I shall be exalted among the nations and I shall be exalted in the earth.' And again: 'Be exalted, God, over the heavens,' which was done at the Ascension, 'and your glory in every land,' which was done with the preaching of the Gospel. 4 The lifting up of the righteous man follows, which is manifold. For God exalts the righteous man in grace, in glory and in fame. In grace He lifts him up, when He calls him from sin to grace, whence the Psalm: 'You who lifted me up from the gates of death.' 5 The gates of death by which we enter into death are sins. The gates of life are grace and the virtues. Thus the righteous man is lifted up from the gates of death when he is called from the state of sin to the state of grace. Concerning this lifting up, the eighteenth chapter of Luke says: 'Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled...' 6 In fame He lifts up, when He manifests His glory in the Church, He makes it a concern that they exalt him in the assembly of the people and that they praise him in the seats of the elders, according to what is said in the Psalm. 7 And in the twenty third chapter of Matthew: 'Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted,' 8 where the Lord preaches that fame must not be sought in this present life, nor glory. Note that lifting up is merited in three ways. For a servant is accustomed to be exalted when he is dutiful in the house. A friend because he is beneficial in counsel. A soldier when he is proved in battle. Kings are accustomed to exalt these three types of men, that is, the faithful servant, the beneficial friend, and proven soldiers, the first because of service, the second because of counsel, the third because of fortitude. Note, therefore, that they are lifted up by activity, as servants by reason of their service, Isaiah chapter fifty two: 'Behold, my servant understands and he shall be exalted and lifted up and he shall be wonderfully high.' 9 In the twenty fifth chapter of Matthew: 'Well done, good and faithful servant, because you were faithful in little things...' 10 Friends are exalted on account of contemplation, because of their wisdom. The fourth chapter of Proverbs: 'Seize wisdom and she shall exalt you, and you shall be glorified by her when you have embraced her.' 11 The perfect are exalted, like the martyrs, because of their military service, according to which the Psalm says: 'From the torrent in the way he shall drink, because of which he shall lift up his head.' 12 And all of these are spoken of in the fifth chapter of the first letter of Peter: 'Humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of God and He shall exalt you in the time of visitation.' 13 The lifting up of the wicked man follows, which is manifold. The wicked are exalted in the heart by pride, in the mouth by boasting, in conduct by pomp. So they are exalted in the heart by pride which is prohibited in the Psalm: 'They who provoke anger should not exalt in themselves.' 14 And in the fifteenth chapter of Job: 'Why does your heart lift you up and you have eyes as if thunderstuck with great thought?' 15 They exalt themselves in their mouths by boasting, as that Pharisee spoken of in the eighteenth chapter of Luke, 'Because everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled.' 16 For he vaunted himself on account of his goods. They exalt themselves in conduct by pomp, which will not last long, whence in the Psalm it says: 'Soon the enemies of the Lord, who were honoured and exalted, shall perish and pass away like smoke.' 17 One should flee such lifting up, because it is disgraceful, fleeting, and perilous. Disgraceful, because the more they are exalted, the more their wickedness clearly appears, according to which: The wickedness that every vice of the soul has in itself Becomes more apparent the greater the one who bears it. 18 Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 12 1 Jn 12.32 2 Jn 3.14 3 Philip 2.9-11 4 Ps 45.11, 56.6 5 Ps 9.15 6 Lk 18.15 7 Ps 106.32 8 Mt 23.12 9 Isaiah 52.13 10 Mt 25.21 11 Prov 4.8 12 Ps 109.7 13 1 Pet 5.6 14 Ps 65.7 15 Job 15.12 16 Lk 18.14 17 Ps 36.20 18 Juvenal, Sat 8.140-1

Seeking What Is Above

Si ergo dilectissimi, consurrexistis in anima interim sola cum Christo resurgente in carne sola, quae sursum sunt quaerite, intentione et desiderio animae, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens, etiam corpore. Multi enim, quae sursum sunt, quaerunt desorum, quales sunt, qui dignitatem et gratiam, sufficientiam et delectionem quaerunt in terrenis. Isti sunt, qui statuerunt oculos suos declinare in terram, quaerentes summa in imis. Alii autem quae deorsum sunt, quaerunt sursum; id est in virtute vanam gloriam, in sapientia jactantiam, in veritate curiositatem, ad extremum in studio spirituali, et habitu religioso emolumentum aliquod temporale, vel laudis, vel dignitatis, vel pecuniae, vel licentiosae liberatatis. Alii, quae deorsum sunt, quaereunt deorsum, terrena videlicet in terrenis, et in carnalibus carnalia; qui omnes omnino quae super terram sunt sapiunt, et non quae sursum. Alii vero quae sursum sunt quaerunt sursum, id est, in veris vera, in spiritualibus spiritualia, in coelestibus coelestia, et in divinis divina, sapientes quae Dei sunt, et in novitate vitae ambulantes, complantati similitudini mortis Christi, dum peccato et carni et mundo mortui sunt, configurati resurrectioni Christi, dum alienati a prioris corruptelae, et sensualitatis vita, in carne quodammodo supra carnem degunt, consedentes quoque cum eo in coelestibus, dum eorum requies et conversatio in coelis est, et conregnantes illi, dum omnia sua ad spiritualem profectum deservire compellunt. Praeterea, qui coelestem remunerationem quaerunt in actibus terrenis, profecto laudabiliter summa quaerunt in imis, sicut reprehensibiliter ima in summis, qui terrenum in spiritualibus. Minus quidem ab his reprehensibiliter agunt, qui ima quaerunt in imis; omnium vero laudabilius, qui summa in summis, quae est, dilectissimi, professio, et propostium. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo XL in Die Paschae Source: Migne PL 194.1827a-d

