Occurring Scripture for the Hour of Matins
Week of the Sunday after the Ascension
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Sunday after the AscensionLesson i
A reading from the First Epistle of Saint John the Apostle
1 John 1:1-5That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life: For the Life was manifested; and we have seen and bear witness, and declare unto you the Life Eternal, which was with the Father, and has appeared to us: That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full. And this is the declaration which we have heard from Him, and declare unto you: That God is light, and in him there is no darkness.
Lesson ii
John 1:6-10If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and speak not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Lesson iii
1 John 2:1-6My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just: And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says that he knows him, and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But he that keeps His word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in Him. He that says that he abides in Him, ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.
Lesson iv
From the sermons of Saint Augustine, Bishop
II on the Ascension.Dearly beloved brethren, our Savior has gone up from us into heaven, but let us not be troubled on earth. Let only our heart be there with Him, and we shall have peace here. Let us in heart there ascend with Christ in the mean while, and when that glad day which He has promised comes, our body will follow. But we must know, my brethren, that there are some things that cannot ascend with Christ: pride cannot, nor covetousness, nor brutishness; not one of our diseases can ascend to where our Healer is. And, therefore, if we would follow our Healer, we must leave our diseases and sins behind us. All such things tie us down, as it were, with bands, and hamper us in a net of sins but, with God's help, we will say with the Psalmist: "Let us break their bands asunder" (Psalm 2:3), that we may be able honestly to say to the Lord: " Thou hast loosed my bonds I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving" (cf. Psalm 115:16-17).
Lesson v
The Resurrection of the Lord is our hope; the Ascension of the Lord is our glorification. Today we keep the solemn holy day of the Ascension. If, therefore, our keeping of this holy day is to be a right, faithful, earnest, holy, godly keeping, we must in mind, likewise ascend, and lift up our hearts unto the Lord. When we ascend we must not be high-minded, nor flatter ourselves with our good works, as though they were our own. We must lift up our hearts to the Lord. When man's heart is lifted up, but not unto the Lord, such lifting-up is pride. To lift up the heart to the Lord, is to make the Most High our Refuge. Behold, my brethren, a great wonder. God is high, but if thou art lifted up He flees from thee, whereas, if thou humble thyself, He comes down to thee. Why? "The Lord is high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly but the proud He knows from afar" (cf. Psalm 137:6) To the lowly He has respect, that He may raise them up. The proud He knows from afar, that He may thrust them down.
Lesson vi
Christ arose again, to give us hope that we mortals will yet put on immortality. He has assured against a hopeless death, and against the thought that death ends life. We were troubled, even as touching the soul but Christ, arising from the grave, has assured us of the resurrection of the body also. Believe therefore, that thou may be made pure. First it behooves thee to believe, if by faith thou would in the end worthily see God. And if thou would see God, give ear to His own words: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Think first, then, how to purify thine heart. Take from it whatsoever thou see in it that displeases God.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John
John 15:26-27; 16:1-4But when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He shall give testimony of me. And you shall give testimony, because you are with Me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will put you out of the synagogues: yes, the hour comes, that whoever kills you, will think that he is doing a service to God. And these things will they do to you; because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you of them.
A homily of Saint Augustine, Bishop.
Tract LXXXXII on John.The Lord Jesus, in that discourse which He addressed to His disciples after the Last Supper, when He was on the very eve of the Passion, when He was, as it were, about to go away and leave them as touching His bodily Presence (albeit as touching His spiritual Presence He is with us always even unto the end of the world) in that discourse He exhorted them to bear patiently the persecution of wicked men, whom He speaks of as "the world" out of the which world, nevertheless, He said that He had chosen His disciples themselves, that they might know that it was by the grace of God that they were what they were, whereas it was by their own sins that they had been what they had been.
