From St Gregory the Great’s 29th Homily on the Gospels, read in the Breviary of St Pius V on the Octave Day of the Ascension.
Concerning this glory of (the Lord’s) Ascension, Habakkuk said (3, 11), “The sun was raised up, and the moon stood in its order.” Who is indicated by the name of the sun, if not the Lord, and who by the name of the moon, if not the Church? For until the Lord ascended into heaven, His Holy Church was in every way fearful of its enemies in the world; but after She was fortified by His Ascension, She openly preached what She had come to believe in secret. (Luke 12, 3) Therefore “the sun was raised up, and the moon stood in its order”, because when the Lord repaired to heaven, His Holy Church grew in the authority of her preaching.
The Ascension of Christ, by Andrea Mantegna, 1460-64
Hence through Solomon is it said in the voice of the Church, “Behold He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.” (Canticle 2, 8) For She looked upon the heights of such great works, and said “Behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains,” since in coming for our salvation, He made certain leaps … From heaven He came into the womb, from the womb to the manger, from the manger to the Cross, from the cross to the tomb, from the tomb He returned to heaven. Behold, that He might set us to run after Him, the Truth made manifest though the flesh made these leaps for us, for “He rejoiced as a giant to run His way” (Ps. 18, 6), that we might say to Him from the heart, “Draw us: we will run after thee to the odor of thy ointments.” (Canticle 1, 3)
Therefore, dearest brethren, it is necessary that we follow Him in our hearts to that place where we believe He ascended in the body. Let us flee earthly desires; let nothing here below now delight us, who have a Father in heaven. And we must also consider this very carefully, that He who ascended peaceably will be terrible in His return, and whatsoever He commanded us with mildness, He will demand of us with severity. Let no one therefore take little account of the times of penance granted to us, let no one fail to take care for himself while he can; for Our Redeemer will come to judgment all the more strictly, according as He first show greater patience to us before the judgment.
The Ascension Dome of the Basilica of St Mark in Venice; mosaics ca. 1175-1200. (click to enlarge) The words written in a circle that separate Christ and the four angels around him from the Virgin Mary and Apostles are four hexameters, “Dicite quid statis, quid in aethere consideratis. / Filius iste Dei, Christus, cives Galilaei, / Sumptus ut a vobis abit et sic arbiter orbis / Judicii cura veniet dare debita jura.” (Tell us what you are standing and looking at in Heaven. This Son of God, Christ, o ye citizens of Galilee, being taken from you, goes; and so He will come as the judge of the world, with right judgment to give all their due.)
We may note here that St Gregory cites the Prophet Habakkuk according to the text of the Old Latin version of the Bible, the translation made from the Greek text of the Septuagint, while the citations from the Song of Songs are taken from St Jerome’s version, which we now call the Vulgate. Just as several of Jerome’s Biblical commentaries explain both versions of the text, so also the Church Fathers continued to use both, and of course, there are many texts throughout the liturgy, in the Mass, Office and elsewhere, which still use the Old Latin to this very day. Likewise, the first citation from the Song of Songs, (or “Canticle of Canticles” as it is traditionally called in the Vulgate), follows St Jerome’s version, but the second mixes the two, “Draw us” instead of “Draw me.” St Gregory also takes it for granted, as do all the Fathers, that the Song of Songs is a dialogue between Christ and the Church; many early printed Bibles actually contain notes added into the text which explain “This is the voice of the Church speaking to Christ”, or “Christ here says to the Church” etc.
From a Breviary according to the Use of Bamberg, Germany, printed in 1501, part of the Office for the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. In the left column, a bit below the middle, begin the Matins readings from the Song of Songs, with the interpretive notes, “The voice of Christ to the Church”, “The voice of the bride to the young women”, etc.
Hear, o Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee.” After the first anointing, which they had received in the death of Christ, as He breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”, the Apostles awaited the second anointing which the Lord had promised, saying, “If I shall go; I shall send the Paraclete to you.” Therefore, as they await, they sing in the Introit, “Hear.”
Introitus Ps 26 Exaudi, Dómine, vocem meam, qua clamávi ad te, allelúia: tibi dixit cor meum, quaesívi vultum tuum, vultum tuum, Dómine, requíram: ne avertas faciem tuam a me, allelúia, allelúia. V. Dóminus illuminatio mea et salus mea: quem timébo? Glória Patri... Exáudi, Dómine...
Introit Ps. 26 Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to Thee, alleluia: my heart hath said to Thee, I have sought Thy face; Thy face, o Lord, will I still seek turn not Thy face from me, alleluia, alleluia. V. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Glory be... Hear, o Lord...
This is taken from the twenty-sixth Psalm, “The Lord is my light”, the title of which is “Unto the end, a Psalm of David, before he was anointed”; for therein is treated of the anointing of David, which was three-fold. For indeed, first he was anointed as a sign that he would be the king, second, as king over the tribe of Judah, and third over all of Israel.
Folio 14r of the breviary of René of Anjou (1409-80). This image is placed before the ferial Office of Monday, on which the nocturn begins with Psalm 26, “a psalm of David, before he was anointed.” At the lower left, is the election of David as king, and at the right, his anointing and coronation (2 Samuel 5).
We also sing the same, because we await a third anointing. For the first anointing is in baptism, the second in confirmation, or in the penance of confession, the third will be in the resurrection. In another sense, the first anointing was among the Apostles, the second among the Jews, the third among the gentiles. For “the ointment which ran down upon the beard of Aaron ... ran down upon the hem of his garment” (Ps. 132, 2), that is, upon the chosen Jews who were close to the Apostles... and “ran down like dew the dew of Hermon upon Mount Sion”, that is, the grace of Him that was exalted (in the Ascension) imbued the nations that watched for God.
And since the Apostles as they waited... were in the temple, praying, and praising, and blessing God (Luke 24, 53), therefore, as we wait, we are invited to prayer by the Epistle, “Be ye prudent (and keep watch in prayers.” (1 Peter 4, 7-11)
– from the Mitrale of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Italy, (1155 ca. - 1215), book 7, chapter 9. This work was one of the major sources for William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, the Summa of medieval liturgical commentaries, and in the parallel chapter, Durandus cites Sicard by name (or rather, almost by name, since he called him “Richard.”) However, in this case, Sicard’s commentary is much clearer than Durandus’.
Having praised the writings of Fr. Francis X. Weiser in two previous posts (here and here), I thought it meet to share the following excerpt from his magnum opus, the Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1958), pp. 243-45.
Ascension Plays
During the tenth century some dramatic details
were added to the liturgical procession on Ascension Day in the
countries of central and western Europe.
In Germany it became a
custom for priests to lift a cross aloft when the words Assumptus est in caelum (He was taken up into Heaven) were sung
at the Gospel.
From the eleventh century on, the procession was gradually
dropped in most countries and in its place a pageant was
performed in church. These “Ascension plays” have never been
accorded official approval or liturgical status by the Roman
authorities.
By the thirteenth century it had become a fairly general custom
to enact the Ascension by hoisting a statue of the Risen Christ
aloft until it disappeared through an opening in the ceiling of
the church. While the image, suspended on a rope, moved slowly
upward, the people rose in their pews and stretched out their
arms toward the figure of the Saviour, acclaiming the Lord in
prayer or by hymn singing. Hundreds of reports in old books from
the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries contain vivid
descriptions of this ancient custom.