If then, most beloved, you have risen, in the soul alone for the time being, with Christ rising in the body, you must seek what is above, with all intent and desire of soul, where Christ now sits at the right hand of God, even in the body. Many there are who seek what is above below, the sort who look for dignity and favour, for abundance and pleasure, in earthly things. These are the ones 'who have set their eyes to bend down to earth,' 1 seeking high things in the lowest. But others seek what is below above, that is, vainglory in virtue, boasting in wisdom, entertainment in truth, and they even go to the extreme of seeking some temporal profit in the religious habit, either praise, or honour, or money, or unrestricted freedom. Others seek below what is below, the earthly in earthly things, the carnal in carnal things, all who know everything which is on the earth and nothing above. Others, however, seek above what is above, things true in what is true, things spiritual in what is spiritual, things heavenly in the heavenly, things divine in what is divine, knowing what belongs to God, walking in the new life, buried in the likeness of the death with Christ, 2 being dead to sin and flesh and the world. being shaped in the resurrection of Christ, having been estranged from a former life of corruption and sensuality, in the flesh living as above the flesh, enthroned with Him in the heavens, 3 for their rest and converse is in the heavens, 4 and even ruling with Him, compelling everything to serve their spiritual advance. Moreover, they who seek heavenly reward in worldly deeds are doubtless more praiseworthy seeking high things in low things, as they are more reprehensible who seek low things in high things, worldly things in spiritual things. Certainly less blameworthy than them are those who seek low things in low things, but the most praiseworthy of all are those who seek high things in the heights, which is, most beloved, our profession and purpose. Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 40, On Easter 1 Ps 16.11 2 Rom 6.4-5 3 Ephes 2.6 4 Philip 3.20

Heavenly Bodies

ΕΡΑΝ. Ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω γέγραπται. Ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα, μετὰ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψιν, οὐκ οἶμαί σε δείξειν ὑπὸ τῶν πνευματοφόρων ἀνδρῶν προσαγορευόμενον σῶμα. ΟΡΘ. Μάλιστα μὲν καὶ τὰ προειρημένα τοῦ σώματος ὑπάρχει δηλωτικά· τὸ γὰρ ὁρώμενον, σῶμα· δείξω δὲ ὅμως καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν σῶμα καλούμενον τοῦ δεσπότου τὸ σῶμα. Ἄκουσον τοίνυν τοῦ ἀποστόλου διδάσκοντος· Ἡμῶν γὰρ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὑπάρχει, ἐξ οὗ καὶ σωτῆρα ἀπεκδεχόμεθα Kύριον Ἰησοῦν, ὃς μετα σχηματίσει τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταπεινώσεως ἡμῶν, εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτὸ σύμμορφον τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ. Οὐ τοίνυν εἰς ἑτέραν μετα βέβληται φύσιν, ἀλλὰ μεμένηκε σῶμα, θείας μέντοι δόξης πεπληρωμένον καὶ φωτὸς ἐκπέμπον ἀκτῖνας· ἐκείνῳ τὰ τῶν ἁγίων σώματα γενήσεται σύμμορφα. Εἰ δὲ εἰς ἑτέραν ἐκεῖνο μετεβλήθη φύσιν, καὶ τὰ τούτων ὡσαύτως μεταβληθήσεται. Σύμμορφα γὰρ ἐκείνῳ γενήσεται. Εἰ δὲ τὰ τῶν ἁγίων φυλάττει τὸν χαρακτῆρα τῆς φύσεως, καὶ τὸ δεσποτικὸν ἄρα ὡσαύτως τὴν οἰκείαν οὐσίαν ἀμετάβλητον ἔχει. ΕΡΑΝ. Ἴσα τοίνυν ἔσται τῷ δεσποτικῷ σώματι τὰ τῶν ἁγίων σώματα; ΟΡΘ. Τῆς μὲν ἀφθαρσίας καὶ μέντοι καὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας μεθέξει καὶ ταῦτα. Κοινωνήσει δὲ καὶ τῆς δόξης, καθά φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος· Εἴπερ συμπάσχομεν, ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν. Ἐν δέ γε τῇ ποσότητι πολὺ τὸ διάφορον ἔστιν εὑρεῖν, καὶ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον ἡλίου πρὸς ἀστέρας, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅσον δεσπότου πρὸς δούλους, καὶ τοῦ φωτίζοντος πρὸς τὸ φωτιζόμενον. Μεταδέδωκε δὲ ὅμως τῶν οἰκείων ὀνομάτων τοῖς δούλοις, καὶ φῶς καλούμενος, φῶς τοὺς ἁγίους ἐκάλεσεν· Υμεῖς, γάρ φησιν, ἐστὲ τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου. Καὶ ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης ὀνομαζόμενος, περὶ τῶν δούλων φησί· Τότε ἐκλάμψουσιν οἱ δίκαιοι ὡς ὁ ἥλιος. Κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν τοίνυν, οὐ κατὰ τὸ ποσόν, σύμμορφα ἔσται τῷ δεσποτικῷ σώματι τῶν ἁγίων τὰ σώματα. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἐρανιστής ή Πολύμορφος, Διάλογος Β' Source: Migne PG 80.165a-c