Lesson viii
"If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). Here He clearly points to the Jews, the persecutors both of Himself and of His disciples, so that we see that they which persecute His holy ones are as much citizens of the world of damnation as they which persecuted Himself. He said: "They know not Him That sent Me" (John 15:21) and yet again, "They have hated both Me and My Father" (John 15:20), that is to say, both the Sender and the Sent, the meaning of which words we have already treated in other discourses and with that He comes to the words: "That the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law They hated Me without a cause" (John 15:20).
Lesson ix
Then says the Lord, as though in continuation: "But when the Comforter is come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, Which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning." What connection has this with the words "Now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father but that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law: 'They hated Me without a cause'" (John 15:24-25)? Is it that when the Comforter has come, even the Spirit of Truth, He will confound by irrefutable testimony those who have both seen and hated both God the Son and God the Father? Yes, indeed, some there were who had seen and still hated, whom the testimony of the Comforter converted to the faith which works by love.
Let us pray:
O Almighty and everlasting God, grant that our will be ever meekly subject unto Thy will, and our heart ever honestly ready to serve Thy majesty. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lesson i
A reading from the First Epistle of Saint John the Apostle
1 John 3:1-6Behold what manner of charity the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God. Therefore the world knows us not, because it knew Him not. Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when appears, we shall be like Him: because we shall see Him as He is. And every one that has this hope in Him, sanctifies himself, as He also is holy. Whoever commits sin also commits iniquity; and sin is iniquity. And you know that He appeared to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him, sins not; and whoever sins, has not seen Him, nor known Him.
Lesson ii
1 John 3:7-12Little children, let no man deceive you. He that does justice is just, even as He is just. He that commits sin is of the devil: for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God appeared, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God, commits not sin: for His seed abides in him, and he can not sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, as are the children of the devil. Whoever is not just, is not of God, nor he that loves not his brother. For this is the declaration, which you have heard from the beginning, that you should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and killed his brother. And wherefore did he kill him? Because his own works were wicked: and his brother's just.
Lesson iii
1 John 3:13-18Wonder not, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not, abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in himself. In this we have known the charity of God, because He has laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He that has the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth.
Lessons iv-ix are recited if the Octave of the Ascension is observed
Lesson iv
From the Sermons of St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch
On the Ascension, Tome IIIThen Christ went up into heaven, He offered unto the Father the First-fruits of our nature, and the Father marvelled at the offering, seeing the Majesty of the Priest and the Spotlessness of the oblation. He received the Sacrifice into His Own hands, He made It to sit upon His Throne, nay, more, He gave It a place at His Own Right Hand. Let us ask what nature was His Who heard the words: "Sit Thou at My right hand" (Psalm 109:1), what nature was His to Whom God said " Be Thou Partaker of My Throne" (cf. ibid.)? It was the same nature as was his who heard the sentence "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19). Archangels beheld our nature upon the Throne of the Lord, refulgent with eternal glory.
Lesson v
It was not enough of glory for Him to be exalted above the heavens, nor to be ranked with angels but He was exalted above the heavens, He went up above the Cherubim, He ascended beyond the Seraphim, neither found He His rank beneath the Throne of the Lord of lords. Behold how high the heaven is above the earth, and the earth above hell, how high above the heaven is the heaven of heavens, how high above the heaven of heavens the Angels, above the Angels the Higher Powers, and above the Higher Powers the Throne of the Lord. Above all these hath One of our nature been exalted, so that man, which had fallen so low that there was no farther fall for him, is now in place so high, that there is thence no ascending.
