From the Liturgical Year, “The sun of the fortieth day has risen in all his splendour. The earth, which shook with gladness at the birth of our Emmanuel, now thrills with a strange emotion. The divine series of the mysteries of the Man-God is about to close. Heaven has caught up the joy of earth. The angelic choirs are preparing to receive their promised King, and their princes stand at the gates, that they may open them when the signal is given of the mighty conqueror’s approach. The holy souls, that were liberated from limbo on the morning of the Resurrection, are hovering round Jerusalem, waiting for the happy moment when heaven’s gate, closed by Adam’s sin, shall be thrown open, and they shall enter in company with their Redeemer: — a few hours more, and then to heaven ! Meanwhile, our risen Jesus has to visit His disciples and bid them farewell, for they are to be left for some years longer in this vale of tears.”

From the Miniature Lives Of The Saints, For Every Day In The Year, Henry Sebastian Bowden, 1836-1919. This is from the first volume that does not appear to be online.

S. Bernard, Friar Preacher.

This holy priest held in the thirteenth century the office of sacristan in the Dominican house at Santarem in Portugal, and had under his charge two boys, sons of poor parents, who daily served the Masses of the fathers, and received in return from them such learning that they could afford; by which they so profited, that they held it their greatest privilege to assist at the altar, and stand in the immediate presence of the Lamb of God. It was their custom when Mass was over to take their morning meal in the chapel near the church, in which was an image of the Infant Jesus, to whom they would offer a portion of their food; and the Holy Child would come and eat with them, teaching them the while the hidden things of Divine Love. Which, when Bernard heard, he bade them to pray to Jesus thus: ‘Thou comest, O Lord, day by day, to us; grant that we too, and our Father Bernard, may sit as guests at Thy table.’ Then Jesus granted their prayer, promising that they should keep the festival of His Ascension with Him. The day came, and the boys as usual served Bernard’s Mass. When it was ended the three knelt for a moment before the altar; and as they knelt a sleep came over them, and they passed from the house of God on earth to His house in Heaven.

Serving Mass

When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He bade him take the shoes from off his feet, for the place was holy ground. We who hear, and we who especially who serve Holy Mass, come, as Moses came, into the very presence of God. Let our reverence and our devotion be worthy of Him.

‘Let the eyes be single and pure which look so often on the Maker of heaven and earth.’ Imitation.

The monks buried Bernard and the two servers in one and the same grave; but so sweet was the perfume that came from their bodies that it rose through the earth, proclaiming the holiness of these servants of God. Such rewards are only for Saints; but all who assist worthily at the sacred mysteries obtain in this life purity of soul, hidden intercourse with God; and in the next a speedy entrance into the joys of the blest.

‘The child ministered to the Lord, before the face of Heli the priest; and he grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground.’ 1 Kings iii. 1, 19.

Hymns for today

From Hymns of the Roman Liturgy, Connelly “The hymns of the ascension, Jesu, nostra Redemptio and Aeterne rex altissime, commemorate the glory of our Lord as He enters heaven and takes, as His due, the place at the right hand of the Father, and sing also of the future glory of the Christian. But this future glory is impossible unless, as the collect of the feast says, mente in caelestibus habitemus; and this is the point of Salutis humanae sator, 16-20 and Aeterne rex altissime, 21-8.

Christmas has been called, rightly, a feast of light, but Easter surely is the feast of light both in the Scripture and in the liturgical splendour of the Easter vigil. This is typified in the continued use ofthe Paschal Candle until we commemorate the Ascension of the Light of the world to become, as the Apocalypse says, the lamp of the heavenly Jerusalem. Yet though He has left this earth, He is still with us. Sit nobis cum caelestibus Commune manens gaudium: Illis quod se praesentavit, Nobis quod se non abstulit. (From an ascension hymn,)”

Jesu, nostra Redemptio (Link to the Liturgical year) (Cantus Link) Author. Unknown, of seventh or eighth century. Use. Hymn at Vespers and Lauds of the Ascension. The modern text is Salutis humanae sator

Aeterne rex altissime (Link to the Liturgical year) (Cantus link) Author. Unknown. The question of date is not easy to settle, as the hymn appears in different forms in the MSS. Unlike Salutis humanae sator, it was not altered much by the revisers-the greatest changes are in the first two verses. Use. Hymn at Matins for the Ascension. In the Sarum it is used as the Vespers Hymn.

  • Aeterne rex altissime, Roman melody from Gregobase (Modern text)
  • Aeterne rex altissime, Dominican melody from Gregobase
  • Aeterne rex altissime, Sarum Vespers and Matins Hymn (Coming soon)
  • Aeterne rex altissime, (Coming soon)

Optatus orbis gaudio Ambrosian Vespers Hymn, from the Liturgical year “It is St. Ambrose who is to help us to-day, by the following beautiful hymn, to celebrate the mystery of the triumph of our human nature in Jesus. The hymn is inserted in the breviary of Milan.”

Hymnum canamus gloriæ, Cantus Link Hymn for the Ascension written by St. Bede the Venerable, 673/4-735. Original text from the The Complete Works Of Venerable Bede.

Tu Christe nostrum gaudium, Sarum Lauds Hymn, these verses are taken from the Aeterne rex altissime above.

Tu Christe nostrum gaudium, Sarum Lauds Hymn

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