Eranistes: These things are so written, but I do not think that you will be able to show that the body, after the ascension into heaven, is called 'body' by inspired men. Orthodoxus: What has been already said indicates the body clearly, for what is seen is a body. But as that may be I will show to you that even after the assumption the body of the Lord is called a body. Hear, then, the teaching of the Apostle: 'For our conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, who shall change our humble body that it may be like His glorious body.' 1 It was not, then, changed into some other nature, but remained a body, though full of Divine glory, and sending forth bright beams. The bodies of the saints shall be made like it. But if it was changed into another nature, theirs will be likewise changed, for they shall be made like it. But if the bodies of the saints preserve the character of their nature, so the body of the Lord in like manner keeps its own nature unchanged. Eranistes: Then it will be that the bodies of the saints are equal with the body of the Lord? Orthodoxus: They will share in its incorruption and its immortality. And they will partake of its glory, as the Apostle says, 'If we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.' 2 It is in quantity that the great difference is to be found, and it is as great as between the sun and the stars, or rather as between master and servants, and as between that which gives light and that which receives light. Yet even as He has given a share of His own name to His servants and as He is called Light, He calls His saints light, for 'You,' He says, 'are the light of the world,' 3 And He who is named 'Sun of Righteousness' 4 says of His servants: 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun.' 5 Therefore, according to quality, not quantity, shall the bodies of the saints be like the body of the Lord. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Eranistes or Polymorphus, Second Dialogue 1 Rom 6.12 2 Rom 8.17 3 Mt 5.14 4 Malachi 4.2 5 Mt 13.43

The Ascension And The Gate

Quid igitur agemus? Quomodo ascendemus ad coelum? Sunt illic dispositae potestates, ordinati principes, qui coeli ianuas servant, qui ascendentem interrogant: quis me admittet, nisi omnipotentem annuntiem Christum? Clausae sunt portae, non cuicumque aperiuntur: non quicumque vult, nisi qui fideliter credit, ingredietur. Custoditur aula imperialis. Sed esto, indignus obrepserit, latuerit principes portarum coelestium, discubuerit in coena Domini; ingressus Dominus convivii, videns non indutum nuptiale fidei vestimentum, proiiciet eum in tenebras exteriores, ubi sit fletus et stridor dentium, si fidem pacemque non servet. Servemus igitur nuptiale quod accepimus vestimentum, nec Christo propria denegemus, quem omnipotentem annuntiant angeli, prophetae significant, apostoli testificantur, sicut iam supra ostendimus. Et fortasse non de istius tantummodo coeli portis propheta dixerit quod praeteribit; et alios enim coelos Dei Verbum penetrat, de quibus dictum est: Habemus enim sacerdotem magnum, principem sacerdotum, qui pertransivit coelos, Iesum Filium Dei. Qui sunt isti coeli, nisi et hi de quibus dicit Propheta: Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei? Stat enim Christus ad ianuam mentis tuae, audi cum dicentem: Ecce sto ad ianuam, et pulso; si quis mihi aperuerit, ingrediar ad illum; et coenabo cum eo, et ipse mecum. Et Ecclesia de eo dicit: Vox fratris mei pulsat ad ianuam. Stat ergo, et non solus stat; sed praecedunt eum angeli, qui dicunt: Tollite portas, principes, vestri. Quas portas? Illas utique de quibus et alibi dicit: Aperite mihi portas iustitiae. Aperi ergo Christo portas tuas, ut ingrediatur in te: aperi portas iustitiae, aperi portas pudicitiae, aperi portas fortitudinis atque sapientiae. Crede angelis dicentibus: Et elevamini portae aeternales, et introibit rex gloriae, Dominus sabaoth. Porta tua vocis fidelis canora confessio est: porta tua ostium verbi est, quam sibi Apostolus optat aperiri, dicens: Ut aperiatur mihi ostium verbi ad eloquendum mysterium Christi. Aperiatur igitur Christo porta tua, nec solum aperiatur, sed etiam elevetur; si tamen aeternalis, est, non caduca; scriptum est enim: Et elevamini portae aeternales. Elevatum est super limen Esaiae, quando Seraphim labia eius tetigit, et vidit regem Dominum sabaoth. Tuae ergo portae elevabuntur, si sempiternum, si omnipotentem, si inaestimabilem, si incomprehensibilem, si eum qui et praeterita omnia et futura noverit, Filium Dei credas. Quod si praefinitae potestatis et scientiae, subiectumque opinaris, non elevas portas aeternales. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Fide Ad Gratianum, 4.2 Source: Migne PL 16.620a-621b