Lesson vi
Paul also, dwelling on this, said: "He That descended is the Same also That ascended up far above all heavens," even as he had said: "Now, that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth"" (Ephesians 4: 10&9). Learn hence Who it was That ascended, and with what nature He was exalted. And with this thought I wish to bring my sermon to an end. From the thought of that glorified Manhood let us learn with amazement what the goodness of God is that goodness which hath crowned with an honour, higher than which is none, and a glory, greater than which is none, a Person Sharer of our nature, even That Person Which this day hath taken the place which is His of right, above all things other than Himself.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark
Mark 16:14-20At length He appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and He upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen Him after he was risen again. And he said to them: "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believes not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs that followed.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
So then, after "the Lord Jesus had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." We learn in the Old Testament, (cf. 4 Kings 2:11),that Elijah was taken up into heaven. But this word "heaven" may mean either the terrestrial atmosphere, or the space external to the sphere of this planet. Of these the atmosphere closely surrounds the earth, and we call the birds "the fowls of the heaven," because we see them fly therein. It was only up into this that Elijah was taken, that he might be carried off suddenly into some part of the earth, to us unknown, and there live in profound peace of body and soul, until the end of the world, when he will return and pay the debt of nature. For him, therefore, death waits, but is not escaped. But our Redeemer made it not to wait for Him, but conquered it, and by rising again shattered it, and by His Ascension showed forth the glory of His rising again.
Lesson viii
We must mark also, how that Elijah was taken up in a chariot (ibid.), as though to show plainly that for a mere man some outward help was needful. This help was given to him by Angels, as plainly appears, since it was impossible for one whom a weak nature yet weighed down earthward, to fly up even into the atmosphere. But of our Redeemer we read not that He was borne up in a chariot, or by Angels, since He by Whom all things were made, clearly rose above all things by His Own Power. He returned unto Him with Whom He was, and whither He returned, there He abode, for albeit as touching His Manhood He ascended up into heaven, yet, as touching His Godhead, He still comprehended both heaven and earth.
Lesson ix
Commemoration of the Saint of the DayLesson i
From the First Epistle of Saint John the Apostle
1 John 4:1-6Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. By this is the spirit of God known. Every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God: And every spirit that denies Jesus, is not of God: and this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he comes, and he is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world hears them. We are of God. He that knows God, hears us. He that is not of God, hears us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Lesson ii
1 John 4:7-14Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And every one that loves, is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not, knows not God: for God is charity. By this has the charity of God appeared towards us, because God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because He has first loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. My dearest, if God hath so loved us; we also ought to love one another. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His charity is perfected in us. In this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us: because He hath given us of His spirit. And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
Lesson iii
1 John 4:15-21Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God will abide in him, and he in God. And we have known, and have believed the charity, which God has for us. God is charity: and he that abides in charity, abides in God, and God in him. In this is the charity of God perfected in us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment: because as He is, we also are in this world. Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity castes out fear, because fear has pain. And he that fears, is not perfected in charity. Let us therefore love God, because God has first loved us. If any man say, "I love God," and hates his brother; he is a liar. For he that loves not his brother, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he sees not? And this commandment we have from God, that he, who loves God, love also his brother.
Lessons iv-ix are recited if the Octave of the Ascension is observed
Lesson iv
From the Sermons of St. Maximus, Bishop
Sermon 43, the second on Pentecost.My holy brethren, ye remember that I have likened the Savior to that eagle, touching which it is written in the Book of Psalms: "thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm 102:5) There are many points of likeness. The eagle rises above ground, wings his way aloft, and mounts skyward—even so did the Savior rise from the depth of the grave, mount up unto the exalted mansions of Paradise, and enter the heights of heaven. The eagle leaves below him the foul mists of earth, flies above, and drinks in health from a purer air even so did the Lord leave below Him the filthy slough of sinners on earth, and rejoice Himself with the honesty of a purer life, when He soared again into His Own holy home.
Lesson v
In all ways, therefore, is the Savior aptly likened to an eagle. But what can we make of this, that the eagle is a bird of prey, often times a plunderer. Even in this he is like to the Savior. He bore off His prey, when He carried off from the jaws of hell to heaven the Manhood Which He had swooped to take to Himself, yea, when He led captive to an higher home him whom He had delivered from the mastership of another lord, namely the devil, even as it is written by the Prophet, "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive, Thou hast received gifts among men" (Psalm 67:19).