One of the most charming examples is the Ascension play of the
Bavarian monastery in Moosburg, recorded by the priest and poet
Johann von Berghausen (1362). In the center of the church,
directly underneath an opening in the ceiling, a platform
decorated with colored cloths and flowers was erected. On this
platform stood a little tent, open at the top, which represented
the Mount of Olivet. Inside the tent was placed a statue of the
Risen Christ, holding high the banner of victory. A strong rope
that hung down from the ceiling was fastened to a ring on top of
the wooden image. After Vespers (in the afternoon), a solemn
procession moved from the sacristy to the platform. It was led by
two boys in white dresses. They impersonated angels; on their
shoulders they wore wings and on their heads little wreaths of
flowers. They were followed by a young cleric who represented the
Blessed Virgin, “dressed in the robes of holy and honorable
widowhood.” To his right and left walked clerics enacting Saint
Peter and Saint John. Behind them came ten other clerics in
Oriental gowns; they were barefoot, and on their foreheads they
carried diadems inscribed with the names of the Apostles. The
altar boys and priests, vested in festive garb, concluded the
group. In front of the platform, the deacon sang the Gospel of
Ascension Day, and the choir intoned the antiphon, “I ascend to
my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20, 17).
The priests then venerated the image of Christ with inclinations
and incense. Finally, while the choir sang Ascendit Deus in
altum, alleluia (God rose on high), the statue was slowly pulled
aloft. As it rose higher and higher, a few figures of angels
holding burning candles came down from “Heaven” to meet the Lord
and to accompany him on his journey. From a large metal ring that
was suspended below the opening, there hung cloths of silk
representing clouds. Between these “clouds” the image of the
Saviour slowly and solemnly disappeared. A few moments later, a
shower of roses, lilies, and other flowers dropped from the
opening; then followed wafers in the shape of large hosts. The
schoolchildren were allowed to collect these flowers and wafers,
to take them home as cherished souvenirs. Father Berghausen
explains this custom as follows: “The little ones collect the
flowers which symbolize the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. The
wafers indicate the presence of Christ in His eucharistic Body,
which remains with us, under the species of bread, to the end of
time.” While the congregation stood with eyes raised to the
ceiling, the two “angels” intoned the final message of Ascension
Day, which predicts the triumphant coming of the Lord on the
clouds of Heaven, for the great judgment at the end of the world:
“Why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus, who has been
taken up from you into heaven, shall come in the same way as you
have seen him going up to heaven.” (Acts 1, 11) The celebration
was concluded with solemn Benediction.
The Lutheran reformers violently attacked not only occasional
abuses in these plays, but the whole institution. However, Luther
himself seems to have later regretted the hasty condemnations of
earlier years, for in a message to his preachers he wrote in
1530: “If such customs had remained as pageants for the sake of
youth and school children, to furnish them with a presentation of
Christian doctrine and Christian life, then it could well be
allowed that Palm donkeys, Ascension plays, and many similar
traditions might be admitted and tolerated; for by such things
conscience is not led into confusion.”
Other Customs
It was a widespread custom in many parts of Europe
during the Middle Ages to eat a bird on Ascension Day, because
Christ “flew” to Heaven. Pigeons, pheasants, partridges, and even
crows, graced the dinner tables. In western Germany bakers and
innkeepers gave their customers pieces of pastry made in the
shapes of various birds. In England the feast was celebrated with
games, dancing, and horse races. In central Europe, Ascension Day
is a traditional day of mountain climbing and picnics on hilltops
and high places.
Popular superstitions threaten dire punishments to anyone who
works on Ascension Day in field and garden, but especially to
women who do their sewing on the feast. Any piece of garment that
has been touched by a needle on the Ascension will attract
lightning before long, and many stories are told of how people
were killed that way. In some sections of Europe it is said that
weddings should not be held on Ascension Day because one of the
partners would die soon. Those who go bathing in rivers and lakes
are exposed to the danger of drowning more than on other days. It
seems that all these superstitions are relics of the pre-Christian lore of the demons of death who were said to roam the
earth and kill people around this time of the year.
Truly it is fitting… though Christ our Lord. Who after the Resurrection, which is glorious unto all ages, appeared openly to His disciples, visible to their sight and palpable to the touch, unto the fortieth day, and was raised up unto heaven as they watched; from which time they did so profit, that what they believed might become more certain, and that they might learn more fully what to teach. Through the same Christ our Lord. (The Ambrosian Preface of the Ascension)
The Ascension of Christ, from an antiphonary decorated by Lorenzo Monaco, ca 1410
Vere quia dignum et justum est...per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Qui post resurrectionem sæculis omnibus gloriosam, discipulis suis visu conspicuus, tactuque palpabilis, usque in quadragesimum diem manifestus apparuit, ipsisque cernentibus, est elevatus in cælum: in id proficientibus intra has moras primitivas, ut et certius fìeret quod credidissent, et plenius dìscerent quod docérent. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem majestatem tuam...
The following text is most of section 103 of book six of William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officiorum; a few obscure passages have been omitted. The vigil of the Ascension is one of the relatively few features of the temporal cycle in which there was a lot of variation between different Uses of the Roman Rite in the Middle Ages, and some of the texts which he refers to here differ from those in the Roman Missal. The second part explains the baptismal significance of the Introits of the time after Easter, an appropriate subject for the last day of the Easter season properly so-called, and the beginning of the approach to Pentecost, the other major baptismal feast.
Since fasting, of which we have previously spoken (in the preceding section on the Rogation Days), is not sufficient without the works of mercy, therefore on the vigil of the Ascension, which is the third day of the Rogations, the Church exhorts us to the works of mercy, saying in the introit which is sung in some churches, “The mercy of the Lord etc.” (Repeated from Good Shepherd Sunday in the Use followed by Durandus.) For Gregory (the Great) says “If you want your prayer to fly up to heaven, make two wings for it, namely, fasting and alms.” (This saying is incorrectly attributed.) For with good desires we fly to heaven, whence it is said of the Lord, “Lifting up his hands, he was born unto heaven.” …
The Mass of the Vigil of the Ascension in a 15th century Missal according to the Use of Paris, with the Epistle Acts 4, 32-37, instead of the Roman Epistle, Ephesians 4, 7-13.
But the epistle which is read in some churches, (Acts 4, 32-37) seems not to fit, but rather, to set things in the wrong order, since it happened after the Lord’s Ascension that “the heart and mind of the multitude of the believers were one.” But this is done for two reasons. The first is so that the epistle may fit with the gospel (John 17, 1-11a), in which the Lord says “Father, glorify, (that is, manifest) Thy son”, and afterwards prays, saying “I ask that they may be (one) as we are,” and this unity is shown in the epistle. The other reason is that when alms are given from a true heart, all things are held to belong to all, as the Apostle says about the manna, that he who gathered more did not abound more, and who gathered less did not have less (2 Corinthians 8, 15, citing Exodus 16, 18): for he who is rich, should not for this reason eat more, but share it with others, and this is said in the epistle, “And they had all things in common.”