What then shall we do? How shall we ascend to heaven? There powers are set, principalities drawn up who guard the doors of heaven, who question the one who ascends. Who shall admit me, unless I announce that Christ is Almighty? The gates are shut, they are not opened to just anyone, not everyone who wishes shall enter, unless he also believes faithfully. The imperial palace is guarded. But let it be that some unworthy fellow has crept up and sneaked past the principalities of the gates of heaven, and he has sat down at the supper of the Lord. The Lord of the banquet enters, He sees one who is not wearing the wedding garment of the Faith, He throws him out into outer darkness, where there is a weeping and gnashing of teeth,1 if he keep not the Faith and peace. Let us, therefore, guard the wedding garment we have received, and not deny Christ that which is His own, whose omnipotence angels announce, prophets foretell, Apostles give witness to, even as we have already shown above. And perhaps the Prophet has spoken of His entering in, not only with regard to the gates of the universal heaven; for there are other heavens into which the Word of God passes, concerning which it is said: 'We have a great Priest, a High Priest, Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.' 2 What are those heavens, but the heavens concerning which the Prophet says: 'The heavens declare the glory of God'? 3 For Christ stands at the door of your soul. Hear Him saying: 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man open to Me, I will come in to him, and I will eat with him, and he with Me.' 4 And the Church says of Him: 'The voice of my brother sounds at the door.' 5 He stands, then, but he does not stand alone, but angels go before Him, who say: 'Lift up the gates, you princes.' 6 What gates? Those which he speaks of in another place: 'Open to me the gates of righteousness.' 7 Open, then, your gates to Christ, that He may enter into you. Open the gates of righteousness, the gates of chastity, the gates of fortitude and wisdom. Believe the message of the angels: 'Raise up you everlasting gates, and the King of glory shall enter, the Lord of Hosts.' 6 Your gate is the song of confession made with faithful voice. Your gate is the door of the Lord which the Apostle wishes to have opened for him, saying: 'That a door of the word may be opened for me, to speak of the mystery of Christ.' 8 Let your gate, then, be opened to Christ, and not only opened, but raised up, if, that is, it is eternal and not fallen, for it is written: 'And be raised up, you eternal gates.' 6 The lintel was raised up for Isaiah, when the seraph touched his lips and he saw the Royal Lord of Hosts. 9 Therefore your gates shall be raised up if you believe the Son of God to be eternal, omnipotent, beyond all praise and understanding, knowing all things both past and to come. For if you think Him to be of limited power and knowledge, and subordinate, you do not raise up the eternal gates. Saint Ambrose, On The Faith, To The Emperor Gratian, Chap 4 1 Mt 22.11 2 Heb 4.14 3 Ps 18.2 4 Apoc 3.20 5 Song 5.2 6 Ps 23.7 7 Ps 117.19 8 Colos 4.3 9 Isaiah 6.1-7

Speaking Of The Ascension

Hujus etenim ascensionis Dominicae nobilitatem et gloriam, Veteris Instrumenti multo ante multipliciter praenuntiavit auctoritas, et ipso ascendente exsultans angelica declaravit sublimitas, evangelicae etiam descriptionis atque apostoliciae praedicationis per totum orbem narravit satis aperte majestas. Apostolica vero praedicto, ut dictum est, mysteria supradicta vehementer enarrat, cum beatus Petrus apostolus, omnium de quibus loquitur, idoneum testem se esse declarat, et apostolica libertate subnixus, ut propositum est, liberalissimo sermone pronuntiat, dicens: Obedire oportet Deo magis quam hominibus. Statim subintulit. Et his cum quibus tunc res ipsa gerebatur dixit: Deus patrum nostrorum suscitavit Jesum, quem vos interemistis suspendentes in ligno. Hunc Deus, Principem ac Salvatorem, exaltavit dextera sua, ad dandam poenitentiam Israel et remissionem peccatorum. Et nos sumus testes horum verborum et Spiritus sanctus, quem dedit Deus hominibus obedientibus sibi. Et in alio loco idem pastor Ecclesiae, Davidico fruitus vaticinio, David igitur, inquit: Propheta cum esset et sciret quia jurejurando jurasset illi Deus de fructu lumbi ejus sedere super sedem ejus, providens locutus est de resurrectione Christi, quia neque derelictus est in inferno, neque caro ejus vidit corruptionem. Hunc Jesum suscitavit Deus, cui omnes nos testes sumus. Dextera igitur Dei exaltatus, et promissione Spiritus sancti accepta a Patre, effudit hoc donum quod vos videtis et auditis. Non enim David ascendit in coelos. Dicit autem ipse: Dicit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis. Paulus denique praedicator egregius, cum hoc nostrae salutis mysterium auditoribus suis commendare vellet, affectu optantis et voto orantis prudentissima et spirituali circumlocutione aggressus est eos, dicens: Deus Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Pater gloriae, det vobis spiritum sapientiae et revelationis in agnitione ejus, illuminas oculos cordis vestri, ut sciatis quae sit spes vocationis ejus, et quae divitiae gloriae hereditatis ejus in sanctis, et quae sit supereminens magnitudo virtutis ejus in nos, qui credidimus secundum operationem potentiae virtutis ejus quam operatus est in Christo, suscitans illum a mortuis, et constituens ad dexteram suam in caelestibus, supra omnem principatum, et potestatem, et virtutem, et dominationem, et omne nomen quod nominatur non solum in hoc saeculo, sed et in futuro. Et: Omnia subjecit sub pedibus ejus, et ipsum dedit caput supra omnem Ecclesiam quae est corpus ipsius. Et ut idem Apostolus ad Timotheum scribit: Columna et firmamentum veritatis. Et manifeste: Magnum est pietatis sacramentum, quod manifestatum in carne, justificatum est in spiritu, apparuit angelis, praedicatum est in gentibus, creditum est in hoc mundo, assumptum est in gloria, sicut per Marcum et lucam descriptio intonat evangelica. Lucas vero cum ad Theophilum scriberet, dicit se sermonem fecisse: de omnibus quae caepit Jesus facere et docere, usque in diem qua praecipiens apostolis per Spiritum sanctum quos elegit, assumptus est. Et Marcus in hodierna lectione: Dominus, inquit, Jesus, postquam locutus est discipulis suis, assumptus est in caelum, et sedet a dextris Dei. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo VIII, De Ascensione Domini Salvatoris Source: Migne PL 142.1012c-1013c