Lesson vi
"Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive." O how nobly does the Prophet paint the Triumph of the Lord. We hear how, of old time, when kings marched in triumph, the procession of prisoners walked before the chariot of their conqueror. See, the Lord enters the heavens, not after, but amid a most glorious band of captives. That band are not led before His chariot, but themselves bear up their Savior. In some mystic sense, when the Son of God bore to heaven the Son of man, captivity both led and was led.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark
Mark 16:14-20At length He appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and He upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen Him after he was risen again. And he said to them: "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believes not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs that followed.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
We must ponder the meaning of these words of Mark, "He sat on the right hand of God," and how that Stephen said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55). Why does Mark say that "He sat," whereas Stephen testifies that he saw Him "standing"? But ye know, my brethren, that to sit is for Him that judges; to stand, for Him that fights, or helps.
Lesson viii
Since therefore, our Redeemer has ascended into heaven, and even now is Judge of all, beside that at the end of the world He will so come, therefore does Mark say that He "sits" where He has gone, because we look for Him, after His glorious Ascension, that He will come again at the end to be our Judge. But Stephen, while yet he was in the throes of the battle, saw Him That was helping him standing. Stephen on earth was overcoming the unbelief of his persecutors, but it was the grace of Him That is in heaven that fought in him all the while.
Lesson ix
"And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." What are we to see in this, what are we to remember, but that obedience followed commandment, and signs obedience But now, since, by the will of God, we have lightly run over our reading from the Gospel, it remains that we should say something by way of reflection on this great Festival.
Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that just as we do believe thine Only-Begotten Son, our Savior, to have this day ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him continually dwell. Through the same.
Lesson i
A reading from the Second Epistle of Saint John the Apostle
2 John 1:1-5The ancient to the lady Elect, and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth, for the sake of the truth which dwells in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus the Son of the Father; in truth and charity. I was exceeding glad, that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as writing a new commandment to thee, but that which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
Lesson ii
2 John 1:6-9And this is charity, that we walk according to His commandments. For this is the commandment, that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in the same: For many seducers are gone out into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh: this is a seducer and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that you lose not the things which you have wrought: but that you may receive a full reward. Whoever revolts, and continues not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that continues in the doctrine, the same has both the Father and the Son.
Lesson iii
2 John 1:10-13If any man comes to you, and brings not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, "God speed you." For he that says unto him, "God speed you," communicates with his wicked works. Having more things to write unto you, I would not by paper and ink: for I hope that I shall be with you, and speak face to face: that your joy may be full. The children of thy sister Elect salute thee.
Lessons iv-ix are recited if the Octave of the Ascension is observed
Lesson iv
From the Sermons of St. Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa.
Commentary on the Lords Ascension.The very thought of this day's Festival is great enough in itself, but the Prophet David hath much inflamed our joyful enthusiasm by the Psalms. This noble Prophet has, as it were, gone out of himself, as though the body were a weight duller than his spirit could bear he joins company with the Powers of heaven, and tells what they said when they went with the Lord heavenward, and cried in tones of command to those Angels who work on earth, and by whose heralding the Birth of the Incarnate One had been proclaimed "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in" (Psalm 23:7&9).
Lesson v
He,Who contains all things, is everywhere, but for the sake of those who receive Him, He is pleased to make Himself a local Presence which has bounds. Not only did He become a Man among men, but when conversing among Angels, He allowed that title also to be given Him. The gatekeepers therefore ask "Who is this King of glory?" and it is answered them that He is "The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle," the Lord, Whose work it had been to fight him who held mankind in bondage, and to "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14that now that dark enemy was trampled down, and man had had won for him freedom and peace.