Now for this reason the aforementioned gospel is read today, because He that prayed when He was about to suffer, became known to men when He ascended (to heaven); or else because at the end it says “I come to Thee.” And in this (gospel) He prays for those whom the Father gave Him, that they may be one in the Father, since all things are one in faith and charity, that is, united to one another in harmony … St Hilary (of Poitiers) explains these words as follows. “I ask that just as I and Thou are one, that is, not only in will, but also in nature; so also may they be one, that is, in unity of spirit, and the grace of the Holy Spirit.” (De Trinitate VIII, 9)
But in other churches, the Epistle is (Ephesians 4, 7-13). …
Therefore, because this Mass is about alms and the works of mercy, in some places, in order that they may acquire for themselves the wings mentioned above, people busy themselves with almsgiving, but they defer this to the feast of the Ascension, as if then to fly unto heaven after Christ…
Now some people fittingly refer the Masses of Easter week to those who are reborn in baptism, according to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And so, the one who is reborn, inspired by the spirit of wisdom, says “I have risen.” (The Introit of Easter Sunday) The gospel declares through what he is risen, namely, through the Resurrection of the Lord, and the spirit of understanding instructs him as to what he has gained thereby, saying, “He hath brought us into the Land” (The Introit of Easter Monday), that is, the Church; and the spirit of counsel adds, “With the water of wisdom He gave them to drink.” (Tuesday) The spirit of fortitude indicates what else he ought to gain thereby, saying “Come, ye blessed of my Father.” (Wednesday) The spirit of knowledge teaches him that for these benefits granted to him, he must praise God, saying “Together they praised Thy conquering hand, o Lord.” (Thursday) The spirit of piety indicates what the Resurrection has brought to the reborn, saying “The Lord hath led them out in hope” (Friday), and the spirit of fear adds to this, saying, “The Lord has led out his people.” (Saturday)
For all these benefits conferred in baptism, the angels congratulate men, men confess God, and exhort one another to the praises of Christ; they give thanks, they rejoice, they remember these benefits and the causes thereof, and they confidently aspire to greater things. The other parts of the Masses of Easter are concerned with this …
Notice also that in the Introits of this week, Alleluia is said four times in four of them (on Easter Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday), and three times in three of them, because praise is given to Holy Trinity from the four parts of the world for the resurrection of Christ, and the redemption of man. In the first Sunday, that is “Quasi modo geniti”, the baptized are urged by their mother (i.e. the Church) to live innocently like infants, and to desire the milk of the Holy Scripture, so that by their mores and life they may hold to the Paschal sacrament which they have received through Christ’s resurrection, overcome the world, triumph with him, and obtain rejoicing in body and soul together. Because of this rejoicing, the Alleluja (before the Gospel) is doubled, because they have escaped from death, and merited to have the hope of life; or as a symbol of action and contemplation; or as a symbol of the joy of the preachers and of those whom they convert.
(The Introit of Good Shepherd Sunday: “The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, alleluia, and by the word of the Lord the heavens were established, alleluia, alleluia.” Psalm 32)
But on the second Sunday, the baptized, being already instructed, sound forth the mercy of Christ, and preach the Trinity; for in the word “mercy”, they announce the Spirit, in “the word” the Son, and in “God” (i.e. the Lord) the Father. First they mention the Spirit, through whom they are sanctified; then the Son, through whom they are redeemed, then the Father, to whom they are reconciled: and because they sing of the Trinity, they sing Alleluia three times.
(The Introit of the Third Sunday after Easter: “Shout with joy to God, all the earth, alleluia, sing a psalm to his name, alleluia; give glory to his praise, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Psalm 65)
On the third Sunday, the baptized invite the whole world to the praise of God, and sound forth the Trinity, … and since through the two precepts of charity they are strengthened in the faith of the Trinity, therefore, first they sing alleluia twice, then three times.
(The Introit of the Fourth Sunday: “Sing to the Lord a new song, alleluia: because the Lord hath done wonderful things, alleluia. In the sight of the nations He hath revealed his justice, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Psalm 97)
On the fourth Sunday, again the baptized invite the converted nations to the praise of God, and commemorate the Trinity, when in “the Lord” understand the Father, through “wonders” the Son, and in “justice” the Holy Spirit. And because the nations received the faith of the Trinity from the four parts of the world, therefore they sing of the Trinity with a fourth alleluia.
(The Introit of the Fifth Sunday: “Announce the voice of rejoicing, and let it be heard, alleluia: and proclaim even to the ends of the earth, the Lord hath redeemed his people, alleluia, alleluia.” Isaiah 48)
On the fifth Sunday, again the baptized announce their liberator to their nations, because they sing of the Trinity with a threefold Alleluia.
From the homily of Pope St Gregory the Great read on the octave of the Ascension in the Roman Breviary.
Concerning the glory of (Christ’s) Ascension, Habakkuk also said, “The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in her rank.” (3, 10-11) Who is here signified by the name of the Sun, if not the Lord, and by the name of the Moon, if not the Church? For until the Lord ascended to the heavens, His Holy Church was in every way afraid of the hostilities of the world, but after She was strengthened by His Ascension, She openly preached what She had come to believe in secret. Therefore was the sun was lifted up, and the moon stood still in her rank, since, the Lord went unto heaven, His Holy Church grew stronger the authority of Her preaching.
The Prophet Habakkuk, by Girolamo Romanino, from the Sacrament Chapel of the church of St John the Evangelist in Brescia, Italy. (1521-4.) The quotation on the banderole, the opening words of his canticle in chapter 3, follows the Old Latin text, which was translated from the Septuagint, rather than the Vulgate version of St Jerome. St Gregory cites this same older version above.
Therefore, dearest brethren, it behooveth us to follow in heart and mind thither, where we believe Him to have ascended bodily. Let us flee earthly desires; let nothing now delight us here below, who have a Father in heaven. And we must especially consider this, that He Who ascended in peace will return in dread, and require from us a strict account of our keeping of those commandments which He gave us in mildness. Let no man therefore reckon lightly these seasons of repentance, let no one fail to take care of himself while he can, for our Redeemer will come unto judgment all the more strictly, as He hath shown us great patience before the judgment.
For the ongoing feast of the Ascension, here is a sequence for it which was sung in the Uses of Sarum, York, and Hereford in England, and in those of Paris and Sens in France. (Despite its great antiquity, and its status as the capital of France, Paris was a suffragan diocese to Sens until 1622.) It is attributed, though far from certainly, to the Blessed Hermanus Contractus (Herman the Cripple), better known as the author of the great Marian antiphons Alma Redemptoris Mater and Salve, Regina. This recording is interesting for the way it alternates between a single voice and the full choir; in fact, sequences were most typically designed to be sung in some form of alternation like this. The Latin text with English translation, taken from Sequences from the Sarum Missal, with English Translations, by Charles Buchanan Pearson (Bell and Daldy; London, 1871. Click images to enlarge.)