Indeed the nobility and glory of this ascension of the Lord, the authority of the Old Testament often before many times foretells, and His ascension the angelic heights exultant declared, and indeed the Gospels and the Apostolic preaching through the whole earth openly proclaimed its majesty. But with the Apostolic preaching, as it has been said, the mystery aforementioned is overtly declared, when the blessed Apostle Peter, concerning the things he spoke to all, declaring himself an able witness, elated with Apostolic liberty, as it has been recorded, with free speech spoke, saying, 'One must obey God rather than men.' 1 Immediately going on to those deeds then done and saying: 'The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed, hanging Him from a tree. God exalted Him at his right hand, Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witness of these words and the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to men obedient to Him.' 2 And in another place the shepherd of the Church, making use of the Davidic prophecy, says: 'David, then, when he was a Prophet , knowing that God had sworn an oath to him, that one from the fruit of his loins would sit upon his throne, foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, because neither was He forsaken in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised, and we are all witnesses to Him. Therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He poured out this gift which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into heaven. He himself says: My Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand.' 3 Then Paul, that wondrous preacher, when he wished to commend the mystery of our salvation to hearers, impressing on them the emotion of choosing and the most prudent and spiritual vow of prayer, says: 'The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may he give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in His knowledge, illuminating the eyes of your heart, that you may know the hope of our calling, and what inheritance of Divine glory is with his holy ones, and what is the supereminent greatness of His virtue in us, we who believe according to the work of the power of his virtue which worked in Christ, taking Him up from the dead and establishing Him at His right hand in the heavens, over all principalities and powers and virtues and dominion and every name which is named, not only in this age but even in the future.' 4 And: 'Everything He has made subject beneath His feet and He sets his head over every Church which is His body.' 5 And the same Apostle writes to Timothy: 'A column and firmament of truth.' 6 And openly: 'Great is the mystery of holiness, which has been manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, appeared to angels, is preached among the Gentiles, is believed in this world, and has been taken up in glory,' 7 as Mark and Luke pronounce in the telling of their Gospels. Luke when he wrote to Theophilus, and said in that passage: 'concerning everything which Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when having given commands to the Apostles He had chosen He was taken up.' 8 And Mark in today's reading: 'The Lord Jesus,' he says, 'after he had spoken to His Apostles, was taken up to heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father.' 9 Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 8, On The Ascension Of The Lord 1 Acts 5.29 2 Acts 5.30-32 3 Acts 2.30-34 4 Ephes 1.17-21 5 Ephes 1.22 6 1 Tim 3.15 7 1 Tim 3.16 8 Acts 1.1-2 9 Mark 16.19

Ascending And Sitting

Ascendit ad Caeos, sedet ad dextram Patris... Sedere quoque ad dexteram Patris, carnis assumtae mysterium est. Neque enim incorporeae illi naturae convenienter ista absque assumtione carnis aptantur: neque sedis caelestis perfectio divinae naturae, sed humanae conquiritur. Unde et dicitur de eo: Parata est sedes tua, Deus, ex tunc, a saeculo tu es. Parata igitur a saeculo sedes est, in qua Dominus Jesus sessurus erat: in cujus nomine omne genu flectatur, caelestium, terrestrium, et infernorum, et omnis lingua confiteatur, ei, quia Dominus Jesus est in gloria Dei Patris. De quo et David ita refert: Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum. Quae tamen dicta Dominus in Evangelio disserens, dicebat ad Pharisaeos: Si ergo David in spiritu Dominum vocat eum, quomodo Filius ejus est? Per quod ostendit se secundum spiritum Dominum, secundum carnem filium esse David. Unde et ipse Dominus iterum dicit: Verumtamen dico vobis, Amodo videbitis filium hominis sedentem ad dexteram virtutis Dei. Et Petrus Apostolus dicit de Christo, Qui est in dextera Dei sedens in caelis. Sed et Paulus ad Ephesios scribens, Secundum operationem, inquit, potentiae virtutis ejus, quam operatus est in Christo, suscitans eum a mortuis, et sedere faciens in dextera sua. Rufninus Aquileiensis, Commentarius In Symbolum Apostolorum Source: Migne PL 21.368a-b

