And now, we who before were deemed unfit to dwell upon the earth are raised up to heaven; we who were unworthy of earthly dignity now ascend to a heavenly kingdom, and enter into heaven, and take our place upon a royal throne; and this nature of ours, because of which the Cherubim guarded the gates of Paradise, this day sits high above the Cherubim.
St. John Chrysostom, Homily on the Ascension
Salute the last, and everlasting day,
Joy at the uprising of this Sun, and Son,
Ye whose true tears, or tribulation
Have purely wash’d, or burnt your drossy clay.
Behold, the Highest, parting hence away,
Lightens the dark clouds, which He treads upon;
Nor doth he by ascending show alone,
But first He, and He first enters the way.
O strong Ram, which hast batter’d heaven for me!
Mild lamb, which with Thy Blood hast mark’d the path!
Bright Torch, which shinest, that I the way may see!
O, with Thy own Blood quench Thy own just wrath;
And if Thy Holy Spirit my Muse did raise,
Deign at my hands this crown of prayer and praise.
John Donne, “Ascension”
He prayed; but who was it who heard the prayer of the supplicant? He was a sacrifice, yet a high priest; a supplicant, yet God. He dedicated His blood to God and cleansed the whole world. A cross raised Him aloft, yet it was sin that was fixed by the nails.
St. Gregory Nazianzen, Personal Poems, 2.74-77
These three persons differ from one another in nothing except their “properties.”…The Son and the Spirit differ only in that the Son is generated from the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from Him. How the one is generated and the other proceeds we are not concerned to know.
Leontius of Byzantium, De Sectis I
Jesus takes our human nature—yours and mine—to the heart of God and he speaks to God his father in a human voice. In heaven the language they speak is human (not just angelic). Our words (human words) are heard at the very centre of the burning heart of reality.
The Rt. Rev. Rowan Williams, sermon for Ascension Day 2009
God gave a common language to everyone. This was part of His loving-kindness toward the human race. They did not use the gift rightly, however, and lapsed into utter foolishness. Therefore He took away what He had given. For when they had one common speech they were foolish enough to want to build a tower to heaven. Had they not been immediately chastised, they would have even tried laying hold of the heights of heaven itself….If they do not pay the penalty now and are not restrained from the very root of their sins, they will never stop being wicked….Don’t you see that depriving them of the unity of one language was an act of mercy? He inflicted the different languages on them in order that they would not fall into greater wickedness. Hold onto this argument then with me, and let it become fixed in your minds that God is good and loving not only when He confers benefits, but even when He chastises.
St. John Chrysostom, Concerning the Power of Demons, I.4
The old confusion of tongues was praiseworthy when people who had a common language—even as some now venture to have—were building their tower in wickedness and impiety. By confusing their language, their unity of purpose was destroyed, as was the project they were undertaking. Thus the present miracle is all that much more praiseworthy. The one Spirit is poured out on many people bringing them back into harmony.
St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 41.15
Let the divinely inspired Scripture decide between us. On whichever side are found doctrines in harmony with the word of God—that is the side for which the vote of truth will be cast in favor.
St. Basil of Caesarea, Letter 189.3
Christus est stella matutina, Alleluia
Qui nocte saeculi transacta, Alleluia
Lucem vitae sanctis promittit, Alleluia;
Et pandit aeternam, Alleluia
Christ is the morning star, Alleluia.
who when the night of this world is past, Alleluia
brings to his saints the promise of the light of life, Alleluia;
and opens everlasting day. Alleluia
The Venerable Bede, Exposition of the Apocalypse
How can you be both a blazing hearth and a cool fountain,
A burning, yet a sweetness that cleanses us?
How can you make humankind a god, darkness light
And draw new life from the pit of death?
How does night become day? Can you overcome gloom?
Take the flame to our hearts and change the depths of our being?
How are you simply one with us? How do you give us the Son of God?
How do you burn us with love and wound us without a sword?
How can you bear us and remain so slow to anger,
Yet from where you are watch our smallest gestures here?
How do you follow our actions from so high and so far?
Your servant waits for peace and courage in tears.
St. Symeon the New Theologian, Hymn 6
Locus Communis