The Roman Rite has various ways of arranging the Masses during an octave. That of Easter, for example, has a completely proper Mass for every day, that of Pentecost for every day but Thursday, which was originally an “aliturgical” day; when its Mass was instituted later, it was given proper readings, but everything else is repeated from Sunday. The feast of Ss Peter and Paul is continued with one Mass for the days within the octave, and another for the octave day itself, plus the special Commemoration of St Paul on June 30th. Some others, however, especially the relatively late ones like Corpus Christi and All Saints, simply repeat the Mass of the day throughout the octave.
A folio of the Echternach Sacramntary, 895 AD, with the last two prayers of the Mass of St Paul, those of Ss Processus and Martinian on July 2, and the first two prayers of the octave of Ss Peter and Paul.
The feast of the Ascension falls into the latter category, although the Mass of the Sunday within the octave, which is older than the octave itself, is different. Octaves are for the contemplation of mysteries that are too great for a single day, and it is certainly true that “repetita juvant”, a proverb which the Roman Rite, with its habitual conservatism, historically took very much to heart. One might argue, however, that there was some room for expanding the repertoire of readings within this octave in particular, in a way that would have been fully consonant with the tradition of the Rite, and expanded the scope of such contemplation.
The very oldest lectionary of the Roman Rite, the Comes (the Latin word for “companion”) of Wurzburg, attests to the Roman system of readings as it was in the middle of the 7th century. (The manuscript itself was copied out in roughly 700-750.) Although there are some notable differences, it is unmistakably the same system as that of the Missal of St Pius V. Its Gospels for the Easter season are almost entirely the same, while those of the second oldest Comes, that of Murbach, are exactly the same. Both of them also attest to a feature which was not included in the late medieval Missal of the Roman Curia, the immediate predecessor of that of St Pius V, namely, a series of ferial readings for the Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year. In Wurzburg, this feature is very irregular; some weeks have readings for both days, some have one for Saturday as well, but others them have only for one day, and others have none. In Murbach, which is from roughly a century later, it has been completely regularized, and every Wednesday and Friday has readings assigned to it.
On the Wednesday after the Ascension, the Gospel is the very end of St Luke, chapter 24, 49-53. (Ss Matthew and John do not describe the Ascension, although Christ Himself refers to it in John 20, 17, in the words that form the antiphon for the Benedictus, “I go up to my Father and yours, my God and yours, alleluia.”) The Roman Rite tends to choose shorter passages than both the Ambrosian and Byzantine Rites, which have a longer selection from this passage, verses 36-53 (everything after the Supper at Emmaus), as the main Gospel of the feast; the Byzantines read the Roman Gospel at Orthros. In the Neo-Gallican Use of Paris, which expanded the Roman corpus of Scriptural readings considerably, while keeping to the traditional structure of the lectionary, verses 44-53 were assigned to the octave day of the Ascension.
Another passage which is connected to the feast is one of the most beautiful in St John’s Gospel, chapter 17, which Biblical scholars now often call the “priestly prayer.” On the vigil of the Ascension, the Missal of St Pius V has only the first 10½ verses, breaking off at vs. 11 “… and I come to thee.” The rest of the chapter is not read in either the temporal or sanctoral cycles, but verses 11-23 are the Gospel of the Votive Mass to remove a schism. In the Murbach lectionary, the rest of passage is read on the Wednesday following the Fourth Sunday after Easter; on the Sunday after the Ascension, the Ambrosian Rite reads the full chapter, while the Byzantine reads the first 13 verses. The revised Parisian Use kept the traditional Roman Gospel for the vigil, then very cleverly divided the rest into two parts. Verses 11b-19, in which Christ prays for the Apostles, is read on the Friday within the octave of the Ascension; the rest of the chapter, in which He prays “also for those who shall believe in Me though their word”, is assigned to Tuesday.
Two leaves of the Parisian Missal of 1736, with part of the propers for the Mass for the Friday after the octave of the Ascension, and the beginning of the vigil of Pentecost.
The Parisian Use is in many respects inspired by tradition, as in the examples given above, but did not shy away from innovations, which vary in quality. One of its better innovations, which has no precedent in the ancient Roman lectionaries, is the Gospel chosen for the Friday between the Octave of the Ascension and the vigil of Pentecost, which is traditionally celebrated as a kind of extension of the octave. (The Roman Missal repeats the Gospel of the Sunday). The liturgy of the Ascension often looks forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; an example is the responsory “If I do not go, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, will not come.” With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles will go out in the world to preach the Gospel, for which they, and many others after them, will receive the crown of martyrdom. The Parisian Use therefore moves away from St John, who dominates the Easter season, and takes this passage from St Luke, 12, 8-12, which looks forward to the ongoing witness to the life and teachings of Christ in the mission of His Church.
“At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But he that shall deny me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but to him that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. And when they shall bring you into the synagogues, and to magistrates and powers, be not solicitous how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say; For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you must say.”
Men of Galilee, why do you wonder looking up to heaven? alleluia. As you have seen Him going into heaven, so shall He come, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Ps 46 All ye nations, clap your hands: shout unto God with the voice of joy. Glory be... Men of Galilee... (The Introit of the Ascension)
Introitus Viri Galilaei, quid admirámini aspicientes in caelum? allelúja: quemádmodum vidistis eum ascendentem in caelum, ita veniet, allelúja, allelúja, allelúja. Ps. 46 Omnes gentes, pláudite mánibus: jubiláte Deo in voce exsultatiónis. Gloria Patri... Viri Galilaei...
The following texts are take from William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officium, book 6, chapter 104, in my own translation.
On the feast of the Lord’s Ascension, which is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter, since Christ on the fortieth day after the Resurrection ascended into heaven, a solemn procession is held; for the Lord commanded that His disciples go before him to the Mount of Olives, that they might see Him ascend. And they made a procession for Him, and He, lifting up is hands, was born into heaven. … This procession signifies the going from virtue to virtue (or “from strength to strength”) and (during it), a responsory is sung from the Office of the Ascension, that we may be invited to ascend after the Lord.
The Ascension, by Benvenuto Tisi (1481-1559), generally known as Garofalo.
Now the Lord ascended from Bethany, which means “obedience”, from place which He led the Apostles out. By this is signified that fact that without obedience, no one can ascend into heaven. For this reason, some churches sing during the procession the responsories which speak about the Lord leading them out. The fact that He ascended from the Mount of Olives signifies that we must ascend by means of the works of mercy. …
There follows the Introit “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? etc” For they were looking with their eyes fixed, and would have looked even longer, had the Angels not told them to depart, saying, “This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven.” That is, He will so come to judge, in a cloud. The cloud signifies grace, since without the cloud, and without grace, no one can ascend, even Christ, insofar as He is a man, and the cloud in which He ascended signifies this. And because the joy over the Ascension cannot be expressed in speech, therefore there follows the verse “All ye nations, clap your hands.”