He Ascended into Heaven, and Sits on the Right Hand of the Father... To sit at the right hand of the Father is a mystery belonging to the assumption of the flesh. For it it is not suited to the incorporeal nature without the assumption of flesh, nor is a heavenly seat suited to the perfection of the Divine nature, but it is for the human. Whence it is said of Him, 'Your seat, O God, is prepared from thence, you are from everlasting.' 1 The seat, therefore, on which the Lord Jesus was to sit, was prepared from everlasting, 'in whose name every knee should bow, the things of heaven and of earth, and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess to Him that Jesus is Lord in the glory of God the Father.' 2 Of whom also David thus speaks, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.' 3 Concerning which words the Lord in the Gospel says to the Pharisees, 'If therefore David in the spirit calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?' 4 By which He showed that according to the Spirit He is the Lord, according to the flesh He the Son of David. Whence also the Lord again says: 'Truly I say to you, henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God.' 5 And the Apostle Peter says of Christ, 'He who is at the right hand of God, seated in the heavens.' 6 And Paul also, writing to the Ephesians, says: 'According to the working of the might of His power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand.' 7 Rufinus of Aquileia, Commentary On The Apostles' Creed 1 Ps 92.2 2 Philip 2.10-11 3 Ps 109.1 4 Mt 22.45 5 Mt 26.64 6 1 Pet 3.22 7 Ephes 1.19-20

Knowing The Unknown

Τρία δέ ἐστιν ἀδύνατά μοι νοῆσαι καὶ τὸ τέταρτον οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκω, ἴχνη ἀετοῦ πετομένου Τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἀνάληψιν. Kαὶ ὁδοὺς ὄφεως ἐπὶ πέτρας. Ὁ διάβολος οὐχ εὗρεν ἴχνος ἁμαρτίας ἐν τῷ σώματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Kαὶ τρίβους νηὸς ποντοπορούσης Τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὡς ἐν πελάγει τῷ βίῷ τούτῳ, τῇ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐλπίδι διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ κυβερνωμένης. Kαὶ ὁδοὺς ἀνδρὸς ἐν νεότητι. Τοῦ ἐκ Πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ τῆς Παρθένου γεγεννημένου· ἰδοὺ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀνὴρ, Ἀνατολὴ ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἅγιος Ἱππόλυτος Ρώμης, Εἰς Τας Παροιμίας Source: Migne PG 10.624a-b

Three things I cannot understand, and the fourth I do not know: the path of an eagle flying...' . 1 Christ's ascension. 'And the ways of a serpent on a rock...' The devil did not find a trace of sin in the body of Christ. 'And the ways of a ship crossing the sea...' The Church, which in this life is as in a sea, directed by hope in Christ through the cross. 'And the ways of a man in his youth...' Of Him born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. For behold, it says, a man whose name is the Dawn. 2 Saint Hippolytus of Rome, Fragment On Proverbs 1 Prov 30.18-19 2 Zech 6.12

Going To The Father

Kαὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐγὼ εἶπον ὑμῖν· ὑπάγω καὶ ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. εἰ ἠγαπᾶτέ με, ἐχάρητε ἂν ὅτι πορεύομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα· καὶ πάλιν μεθ' ἕτερα· νῦν δὲ ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πέμψαντά με, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐρωτᾷ με· ποῦ ὑπάγεις; Eἰ γὰρ ταῦτα τοπικῶς ἐκδεκτέον, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὸ  ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με, τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτὸν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ' αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα. Oὐχὶ δέ γε ταῦτα τοπικῆς μεταβάσεως νοουμένης περὶ τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν πρὸς τὸν ἀγαπῶντα τὸν λόγον τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γίνεται, οὐδ' ἄρα τοπικῶς ταῦτα ἐκδεκτέον· ἀλλ' ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡμῖν συγκαταβαίνων καὶ ὡς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀξίαν, ὅτε παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐστὶ, ταπεινούμενος, μεταβαίνειν λέγεται ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα, ὅπως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐκεῖθι τέλειον αὐτὸν θεασώμεθα, ἀπὸ τῆς παρ' ἡμῖν κενότητος, ἣν ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν, ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον πλήρωμα παλινδρομοῦντα· ἔνθα καὶ ἡμεῖς, αὐτῷ ὁδηγῷ χρώμενοι, πληρωθέντες πάσης κενότητος ἀπαλλαγησόμεθα. Ἀπιέτω τοίνυν πρὸς τὸν πέμψαντα αὐτὸν ἀφεὶς τὸν κόσμον ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα πορευέσθω. Kαὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τέλει δὲ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην εὐαγγελίου· μή μου ἅπτου· οὔπω γὰρ ἀναβέβηκα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου, μυστικώτερον νοῆσαι ζητήσωμεν· τῆς ἀναβάσεως πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Υἱοῦ θεοπρεπέστερον μετὰ ἁγίας τρανότητος ἡμῖν νοουμένης, ἥντινα ἀνάβασιν νοῦς μᾶλλον ἀναβαίνει σώματος. Tαῦτα ἡγοῦμαι συνεξητακέναι τῷ Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ταπεινὴν περὶ θεοῦ ὑπόληψιν τῶν νομιζόντων αὐτὸν εἶναι τοπικῶς ἐν οὐρανοῖς περιελεῖν καὶ μὴ ἐᾶν τινα ἐν σωματικῷ τόπῳ εἶναι τὸν θεὸν, ἐπεὶ τούτῳ ἀκόλουθόν ἐστι καὶ σῶμα αὐτὸν εἶναι λέγειν, ᾧ ἕπεται δόγματα ἀσεβέστατα, τὸ διαιρετὸν καὶ ὑλικὸν καὶ φθαρτὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι ὑπολαμβάνειν· πᾶν γὰρ σῶμα διαιρετόν ἐστι καὶ ὑλικὸν καὶ φθαρτόν. Ὠριγένης, Περὶ Εὐχὴς Source: Migne PG 11.488a