Lesson vi
The keepers run to the gates, and bid the doors unfold, that the Lord may enter in, to take again the glory which He had there among them before. But when they see Him, clad in the likeness of sinful flesh, (cf. Romans 8:3), they know Him not, even Him Who is red in His apparel, because that He hath trodden Alone the winepress of human pain, and the blood is sprinkled upon His garments. Therefore they cry again to their fellows that bear Him company: "Who is this King of glory?" And they answer them no more: "The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle" but "The Lord of hosts the Lord, Whose Own are become the kingdoms of the world the Lord, Who hath made Himself the Head of all things the Lord, Who hath made all things new" (Apocalypse 21:5). He is the King of glory!
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark
Mark 16:14-20At length He appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and He upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen Him after he was risen again. And he said to them: "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believes not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs that followed.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
The first question we have to ask is why we read that Angels appeared at the time of the Birth of the Lord, but we read not that they appeared in white apparel whereas, when the Lord ascended into heaven, it is written that the angels which appeared were clad in white. "While they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel," (Acts i. 9, 10.) White raiment is an outward sign of solemn inward joy. That the occasion of God-made-Man entering into heaven was a great Festival for Angels, is the reason which we see why angels are specially named as robed in white at His Ascension, and not at His Birth. At the Birth of the Lord the Godhead was manifested veiled under the form of a servant, but at His Ascension the Manhood was seen exalted and white vestments are more apt to exaltation than humiliation.
Lesson viii
Therefore were the angels bound to appear in white apparel at the Ascension. At His Birth, He Who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, was seen in the form in which He had humbled Himself; at His Ascension the Manhood Which He had taken into God was seen glorified. Again, dearly beloved brethren, we must remember today, how that Christ has "blotted out the hand-writing that was against us," and reversed the sentence which doomed us to corruption. That same nature to which it was said, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19) that same nature is His Who hath this day ascended up into heaven. It is because of this up-lifting of our flesh that blessed Job, by a figure, called the Lord a bird. The Jews could not understand the Mystery of the Ascension, and in view of this their unbelief, blessed Job said mystically "He knew not the path of the bird" (cf. Job 28:7).
Lesson ix
The name of a bird is well given to the Lord, Who bodily soared up into heaven. And the path of that Bird knows no man, who believes not in the Ascension into heaven. It is of this glorious occasion that the Psalmist said: "Who hast set thy glory above the heavens" (Psalm 8:2), and again "God is gone up with a shout, and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet" (Psalm 46:6). And yet again he said: "Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive" (Psalm 67:19). "When Christ ascended up on high, He led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8), because by His Own incorruptibility He swallowed up our corruptibility. "He gave gifts unto men," because by sending the Spirit from above, He gave "to one, the word of wisdom to another, the word of knowledge to another, the working of miracles to another, the gifts of healing; to another, divers kinds of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12:8-10).
Thursday
Octave Day of the AscensionLesson i
From the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians
Ephesians 4:1-8I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in us all. But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore He said: "Ascending on high, He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men" (Psalm 67:19).
Lesson ii
Ephesians 4:9-14Now that He ascended, what is it, but because He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. And He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and others some to be evangelists, and others some to be pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Until we all meet in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ; that henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive.
Lesson iii
Ephesians 4:15-21But speaking the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is the Head, even Christ: from Whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplies, according to the operation in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity. This then I say and testify in the Lord: That henceforth you walk not as the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts. Who despairing, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of all uncleanness, unto covetousness. But you have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught in Him.
Lessons iv-ix are recited if the Octave of the Ascension is observed
Lesson iv
A reading from the Sermons of Saint Augustine, Bishop.
III on the Ascension, 176th on the Season.Dearly beloved brethren, all the wonderful works which our Lord Jesus Christ did in this world, under the weakness of our nature, are profitable for us when He exalted His Manhood above the stars, He showed that heaven may open for a believer and while He, the Conqueror of death, went up into the heavenly mansions, He showed to him that overcomes, where he also may follow. Therefore, the ascension of the Lord is the seal of the Catholic Faith, which assures in us the hope of the gift which is yet to come to us, from a miracle from which we already feel the fruits. Thus let every one that is faithful, having already received so much, learn to hope for that which is promised, on the ground of that which he knows to have been given, and hold the goodness of God in times which have been, and times which now are, as a sure pledge of the same in times to come.