There follows the Epistle “The former treatise” (Acts 1, 1-11) which speaks of the Ascension, then the double Alleluja, since the Lord ascended in a double garment (i.e. in His divinity and His humanity), … the first Alleluja is “God has ascended with rejoicing”, which is to say, with the ineffable joy of the ancient Fathers, who ascended with Him (from the limbo of the Fathers), and the Apostles and Angels, saying “Who is this king of glory?” (Psalm 23, 8) (just as) Isaiah says (63, 1) “Who is this that cometh from Edom?” (From very ancient times, both of these texts were understood by the Fathers as references to the Ascension; see the sermon of St Gregory of Nyssa on the fourth day within the octave of the Ascension in the Breviary of St Pius V.) There follows “And the Lord in the voice of the trumpet”, that is, with the terrible sound, referring to the voice of the Angels; or else, the Lord speaks though the Angels, when he said to the Apostles, “So shall He come.” …
There follows the Gospel of Mark (16, 14-20), who roars out (i.e, like a lion, his traditional symbol), “As the eleven disciples were at table”, which continues “He reproved them”; this is the roaring. …
It should also be said that some of the things which are sung on this day tell the story of the Ascension, such as that which John says after the Passion, (i.e., the antiphon at the Benedictus, “I go up to my Father and yours, my God and yours, alleluia.” from John 20, 17), and the words “God has gone up.” But some of them are the consolatiom of the Bridegroom to the bride, such as “Let your heart not be troubled, nor fearful”, and “It is time that I return”, and “If I do not go, the Paraclete shall not come.” (These are all texts from the responsories of Matins.) Some others are the congratulations of the Bride to the Bridegroom, such as the responsory “Be thou exalted, o Lord” and “Thou makest the cloud.” In the narrative part, hope is conceived, in the part about consolation, it is raised up, in the congratulations is it made certain and declared.
Likewise, in the day’s Mass, the Ascension is narrated in the Epistle and Gospel, where it is said that the Lord was taken up into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, in equality with the Father. In the Alleluja, “The Lord is on Sinai” the bride congratulates; in the other Alleluja, “I will not leave you”, the bridegroom consoles. In the Offertory, it is narrated that the Ascension was completed, and likewise in the Communion, which says “Sing ye to the Lord, who mounteth above the heaven of heavens to the East, alleluia.” that is, (sing) to the Word, united to Him as one person. It is not said that He has arisen (i.e., in the past), nor that He will arise, but rather, that He is arising, because the Son proceeds eternally from the Father, …
Icon of the Ascension, by Andreas Ritzos (1421-92). At the very top, the Holy Trinity is represented by showing the three Angels that appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18, 1-10. This follows the standard custom of Byzantine iconography, made particularly famous by the Trinity of Andrej Rubliev.
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: When the Paraclete has come, Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth Who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness concerning Me. And you also will bear witness, because you are with Me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you that you may not be scandalized. They will expel you from the synagogues; but the hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think he is offering worship to God. And these things they will do because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have spoken to you, that when the time for them has come you may remember that I told you. (John 15, 26-27; 16, 1-4, the Gospel of the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension.)
The Ascension, 1456-57, by the German painter Johann Koerbecke (ca. 1415-20 - 1491).
In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus discípulis suis: Cum vénerit Paráclitus, quem ego mittam vobis a Patre, Spíritum veritátis, qui a Patre procédit, ille testimonium perhibébit de me: et vos testimonium perhibébitis, quia ab initio mecum estis. Haec locútus sum vobis, ut non scandalizémini. Absque synagógis facient vos: sed venit hora, ut omnis, qui intérficit vos, arbitrétur obsequium se praestáre Deo. Et haec facient vobis, quia non novérunt Patrem neque me. Sed haec locútus sum vobis: ut, cum vénerit hora eórum, reminiscámini, quia ego dixi vobis.
The Roman Breviary of St Pius V derives from the medieval use of the Papal Curia, which was traditionally very conservative in most regards, and especially so in its repertoire of hymns. Many feasts, including some of the greatest solemnities (e.g. Christmas and Epiphany), have only two proper hymns, one of which is sung at both Vespers and Matins, and the other at Lauds; the same is true of almost all of the common Offices. When the Office hymns were revised in the post-Conciliar reform, the corpus was considerably broadened by the addition of new texts, among them, a very nice hymn for the Ascension previously used only in the Ambrosian Rite and by the Cistercians. In the Liturgy of the Hours, it is appointed to be said at Lauds on the Ascension itself, and the days that follow until Pentecost.
The version used in this recording has several discrepancies from the one given in the table below, which I have taken from an Ambrosian Breviary printed in 1539. (The sung text and a French translation are given in the comments on YouTube.) The original form of the hymn given in volume 51 of the Analecta hymnica (p. 92) dates from the 10th century, possibly earlier, and has a number of metrical and grammatical flaws typical of that period. These were subsequently corrected in various ways; it was also reworked for use in the Liturgy of the Hours, somewhat less cack-handedly than usual. The English translation is taken from the second volume of Early Christian Hymns, by Daniel Joseph Donahue; it is fine as poetry, but not especially literal as a translation.
Optatus votis omnium,
Sacratus illuxit dies,
Quo Christus, mundi spes, Deus,
Conscendit caelos arduos.
The morn has dawned upon the sky, The sacred day of joy and light, When Christ, our hope arose on high Above the stars in glory bright.
Ascendens in altum Dominus, Propriam sedem remeat;
Gavisa sunt caeli regna
Reditu Unigeniti.
To heaven ascends Our Lord and King, As King and Lord he takes his throne; Rejoicing choirs of Angels sing
Triumphant songs to greet the Son.
Magni triumphum proelii
Mundi perempto principe,
Patris praesentat vultibus,
Victricis carnis gloriam.
Our glorious prince, in battle tried With sin and death and deep disgrace, In human form all glorified, Now stands before the Father’s face.
Est elevatus nubibus Et spem fecit credentibus,
Aperiens paradisum,
Quem protoplasti clauserant.
He rose in glory through the skies, And gave to all a hope sublime, He opened the gates of Paradise, That long were closed by Adam’s crime.
O grande cunctis gaudium,
Quod partus nostrae Virginis
Post sputa, flagra, post crucem,
Paternae sedi jungitur.
O wondrous joy! the Virgin-born, Our hope, our love, our Holy One, After the blows of spite and scorn Is seated on the Father’s throne.
Agamus ergo gratias
Nostrae salutis vindici,
Nostrum quod corpus vexerit,
Sublimem ad caeli regiam.
Let thanks arise on every side
To Christ our help, our God of might,
Who hath our body glorified
And raised it to the throne of light.
Sit nobis cum caelestibus
Commune manens gaudium,
Illis, quod se praesentavit,
Nobis, quod se non abstulit.
Abounding joy shall e’er remain, And earth and heaven with glory fill: In heaven, that Christ returns again, On earth, that Christ is with us still.
Nunc provocatis actibus
Christum expectare nos decet
Vitamque talem vivere,
Quae possit caelos scandere.
Then let our hearts with love o’erflow, Our words and deeds be all of light, That when we leave these walks below, Our souls shall climb the heavenly height.
Gloria tibi, Domine,
Qui scandis super sidera,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna saecula. Amen.
To Christ the Lord sing praises meet, Who rose in might the stars above, Unto the Father and Paraclete, Give equal meed of praise and love. Amen.
The first part of the hymn Optatus votis in an Ambrosian Breviary printed in Venice in 1539. The rubric at the top says “On the vigil of the Ascension of the Lord”; until the Tridentine reform, the term “vigil” was commonly used to mean “First Vespers” in both the Roman and Ambrosian Rites.