And later: 'You heard that I said to you: I return and come to you. If you loved me you would have rejoiced that I go to the Father.' 1 And again later: 'Now I return to Him that sent me and none of you ask me: Where do you return?' 2 And if these things are to be understood spacially, so also plainly is: 'Jesus answered and said to them, 'If any one love me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we shall come to him and make abode with him.' 3 But surely these words should not be thought of as a movement in space of the Father and the Son to the lover of the word of Jesus, and so should not be taken spacially. Rather the Word of God, in condescension for us, and according to His own worth, when among men in humble state, is said to pass from this world to the Father so that we also may behold Him perfectly there in His return to His proper fullness from the emptiness among us whereby He emptied himself, where we also, by His guidance, being filled, shall be freed from all emptiness. To such an end, then, the Word of God leaves the world and departs to Him who sent Him, and goes to the Father. And concerning that passage near the end of the Gospel according to John: 'Do not touch me, for I have not yet gone to my Father,'; 4 let us seek to think of it in a more spiritual sense; let ours be a more reverent conception of the ascension of the Son to the Father with sanctified insight, more an ascension of the soul than the body. I have linked these things to the clause 'Our Father who art in heaven' for the sake of doing away with the low conception of God of those who think that He is in heaven spacially, and lest anyone say God is in material space, since from that it follows that He also is physical and leads to opinions which are most impious, to thinking that He is divisible and material and corruptible. For every body is divisible and every material thing is corruptible. Origen, On Prayer 1 Jn 14.28 2 Jn 16.5 3 Jn 14.23 4 Jn 20.17