Lesson v
An earthly Body, then, is now lifted up above the heights of heaven. The Bones, Which but a little while before had lain within the narrow walls of the grave, have made Their entry among the angelic hosts. Human nature has been given a place in the lap of immortality and therefore the Apostle whose account we have heard read, said "When He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up" (cf. Acts 1:9). When you hear these words, "taken up," you must understand by them the ministry of the angelic army whereby this Festival reveals to us the Mystery of Him who is both God and Man. United in One Person, we see in Him who lifted up, Divine Power, and in Him Who was lifted up, true Man.
Lesson vi
Therefore are utterly to be loathed those pestiferous teachings of Eastern falsehood, those brand new inventions of ungodliness which dare to assert that He Who in One Person is both Son of God and Son of Man, has but one nature. On the one hand, if a man says that Christ is not Partaker of the Divine nature, he hath denied the glory of his Maker—on the other, he who says that the Manhood is not of the nature of man, has denied the mercy of his Savior. As touching these points, it is well-nigh impossible for an Arian to believe that the Gospel writers are any better than liars, since they distinctly assert in some places that the Son of God is equal, and, in others, that He is inferior, to the Father. Farther, if a man be given over to this soul-slaying delusion of believing that our Savior hath only one nature, he must of necessity admit either that it was only God, or that it was only man who was crucified. But it was not so. If He had been of no nature but the Divine, He could not have suffered, and if He had been of no nature but the human, He could not have conquered death.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark
Mark 16:14-20"He that believes and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believes not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover." And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.
An Homily of Pope Saint Gregory the Great
Homily XXIXThe Prophet Habacuc has also spoken of the glory of Christ's Ascension in the words "The sun was lifted up on high, and the moon stood still in her habitation" (Habacuc 3:11). Who is here signified by the Sun, if not the Savior or by the Moon, if not the Church? Until the Lord was withdrawn from her sight, (that is, by His Ascension,) His Holy Church was pale before the hostile glare of the world, but after He was ascended, she waxed stronger, and distinctly shed forth the beams of that faith which had hitherto dwelt hiding in her. "The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in her habitation" when the Lord was gone away into heaven, His holy Church waxed stronger in her enlightening power.
Lesson viii
Hence it is that Solomon has put into the mouth of the, (same) Church the words: "Behold, He cometh! leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills" (Canticles 2:8). These hills are His lofty and; noble achievements. "Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains" When He came to redeem us, He came, if I may so say, in leaps. My dearly beloved brethren, would you know what His leaps were? From heaven He leapt into the womb of the Virgin, from the womb into the manger, from the manger on to the Cross, from the Cross into the grave, and from the grave up to heaven. Behold, how the Truth made manifest in the Flesh did leap for our sakes, that He might draw us to run after Him for this end did He rejoice, as a strong man to run a race.
Lesson ix
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, it behooves us in heart and mind to ascend there, where we believe Him to have already ascended bodily. Let us fly earthly lusts, for we, who have a Father in heaven, let nothing be sweet below. And very much must we keep in our minds this thought, that He Who ascended up in peace, will return in dreadful Majesty and will require from us with justice an account of our keeping of those commandments which He gave us in mercy. Let no man therefore reckon lightly this season which is given unto us that we may repent ourselves, nor be reckless touching the state of his soul; our Redeemer will be all the sterner, when He comes to judgment, as He has been wondrously longsuffering before.
Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that as we do believe thine Only-Begotten Son our Savior to have this day ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind ascend there, and continually dwell with Him. Through the same.Lesson i
A reading from the Third Epistle of Saint John the Apostle
3 John 1:1-4The ancient to the dearly beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Dearly beloved, concerning all things I make it my prayer that thou may proceed prosperously, and fare well as thy soul prospers. I was exceedingly glad when the brethren came and gave testimony to the truth in thee, even as thou walk in the truth. I have no greater grace than this, to hear that my children walk in truth.
Lesson ii
3 John 1:5-10Dearly beloved, thou do faithfully whatever thou do for the brethren, and that for strangers, who have given testimony to thy charity in the sight of the church: whom thou shall do well to bring forward on their way in a manner worthy of God. Because, for his name they went out, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow helpers of the truth. I had written perhaps to the church: but Diotrephes, who loves to have pre-eminence among them, does not receive us. For this cause, if I come, I will advertise his works which he does, with malicious words prating against us. And as if these things were not enough for him, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and them that do receive them he forbids, and casts out of the church.
Lesson iii
3 John 1:11-14Dearly beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that does good, is of God: he that does evil, has not seen God. To Demetrius testimony is given by all, and by the Truth itself, yea and we also give testimony: and thou know that our testimony is true. I had many things to write unto thee: but I would not by ink and pen write to thee. 14 But I hope speedily to see thee, and we will speak mouth to mouth. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Salute the friends by name.
VIGIL OF PENTECOST
Lesson i
The Beginning of the Catholic Epistle of blessed Jude the Apostle
Jude 1:1-4Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James: to them that are beloved in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. Mercy unto you, and peace, and charity be fulfilled. Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. For certain men are secretly entered in, (who were written of long ago unto this judgment,) ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord God into riotousness, and denying the only sovereign Ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lesson ii
Jude 1:5-8I will therefore admonish you, though you once knew all things, that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, did afterwards destroy them that believed not: And the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, He has reserved under darkness in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighboring cities, in like manner, having given themselves to unnatural fornication, and going after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. In like manner these men also defile the flesh, and despise dominion, and blaspheme majesty.
Lesson iii
Jude 1:9-13When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he dared not bring against him the judgment of insulting speech, but said: "The Lord command thee." But these men blaspheme whatever things they know not: and all things they naturally know, like dumb beasts, in these they are corrupted. Woe be unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain: and after the error of Balaam they have for reward poured out themselves, and have perished in the contradiction of Core. These are spots in their banquets, feasting together without fear, feeding themselves, clouds without water, which are carried about by winds, trees of the autumn, unfruitful, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion; wandering stars, to whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever.
Lesson iv
From the Treatise on the Creed, addressed to the Catechumens by Saint Augustine, Bishop
Book IV. Chapter IWe are yet the unborn offspring of a great Mother. Our Holy Mother the Church hath by the most sacred sign of the Cross received you into her womb, and from there she is now just about to bring you forth, as she hath already brought forth your brethren, with thrills of spiritual joy. But until, through the washing of regeneration, she brings you forth into true light, she feeds you in her womb with such food as becomes your condition, and in gladness matures her children for the glad moment of her delivery. This Mother is not stricken by the doom of Eve, to bring forth children in sorrow, and they themselves often times weeping than laughing. Rather, your spiritual Mother annuls the sentence of your earthly Eve, who by disobedience, endowed her offspring with death; the Church, by obedience, gives them newness of life. All the mystic prayers and ceremonies which have been and are still being performed over you by the ministry of the servants of God, exorcisms, prayers, spiritual songs, on-breathings, haircloth, prostrations, baring of the feet, the dread which ye feel, albeit so safe, all these things, I say unto you, are the nourishment which ye are ever fed; drawing from your Mother while yet ye are in her womb, that at the baptismal birth she may be able to present you strong and laughing babes unto Christ.