A couple of the expressions used in this hymn show very nicely the ability of Latin to say a great deal with very few words, and perhaps call for some explanation. In the third stanza, “Victricis carnis gloriam”, literally means “the glory of the conquering flesh”, a very terse way of saying that the Incarnation, the taking on of our human nature in the flesh, was the means by which Christ both defeated the devil and raised us up to the glory of heaven. Likewise, in the fifth stanza, the unknown author called the Virgin Mary “our Virgin”, as a way of saying that She is the source from which our human nature is united to the divine nature.
As noted above, before the post-Conciliar reform, this hymn was used outside the Ambrosian Rite only by the Cistercians; there is an interesting story about how this came to be. Hymns were first introduced into the western Church by St Ambrose, and because of this, St Benedict in his Rule uses the term “ambrosianum” for them, rather than “hymnus.” When the Cistercians were founded at the end of the 11th century as an order which intended to follow the letter of the Rule as strictly as possible, they took this term to mean not “hymn” generically, but rather, the specific corpus of hymns introduced by Ambrose in person, which they assumed must be the very same ones then used in the rite of his episcopal see. They therefore sent people to Milan to copy out the Ambrosian Office hymnal, and then incorporated it into their own proper Use of the Office, a change which brought them much unfavorable criticism. In the specific case of Optatus votis, they divided it into two parts, with the first four stanzas at Vespers and Matins, and the rest at Lauds. In the post-Tridentine period, however, the Cistercian Use was heavily romanized, and the hymn was replaced with the traditional Roman ones; a later reform restored “O grande cunctis” at Lauds, but not the first part at Vespers and Matins.
The hymn Optatus votis in the hymnal of a Cistercian breviary printed at Strasbourg in 1494. The Roman hymn for Vespers Jesu, nostra redemptio is assigned to Compline, and a truncated version of the Roman hymn for Matins Aeterne Rex altissime to Terce.
Here is a nice recording of the propers of the Mass of the Ascension from the Abbey of Triors in France.
The Christian liturgical tradition envisions the Ascension of Our Lord as a climactic event in which the risen Christ, magnificent with His glorified Body, makes a triumphant return to the heavenly kingdom. In the Roman rite, the hymn, antiphons, and responsories of Matins would have ensured that these themes and images were prominent from the earliest hours of the great feast day: “Alleluia. The Lord Christ hath ascended up into heaven. O come let us worship Him. Alleluia”; “Thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens, O God, alleluia”; “The Lord is in His holy Temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven, alleluia”; “℣. God is ascended with jubilee, alleluia. ℟. And the Lord with the sound of trumpet, alleluia.” The iconographic tradition likewise emphasizes radiance, strength, and grandeur.
The Ascension, by Benjamin West (d. 1820); oil on canvas. The composition of this fine piece evokes Psalm 67: “Sing ye to God, sing psalms to his name, / make way for him that rideth on clouds.”
We find a profound counterpoint to these Ascension motifs in a collection of religious drama known as the Chester Cycle. The cycle plays of medieval England – in modern times often called “mystery” plays – were among the West’s most extraordinary manifestations of Christian folk culture. Produced on a local scale and performed mostly by amateurs, they brought craft guilds, poets, and civil authorities together in an attempt to dramatize salvation history and Christian doctrine. They were a living catechism written in charming, homely verse and illuminated with poignant vignettes and deeply human characters. As a supplement to sacred liturgy, they were an invaluable means of making the Faith enjoyable, inspiring, and memorable for ordinary people living
in the world.
A depiction of a fifteenth-century Crucifixion play.
The Ascension play performed in Chester, a cathedral city in northwest England, included features that are unique among the surviving cycle-play texts. The stage directions indicate that Christ will ascend while singing (further specifying that “God singeth alone”), but He pauses in His ascent and stands “above the clouds,” and then His head, limbs, and clothes appear bloody as though He is in the midst of His Passion. An angel asks who it is that comes “bloody” within the bliss of heaven, and the dialogue continues as given below (I have modernized the language where possible and adapted the meter to modern pronunciation):
Jesus
I that did speak righteousness,
and have brought man out of distress,
redeemer called I am and was
of all mankind through grace.
My people, that were from me rafte [stolen],
through sin and through the devil’s craft,
to heaven I bring—good never one left—
all that were in hell.
Tertius Angelus
Why is thy clothing now so red,
thy body bloody and also head,
thy clothes also, all that are ledd [worn],
like unto pressers of wine?
Jesus
Because of the devil, and of his power,
that brought mankind to great danger,
through death on cross and blood so bright,
them I have made all mine.
These bloody drops that ye now see,
fresh they all reserved
shall be,
until I come in my majesty,
to judge on the last day.
This blood I shed bears witness to me,
I died for man upon the Rood-tree,
and rose again within days three—
with such love always I loved thee.
This scene’s mysterious uniting of glory and anguish must
have created an intense dramatic effect, especially if the play’s producers
decided to reinforce the dialogue with stage blood, which at that time could
have been real blood (from an animal). The text also offers some insight into
popular devotion to Christ’s sacred Blood, which is presented as a precious
substance that paid the debt of sin and allowed Our Lord to reclaim mankind as
His own: “through death on cross and blood so bright, / them I have made all
mine.” Furthermore, this Blood is not a historical artifact that was shed only
once during an enclosed, finalized act of redemption. Rather, it must stay
“fresh”: flowing and gleaming with Christ’s eternal love, bearing witness to
His power, and sanctifying the human race until He comes in majesty “to judge
on the last day.” This imagery resonates with the Precious Blood as medieval
Catholics perceived and experienced it in the Holy Eucharist.
A nineteenth-century depiction of a fifteenth-century Passion play performed at Coventry, England.
More directly, however, the playwright was drawing from a
long poem called the Stanzaic Life of Christ, which was composed at
Chester in the fourteenth century, and which in turn was influenced by the Golden
Legend of Bl. Jacobus de Voragine. William Caxton’s 1483 translation of the
latter includes the following in the chapter on the Ascension:
Thus seemeth it that ... three questions were made to the
angels [when] Jesus ascended. Who is this that cometh from Edom, his clothes
dyed of Bosra? This word Edom is as much to say as full of blood, and this word
Bosra is to say anguish and tribulation.... The second question is that which
the first and sovereign angel made to Jesu Christ saying: Why is thy clothing
red, and thy vestments as trodden or fulled in a press? Our Lord hath his
clothing and his body red, all covered with blood, because that yet when he
ascended he had his wounds in his body.
The Worship of the Five Wounds, by Simon Bening (d. 1561). Tempera, gold paint, and gold leaf on parchment.
The Ascension of the bleeding Christ has no support in the
New Testament accounts, and one wonders what the pre-Reformation ecclesiastical
authorities thought about the Chester play’s embellished version of the
Ascension narrative. (We need not wonder about the post-Reformation
ecclesiastical authorities; they were displeased with all the mystery plays, which
by the seventeenth century had been terminated.) However, since our dear Lord
brought His five sacred wounds with Him to the courts of heaven, I see no harm
in a poetic amplification that imagines Him ascending in twofold glory: that of
His divine splendor, and that of His human blood, shed amidst love and agony for
our salvation.