Appearance And Instruction

Οἱ δὲ ἕνδεκα μαθηταὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν καὶ οἱ μὲν προσεκύνησαν, οἱ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐδίστασαν. Αὕτη μοι δοκεῖ ἐσχάτη ὅψις εἴναι ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ, ὅτε αὐτοὺς ἐξέπεμπε βαπτίσοντας. Εἰ δὲ ἐδίστασάν τινες, κάντεῦθεν πάλιν θαύμασον αὐτῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, πῶς οὐδὲ τὰ μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἡμέρας ἐλαττώματα αὐτῶν ἀποκρύπτονατι. Ἀλλ' ὅμως και οὕτοι διὰ τῆς ὅψεως ἐβεβαυώθηαν. Τί οὐν φησιν ἰδῶν αὐτούς; Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἑξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς. Πάλιν ἀνθρωπινώτερον αὐτοῖς διαλέγεται· οὐδέπω γὰρ ἧσαν τὸ Πνεῦμα εἰληφότες τὸ δυνάμενον ὑψηλοὺς αὐτοὺς ποιῆται. Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱου, καὶ τοῦ ἅγια Πνεύματος, διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμεν ὑμῖν· τὸ μὲν περὶ δογμάτων, τὸ δὲ περὶ ἐντολῶν παραγέλλων. Και Ἰουδαίων μὲν οὐδὲν μέμμνηται, ουδὲ εἰς μέσον φέρει τὰ γεγενημένα, οὐδὲ ὀνειδίζει Πέτρῳ τὴν ἂρνησιν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδενὶ τὴν φυγὴν· κελεύει δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐκχυθῆναι πᾶσαν, σύντομον διδασκαλίαν ἐγχειρίσας, τὴν διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Εἴτα ἐπειδὴ μεγάλα αὐτοῖς ἐπέταξεν, ἐπαίρων αὐτῶν τὰ φρονήματα, φησίν· Ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. Εἴδες αὐθεντίαν πάλιν; εἴδες πῶς καὶ ἐκεῖνα συγκαταβάσεως ἕνεκεν εἴρηται; Οὐ μετ' ἐκείνων δὲ μόνον εἴπεν ἔσεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετ' πάντων τῶν μετ' ἐκείνους πιστευόντων. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἕως τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος οἱ ἀπόστολοι μένειν ἔμελλον· ἀλλ' ὡς ἐνὶ σώματι διαλέγεται τοῖς πιστοῖς. Μὴ γὰρ μοι τὴν δυσκολίαν, φησὶν, εἴπητε τῶν πραγμάτων· ἐγώ γάρ εἰμι μεθ' ὑμῶν, ὁ πάντα ποιῶν εὕκολα. Τοῦτο καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἔλεγεν ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ συνεχῶς, καὶ τῷ Ἰερεμίᾳ νεότητα προβαλλομένῳ, καὶ τῷ Μωύσῇ καὶ τῷ Ἰεζεκιήλ ἀναδυομένοι· Ἐγὼ μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα τούτοις. Σκόπει δέ μοι κάναταῦθα τὴν τούτων διαφοράν. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ εἰς ἐν ἔθνος ἀποστελλόμενοι, πολλάκις παρῇτοῦντο· οὗτοι δὲ οὐδὲν τοιοὺτον ἐφθέγξαντο, εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην πεμπόμενοι. Ἀναμιμνήσκει δὲ αὐτοὺς καὶ τῆς συντελείας, ἵνα μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς ἐφελκύσηται, καὶ μὴ τὰ παρόντα ὀρῶσι μόνον δεινὰ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἀγαθὰ τὰ ἀπέεραντα. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ λυπηρὰ, φησὶν, ἂπερ ὑποστήσεσθε, τῷ παρόντι βίῳ συγκαταλύεται, ὅπου γὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς ὁ αἰων οὕτος εἰς συντέλειαν ἤξει· τὰ δὲ χρηστὰ, ὧν ἀπολαύσεσθε, ἀθάνατα μένει, καθάπερ πολλάκις ἔμπροσθεν εἴπον. Οὔτος ἀλείψας καὶ ἐγείρας αὐτῶν τὰ φρονὴματε καὶ τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, ἐξέπεμψεν. Ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη τοῖς ἐν κατορθώμασι ζῶσι ποθεινὴ, ὥσπερ οὖν τοῖς ἐν ἁμαρτήμασι φοβερὰ, καθάπερ τοῖς καταδίκοις. Ἀλλὰ μὴ φοβώμεθα μόνον καὶ φρίττωμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μεταβαλλώμεθα ἕως ἐστὶ καιρὸς, καὶ ἀνενέγκμωεν ἐκ τῆς πονηρίας· δυνάμεθα γὰρ, ἂν ἰθίλωμεν. Εἰ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς χάριτες πολλοὶ τούτο ἐποίησαν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον μετὰ τὴν χάριν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος Ὑμομνήμα εἰς τον Ἅγιον Ματθαιον Τον Εὐαγγελιστην, Ὁμίλια ϟ Migne PG 58.789-790

'Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, and some worshiped and some doubted Him.' 1 This seems to me to be the last appearance in Galilee, when He sent them forth to baptize. And if some doubted, here again let us wonder at their truthfulness, how they do not conceal their shortcomings even up to the last day. But even so, these are assured by the sight. What then does He say to them, seeing them? 'All power is given to me in heaven and on earth.' 2 Again He speaks to them in more human fashion, for they had not yet received the Spirit, which was able to raise them on high. 'Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things which I have commanded you;' which bears one charge for teaching, and another concerning commandments. And He makes no mention of the Jews, nor brings forward the things which had been done, nor reproves Peter for his denial, nor any of the others for their flight, but He commands them to pour forth over the whole world, having put into their hands a summary of the doctrine, expressed by baptism. Then, because He had enjoined on them great things, that He might lift up their hearts, He says, 'I am with you always, even to the end of the world.' 3 Do you see His power again? Do you see how those other things also were spoken for condescension? And He did not promise to be with them only, but even with all who believe after. For indeed the Apostles were not to remain here until 'the end of the world,' but He speaks to the believers as to one body. 'For tell me not of difficulty,' He says, 'for I am with you who make all things easy.' This He also continually said to the Prophets in the Old Testament. To Jeremiah protesting his youth, 4 to Moses and Ezekiel who would refuse 'I am with you,' and here also to these men. But note the difference, for the others, when sent to one people, often excused themselves, and these men said nothing of the sort, though sent out to the whole world. And He reminds them also of the consummation, that He may draw them on more, and that they may not look only at present dangers, but also to the good things to come that are without end. 'For the grievous things,' He says, 'you will suffer, finish together with the present life, as even this world will come to an end, but the good things which you shall enjoy are immortal, as I have often told you before.' Thus having anointed and roused their minds by the remembrance of that day, He sent them forth. For that day is to be desired by those who live in good works, even as it is terrible to those in sin, as to the damned. But let us not fear only, and shudder, but let us change too, while there is time, and let us rise out of wickedness; for we can do so, if we wish it. For if before with grace many did this, much more after with grace. Saint John Chrysostom, On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, from Homily 90 1 Mt 28.16-17 2 Mt 28.18 3 Mt 28.20 4 Jerem 1.6, 8