In ascensionem Sermo 3

On the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Homily 3. The theater of the Church is bright to me, producing not vain laughter for men, but a vehement lament for the devil. For he sees the root of resurrection of the dead below rising upward; he sees the one delivered by him to the cross below, now looking down upon him from heaven; he sees the earth filled with angels; he sees the air paradoxically traversed; he sees the heavenly powers meeting, some saying, "Lift up your gates, O rulers, and the King of Glory will enter," and others meeting and supporting, "The Lord is mighty and powerful in war." What war? The one he undertook for us against the common enemy, which no man, no prophet, no righteous one has been able to overcome. For all were tyrannized by the then-reigning death, until the King of the Ages arrived, and having bound the Mighty One, took away his implements. For when the Lord was crucified, the powers of the heavens were astonished, and the whole creation was shaken, seeing the common mystery and the fearful spectacle that took place on earth. For the earth trembled, the sea was stirred, the abyss was tossed by waves, the whole creation was disturbed; the luminaries of the heavens were frightened, the sun and moon fled, stars vanished, day did not endure, an angel leaped out of the temple in turmoil, the veil of the house being rent; darkness filled the earth, the elements turned away, and the day was altered; for they could not bear seeing their own Master and Creator hanging on wood.

Then Hades was destroyed, and its gates were shattered, and its bars were broken. Concerning these, David prophesied, saying that he shattered bronze gates and broke iron bars. Then death, which had reigned, fell beneath the feet of Christ and was dragged as a captive in triumph. For with an unyielding and noble body, having emptied the Enemy’s strength and crushed his devices, he descended into the realms of Hades, pulled down his throne, removed his diadem, dissolved his scepters, and uttered a voice, saying: “Come, all the nations of the peoples, to the Father and God; come, and obtain freedom from slavery. For I lead you from slavery to freedom, from darkness to light, from tyranny to a kingdom. For I, Christ, proclaim good news of life to you.” Therefore, fear the tyrant no longer, but despise fear and death, famine and affliction, bonds and prison and distress. For these are the things feared by the tyrant’s army, which has been disbanded; I alone am the victorious king of all, who also suffered in the flesh for you. This, then, is truly the mighty and powerful Lord; this is the one mighty in war; this is the king of glory, who leads out those bound in courage, those dwelling in tombs. To him David said: “You ascended to the height, you took captivity captive.” Now every feast of Christians is a condemnation of the devil; but especially this one. For in all the others, having laid bare his own wickedness and gained nothing for himself, he was triumphed over. I mean something like this:

When the Virgin was miraculously pregnant, he slandered her as committing adultery; when she gave birth ineffably, he accused her of no longer being a virgin; when the one who nourishes the whole creation was being nursed, he taught Herod to murder infants, thinking to seize the uncontainable in them; when he hastened to baptism, he led him back to temptation; when he conversed with the Jews, he caused him to be blasphemed; when he worked wonders, he arranged for him to be stoned; he preferred the murderer and robber over him; when he was crucified, he crucified robbers alongside him; when he was buried, he sealed the tomb; when he rose, he falsely accuses the resurrection; but as he was being taken up and departing into the heavens, he had nothing to say, but wounded his own head more severely. Therefore today’s feast was more grievous for him than any other, as he saw the whole host of angels everywhere dancing, some following, others running ahead, others meeting him, and still others conversing with the chorus of apostles, saying: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing at the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same manner as you saw him going into heaven; this Jesus, who displayed the multitude of signs.” So the day of the Lord’s Ascension, as has been said, caused the devil to mourn, but the faithful to rejoice. For now the pleasant spring has arisen, and the beauties of the flowers have bloomed.

The vine sheds its branches of fruit, the olive trees put forth their blossoms, the fig trees have brought forth their unripe figs, and the cornfields, thickened, are stirred by the west wind, imitating the delight of the waves of the sea; everything is brightened with us at the Lord’s Ascension. Come then, and I will strike up for you the words of David, which he cried out to us just now because of the Lord’s Ascension: All you nations, clap your hands, shout aloud to God with a voice of exultation. The Lord ascended with the sound of a trumpet, to where he was; he was taken up, from where he was not separated. For the one who descended is the same as the one who ascended above the heavens. It is not one who appeared to the prophets and another who spent time with the apostles; not one who is in the bosom of the Father and another who was judged before Pilate; not one who was nailed to the cross and another who rides upon the Cherubim; not one who was wrapped in a shroud by Joseph and another who grasps creation in his palm; not one who was placed in the tomb and another hymned by the Seraphim; but the same one who sits with the Father is the one who sprouted without seed in the virgin womb. God ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

The maker of the ages, who brought all things from non-being into being, the molder of Adam, the creator of human nature, who translated the well-pleasing Enoch to a place of life, who preserved Noah amid the inhabited world, who summoned the patriarch Abraham from the land of the Chaldeans, who typified in Isaac the mystery of the cross, who granted to Jacob a twelve-branched offspring, who bestowed endurance upon Job, who set forth Moses as leader of the people, who filled Samuel with prophecy from the womb, who chose David as king from among the prophets, who granted wisdom to Solomon, who took up Elijah in a fiery chariot amid an earthquake, who inspired the prophets with foreknowledge, who granted the gift of healings to the apostles, who cried to them: Take courage, I have conquered the world. This is the Lord of glory, who was taken up into the heavens with acclamation, and seated at the right hand of the Father. And when angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him, may he take up our laborious prayers, and show us victors over the snares of the world; may he subject to us the whole phalanx of unclean spirits, saying to us: Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions. Therefore may he preserve us unharmed and blameless, sound and whole in soul and body and spirit, filled with fruits of righteousness and beneficence,

God of all, who deemed us worthy to be gathered together and to celebrate this saving feast; for to Him belongs all glory, honor, and worship—to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.