For thrice-weekly discussions of art, history, language, literature, Christian spirituality, and traditional Western liturgy, all seen through the lens of medieval culture, you can subscribe (for free!) to my Substack publication: Via Mediaevalis.
In the Breviary of St Pius V, this beautiful passage from St Gregory of Nyssa’s Sermon on the Ascension is read at Matins on the Wednesday within the Octave. It explains the last part of Psalm 23 as a dialog between the angels who accompany Our Lord in His Ascension, and those who serve as door-keepers of Heaven, into which He brings our human nature. The full passage from the Psalm is as follows.
“Lift up your gates, o ye princes, and be ye lifted up, o eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.” (verses 7-10)
A silver icon of the Ascension made in Georgia in the 11th or 12th century; note the Angels at the top opening the gates of Heaven.
“The Prophet David makes today’s festival, which is great enough in itself, all the greater, when he adds to it words of rejoicing taken from the Psalms. For this great prophet, rising above himself, as if he were not at all weighed down by the body, brings himself into the midst of the heavenly powers, and tells us what they said when they accompanied the Lord as He returned to heaven, and commanded those Angels who dwell on earth, even they to whom His entrance into human life was entrusted, with these words: ‘Lift up your gates, o ye princes, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in!’
… The gatekeepers therefore ask ‘Who is this King of glory?’ They answer them, and show Him strong and mighty in battle, Who came to fight against him who held human nature captive and in servitude, and to ‘destroy him that had the power of death’ (Hebr. 2), so that, that most oppressive enemy being conquered, he might win mankind back unto freedom and peace.
The guardians come to meet him, and order the doors to be opened, that He might once again receive glory in their presence. But they do not recognize Him, who was clad in the sordid stole of our (earthly) life, whose garments are red from the winepress of our evils. (Isa. 63) Therefore His companions are asked once again by those voices ‘Who is this King of glory?’ And they answer no longer ‘He that is strong and mighty in battle’, but rather ‘The Lord of hosts’, Who hath obtained the rule of the world, Who hath gathered together all things in Himself, who hath restored all things to their prior state; He is the King of Glory!”
It is a very ancient tradition of the Fathers to understand the passage from Isaiah 63 cited here as a prophecy of the Incarnation. St Gregory’s namesake, friend and fellow-bishop (of Nazianzus), has a very similar passage in his Oration 45, 25.
“And if He ascend up into Heaven, ascend with Him. Be one of those angels who escort Him, or one of those who receive Him. Bid the gates be lifted up, or be made higher, that they may receive Him, exalted after His Passion. Answer to those who are in doubt because He bears up with Him His body and the tokens of His Passion, which He had not when He came down, and who therefore inquire, ‘Who is this King of Glory? that it is the Lord strong and mighty, as in all things that He has done from time to time and does, so now in His battle and triumph for the sake of mankind. And give to the doubting of the question the twofold answer. And if they marvel and say as in Isaiah’s drama ‘Who is this that comes from Edom and from the things of earth?’ or ‘How are the garments red of Him that is without blood or body, as of one that treads in the full wine-press?’ set forth the beauty of the array of the Body that suffered, adorned by the Passion, and made splendid by the Godhead, than which nothing can be more lovely or more beautiful.”
Despite his importance as a theologian, and his close association with the other Cappadocian Fathers (St Basil was his elder brother), St Gregory of Nyssa was very little known in the West for a very long time. Almost nothing was known of his writings, and there was no veneration paid to him as a Saint, although he is listed in the Martyrology on March 9th. To this day, he has never been recognized as a Doctor of the Church, and the passage given above is his only appearance in the Divine Office. This may make the inclusion of it seem unusual, but it is in fact part of a very deliberate program of the Tridentine Breviary. The Protestants often claimed to find justification for their teachings, and proof that they were not really novelties, in the writings of the Fathers. In the company of Western Fathers such as Maximus of Turin, Augustine, Leo the Great and Gregory the Great, those of the East such as Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom appear as witnesses against them, attesting to the true and perennial teaching of the Church.
Hear, o Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee.” After the first anointing, which they had received in the death of Christ, as He breathed upon them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”, the Apostles awaited the second anointing which the Lord had promised, saying, “If I shall go; I shall send the Paraclete to you.” Therefore, as they await, they sing in the Introit, “Hear.”
Introitus Ps 26 Exaudi, Dómine, vocem meam, qua clamávi ad te, allelúia: tibi dixit cor meum, quaesívi vultum tuum, vultum tuum, Dómine, requíram: ne avertas faciem tuam a me, allelúia, allelúia. V. Dóminus illuminatio mea et salus mea: quem timébo? Glória Patri... Exáudi, Dómine...
Introit Ps. 26 Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to Thee, alleluia: my heart hath said to Thee, I have sought Thy face; Thy face, o Lord, will I still seek turn not Thy face from me, alleluia, alleluia. V. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Glory be... Hear, o Lord...
This is taken from the twenty-sixth Psalm, “The Lord is my light”, the title of which is “Unto the end, a Psalm of David, before he was anointed”; for therein is treated of the anointing of David, which was three-fold. For indeed, first he was anointed as a sign that he would be the king, second, as king over the tribe of Judah, and third over all of Israel.
Folio 14r of the breviary of René of Anjou (1409-80). This image is placed before the ferial Office of Monday, on which the nocturn begins with Psalm 26, “a psalm of David, before he was anointed.” At the lower left, is the election of David as king, and at the right, his anointing and coronation (2 Samuel 5).
We also sing the same, because we await a third anointing. For the first anointing is in baptism, the second in confirmation, or in the penance of confession, the third will be in the resurrection. In another sense, the first anointing was among the Apostles, the second among the Jews, the third among the gentiles. For “the ointment which ran down upon the beard of Aaron ... ran down upon the hem of his garment” (Ps. 132, 2), that is, upon the chosen Jews who were close to the Apostles... and “ran down like dew the dew of Hermon upon Mount Sion”, that is, the grace of Him that was exalted (in the Ascension) imbued the nations that watched for God.
And since the Apostles as they waited... were in the temple, praying, and praising, and blessing God (Luke 24, 53), therefore, as we wait, we are invited to prayer by the Epistle, “Be ye prudent (and keep watch in prayers.” (1 Peter 4, 7-11)
– from the Mitrale of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Italy, (1155 ca. - 1215), book 7, chapter 9. This work was one of the major sources for William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, the Summa of medieval liturgical commentaries, and in the parallel chapter, Durandus cites Sicard by name (or rather, almost by name, since he called him “Richard.”) However, in this case, Sicard’s commentary is much clearer than Durandus’.
Truly it is fitting… though Christ our Lord. Who after the Resurrection, which is glorious unto all ages, appeared openly to His disciples, visible to their sight and palpable to the touch, unto the fortieth day, and was raised up unto heaven as they watched; from which time they did so profit, that what they believed might become more certain, and that they might learn more fully what to teach. Through the same Christ our Lord. (The Ambrosian Preface of the Ascension)
The Ascension of Christ, from an antiphonary decorated by Lorenzo Monaco, ca 1410
Vere quia dignum et justum est...per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Qui post resurrectionem sæculis omnibus gloriosam, discipulis suis visu conspicuus, tactuque palpabilis, usque in quadragesimum diem manifestus apparuit, ipsisque cernentibus, est elevatus in cælum: in id proficientibus intra has moras primitivas, ut et certius fìeret quod credidissent, et plenius dìscerent quod docérent. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem majestatem tuam...