Lesson v
We have also received the Creed, which is the shield of the travailing Mother against the venom of the dragon. In the Apocalypse of the Apostle it is written "And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born" (Apocalypse 12:4). That this dragon is the devil ye all know. Ye know likewise that by the woman is signified the Virgin Mary, who, herself a Virgin, bore our Virgin Head, and who is revealed unto us as a type of the Holy Church, in that, even as Mary, though she bore a Son, remained a Virgin, so the Church does in all times give birth to all her members, and yet is ever presented a chaste virgin to Christ. I have undertaken, with the help of the Lord, to expound every clause of the Creed, that I may bring home to your understandings what each contains Your hearts are ready, for the enemy has been shut out of your hearts.
Lesson vi
We have made profession of renouncing the enemy. At the moment of that profession it was not before men only, but in the presence of God and His Angels that you said "I do renounce him." Renounce him, not only in your words, but in your ways not only with your voices, but with your lives not only with your lips, but in your works. Know well that the wrestling which you have undertaken is a strife with an enemy who is subtle, and old, and patient now that ye have once renounced him, let him never again find in you his works never again give him the right to bring you into bondage. O Christian thou wilt be caught and exposed, if thou do one thing and profess another; if thou art faithful in name, and make it to be evident by thy works that thou hast broken the faith pledged by this promise; if some while thou go into a church to pray, and anon to the shows to join in applauding obscene presentations. What have thou to do any more with the pomps of the devil, which thou have renounced.
Lesson vii
The continuation of the Holy Gospel according to John
John14:15-21At that time, Jesus said unto His disciples: "If you love Me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever. The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him: but you shall know Him; because He shall abide with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. Yet a little while: and the world will see Me no more. But you see Me: because I live, and you shall live. In that day you shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He that has My commandments, and keeps them; he it is that loves Me. And he that loves Me, shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him."
A homily of Saint Augustine, Bishop
Tracts LXXIV and LXXV on John.By these words of the Lord "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter", He implies that He Himself is a Comforter. The Greek word used, namely "Parakletos," signifies also an Advocate, and is used in that sense where it is written "We have an Advocate (Parakleton) with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous" (1 John 2:1). "Even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive" (John 14:17), because as we read elsewhere, "the carnal mind is enmity against; God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be" (cf. Romans 8:7) as we may say plainly nothing can make unrighteousness righteous. By "the world," in this place, we must understand the lovers of the world, a love which comes not of the Father. And therefore it is that this love of the world, which we strive to lessen and to destroy in ourselves, is contrary to "the love of God, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).
Lesson viii
"The Spirit of truth Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him" for to love the world is to lack those spiritual eyes, which are able to see Him Who is invisible, the Holy Ghost. "But ye know Him," said the Lord to His disciples, "for He shall dwell with you, and shall be in you." He will be in them to dwell in them, not dwell in them to be in them for one must first be in a place before one dwell there. But lest the Apostles should think that the words, "He shall dwell with you," signified that He should visibly abide with them for a while, as do guests in the houses of men, the Lord said in explanation "He shall be in you."
Lesson ix
Therefore is He seen That is invisible. If He were not in us we could have in us no knowledge of Him but He is seen in us, as we see our conscience. We see the faces of other men, but we cannot see our Own but of consciences we see none save that within ourselves. But our conscience is never elsewhere but within us whereas the Holy Ghost may be without us, as well as within us. He is given to be within us, and, unless He be within us, we can neither see nor know Him, either within or without us. Then, after that He had promised the Holy Ghost, the Lord, lest they should deem that He was to give them that other Comforter instead of Himself, and that He Himself was to be no longer with them, said also "I will not leave you orphans I will come to you." Therefore, although the Son of God hath made us by adoption sons of His Own Father, and has willed that the Same Who is His Father by nature should be our Father by grace, nevertheless, He shows that He Himself has toward us a love as of a Father, when He said "I will not leave you orphans."
Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, grant that our will be ever meekly subject unto thy will, and our heart ever honestly ready to serve thy majesty. Through Jesus Christ Thy Son.