The following text is most of section 103 of book six of William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officiorum; a few obscure passages have been omitted. The vigil of the Ascension is one of the relatively few features of the temporal cycle in which there was a lot of variation between different Uses of the Roman Rite in the Middle Ages, and some of the texts which he refers to here differ from those in the Roman Missal. The second part explains the baptismal significance of the Introits of the time after Easter, an appropriate subject for the last day of the Easter season properly so-called, and the beginning of the approach to Pentecost, the other major baptismal feast.
Since fasting, of which we have previously spoken (in the preceding section on the Rogation Days), is not sufficient without the works of mercy, therefore on the vigil of the Ascension, which is the third day of the Rogations, the Church exhorts us to the works of mercy, saying in the introit which is sung in some churches, “The mercy of the Lord etc.” (Repeated from Good Shepherd Sunday in the Use followed by Durandus.) For Gregory (the Great) says “If you want your prayer to fly up to heaven, make two wings for it, namely, fasting and alms.” (This saying is incorrectly attributed.) For with good desires we fly to heaven, whence it is said of the Lord, “Lifting up his hands, he was born unto heaven.” …
The Mass of the Vigil of the Ascension in a 15th century Missal according to the Use of Paris, with the Epistle Acts 4, 32-37, instead of the Roman Epistle, Ephesians 4, 7-13.
But the epistle which is read in some churches, (Acts 4, 32-37) seems not to fit, but rather, to set things in the wrong order, since it happened after the Lord’s Ascension that “the heart and mind of the multitude of the believers were one.” But this is done for two reasons. The first is so that the epistle may fit with the gospel (John 17, 1-11a), in which the Lord says “Father, glorify, (that is, manifest) Thy son”, and afterwards prays, saying “I ask that they may be (one) as we are,” and this unity is shown in the epistle. The other reason is that when alms are given from a true heart, all things are held to belong to all, as the Apostle says about the manna, that he who gathered more did not abound more, and who gathered less did not have less (2 Corinthians 8, 15, citing Exodus 16, 18): for he who is rich, should not for this reason eat more, but share it with others, and this is said in the epistle, “And they had all things in common.”
Now for this reason the aforementioned gospel is read today, because He that prayed when He was about to suffer, became known to men when He ascended (to heaven); or else because at the end it says “I come to Thee.” And in this (gospel) He prays for those whom the Father gave Him, that they may be one in the Father, since all things are one in faith and charity, that is, united to one another in harmony … St Hilary (of Poitiers) explains these words as follows. “I ask that just as I and Thou are one, that is, not only in will, but also in nature; so also may they be one, that is, in unity of spirit, and the grace of the Holy Spirit.” (De Trinitate VIII, 9)
But in other churches, the Epistle is (Ephesians 4, 7-13). …
Therefore, because this Mass is about alms and the works of mercy, in some places, in order that they may acquire for themselves the wings mentioned above, people busy themselves with almsgiving, but they defer this to the feast of the Ascension, as if then to fly unto heaven after Christ…
Now some people fittingly refer the Masses of Easter week to those who are reborn in baptism, according to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And so, the one who is reborn, inspired by the spirit of wisdom, says “I have risen.” (The Introit of Easter Sunday) The gospel declares through what he is risen, namely, through the Resurrection of the Lord, and the spirit of understanding instructs him as to what he has gained thereby, saying, “He hath brought us into the Land” (The Introit of Easter Monday), that is, the Church; and the spirit of counsel adds, “With the water of wisdom He gave them to drink.” (Tuesday) The spirit of fortitude indicates what else he ought to gain thereby, saying “Come, ye blessed of my Father.” (Wednesday) The spirit of knowledge teaches him that for these benefits granted to him, he must praise God, saying “Together they praised Thy conquering hand, o Lord.” (Thursday) The spirit of piety indicates what the Resurrection has brought to the reborn, saying “The Lord hath led them out in hope” (Friday), and the spirit of fear adds to this, saying, “The Lord has led out his people.” (Saturday)
For all these benefits conferred in baptism, the angels congratulate men, men confess God, and exhort one another to the praises of Christ; they give thanks, they rejoice, they remember these benefits and the causes thereof, and they confidently aspire to greater things. The other parts of the Masses of Easter are concerned with this …
Notice also that in the Introits of this week, Alleluia is said four times in four of them (on Easter Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday), and three times in three of them, because praise is given to Holy Trinity from the four parts of the world for the resurrection of Christ, and the redemption of man. In the first Sunday, that is “Quasi modo geniti”, the baptized are urged by their mother (i.e. the Church) to live innocently like infants, and to desire the milk of the Holy Scripture, so that by their mores and life they may hold to the Paschal sacrament which they have received through Christ’s resurrection, overcome the world, triumph with him, and obtain rejoicing in body and soul together. Because of this rejoicing, the Alleluja (before the Gospel) is doubled, because they have escaped from death, and merited to have the hope of life; or as a symbol of action and contemplation; or as a symbol of the joy of the preachers and of those whom they convert.
(The Introit of Good Shepherd Sunday: “The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, alleluia, and by the word of the Lord the heavens were established, alleluia, alleluia.” Psalm 32)
But on the second Sunday, the baptized, being already instructed, sound forth the mercy of Christ, and preach the Trinity; for in the word “mercy”, they announce the Spirit, in “the word” the Son, and in “God” (i.e. the Lord) the Father. First they mention the Spirit, through whom they are sanctified; then the Son, through whom they are redeemed, then the Father, to whom they are reconciled: and because they sing of the Trinity, they sing Alleluia three times.
(The Introit of the Third Sunday after Easter: “Shout with joy to God, all the earth, alleluia, sing a psalm to his name, alleluia; give glory to his praise, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Psalm 65)
On the third Sunday, the baptized invite the whole world to the praise of God, and sound forth the Trinity, … and since through the two precepts of charity they are strengthened in the faith of the Trinity, therefore, first they sing alleluia twice, then three times.
(The Introit of the Fourth Sunday: “Sing to the Lord a new song, alleluia: because the Lord hath done wonderful things, alleluia. In the sight of the nations He hath revealed his justice, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Psalm 97)
On the fourth Sunday, again the baptized invite the converted nations to the praise of God, and commemorate the Trinity, when in “the Lord” understand the Father, through “wonders” the Son, and in “justice” the Holy Spirit. And because the nations received the faith of the Trinity from the four parts of the world, therefore they sing of the Trinity with a fourth alleluia.
(The Introit of the Fifth Sunday: “Announce the voice of rejoicing, and let it be heard, alleluia: and proclaim even to the ends of the earth, the Lord hath redeemed his people, alleluia, alleluia.” Isaiah 48)
On the fifth Sunday, again the baptized announce their liberator to their nations, because they sing of the Trinity with a threefold Alleluia.
