Homily on the Ascension of the Lord, Thursday of the 6th Week after Pascha

St. Kirill of Turov

Come now in spirit, holy prophet Zechariah, and give the beginning of our word from your prophecies about the ascension into heaven of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. For you have clearly shown us this, saying: "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:3-4). We wish to learn more from you, and we know about the battle against the common enemy, the devil, from Isaiah, who saw the seraphim (Isaiah 63:3, 8). Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself fought alone against all the demonic forces and overthrew the powers of darkness; "I have trodden them down in mine anger, and trampled them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me" (Isaiah 63:3-5). All this is said about the suffering of the Lord and His descent into hell. There He defeated the dark forces with the cross and brought out Adam and all his descendants and nations. The Lord calls all the gentiles, led into hell for their sins, His people, and those who died under the law, He calls His children. Sin reigned over all and ruled through death from Adam to Christ; and having brought them out of this life, He placed people in the depths of hell, bound with poverty and iron: "Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High" (Psalm 106:10-11). But Christ, breaking the gates of hell, delivered them from their troubles, tore apart their bonds, brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and for forty days shared His joyful bounty: "Rejoice with me," He said, "for I have found the lost coin," meaning the souls of all men, all tribes, and nations. And the Lord brought the redeemed souls into various places of His abodes, some into paradise with the thief, some with Adam into the Eden of delight, some with Abraham into the habitation of eternal life, and the souls of all the gentiles He settled in His light by the waters of rest (Psalm 22:2). For Jesus Himself suffered in the same body for all who fell through the deceit of the serpent, and He will reward each according to his deeds on the last day when He comes to judge the whole world. Thus the angels told the apostles on the Mount of Olives. "Ye men of Galilee," said the angels, "why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). He will come again in the glory of His divinity to judge the whole world and reward each according to his deeds" (Matthew 16:27). And Christ leads the holy prophets and righteous saints with Him to heaven to the holy city, and we will speak of their ascent from the divinely inspired books. For we are not the creators of the word but follow the words of the prophets and apostles, who testified of the living God, as the Holy Spirit commanded them to write - for the salvation of believers and the destruction of unbelievers. Let us go now, brethren, in our thoughts to the Mount of Olives and mentally behold the glorious events that took place there. On that mountain, the Lord our God Himself came, and there gathered ranks of all the saints: the assemblies of the patriarchs, the multitude of prophets, the ranks of apostles, and the crowds of the faithful with the seventy disciples of Christ, all those of whom Paul said: "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once" (1 Corinthians 15:6). Paul understands those who were on the Mount of Olives, before whom the Lord ascended; and about those whom Christ brought up to heaven to the heavenly Jerusalem, listen to the words of Matthew: "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city" (Matthew 27:52-53), meaning the heavenly Zion. Paul was an eyewitness of them when he was caught up to the third heaven. But leaving them, let us talk about the ascension of Christ and what happened on the Mount of Olives.

There now are the angelic forces and the hosts of archangels: some bring clouds on the wings of the wind to take Christ our God from the earth, others prepare the cherubic throne. God the Father awaits Him, Whom He has had in His bosom from eternity; and the Holy Spirit commands all the angels: lift up the gates of heaven, that the King of glory may enter. The heavens rejoice, adorning their luminaries, to receive the blessing from their Creator, who is ascending with the body on the clouds through the heavenly gates; the earth rejoices, seeing God walking visibly upon it, and all creation rejoices, being illuminated from the Mount of Olives, where the angels gathered together with the apostles, by the command of God the Father; awaiting the coming of the Son. Therefore, this feast is more honorable for us than others, and this mountain is holier than Mount Sinai. On Mount Sinai, God descended invisibly, but on the Mount of Olives, He appeared openly: on Sinai, He filled all with fear, for the whole mountain burned with fire, and lightning and thunder killed those approaching the mountain, and God conversed only with Moses; but on the Mount of Olives, Christ ascended with tens of thousands of saints, comforting all and sanctifying all. Therefore, the Mount of Olives shines like the sun, having with it the ranks of saints with Christ, and instead of the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, the prophetic voices are heard, joyfully exclaiming and proclaiming: "Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power." The angels call upon all, saying: "Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honor of his name" (Psalm 65:1-2). The patriarchs begin the song: "Behold, our God, is exalted, uniting both into one, the earthly with the heavenly." The righteous proclaim: "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth" (Psalm 57:5). The righteous cry out loudly: "Arise, O judge of the earth" (Psalm 94:2), that we also may walk in the light of Thy countenance. David, as the chief of the choirs, clarifying the song's voices, cries out: "O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet" (Psalm 46:1, 5). The general voice concludes with Paul's words: "Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead) But He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens" (Romans 10:6-7; Ephesians 4:10). There also was the pagan Church, betrothed to Christ; seeing Him now ascending to heaven, she grieves and, sighing from her heart, cries out with Solomon: "I am sick of love" (Song of Solomon 2:5), O heavenly Bridegroom, I did not follow after Thee and did not love the days of rest. And, as if seeing off her beloved, she cries out: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" (Song of Solomon 1:2). Together with her, the choir of apostles, looking at their teacher and Lord, like children of the church, sorrowfully said: "Master! do not leave us orphans, whom Thou hast loved according to Thy merciful will, but send us, as Thou hast promised, Thy Most Holy Spirit." And Jesus answered them, mercifully comforting them: "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49), for I ascend to My Father and your God and will send you, as I promised, another Comforter, My Spirit and the Father's." And He lifted up His hands, blessed them. And having said this, He ascended into heaven, and they worshiped Him, and a bright cloud took Him out of their sight: "He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind" (Psalm 18:10). The Lord had with Him the human souls, which He brought up to heaven as a gift to His Father and placed in the heavenly city. Understand this from the words of Jeremiah: the souls which the enemy brought down into the abyss, the Lord brought up to heaven, saying: "Arise, and let us go up to Zion" (Jeremiah 31:6), that is, to the heavenly Jerusalem. Ahead went the angelic forces with fear and joy, desiring to open the heavenly gates, but the heavenly gatekeepers opposed them, saying: "This is the gate of the Lord; into which the righteous shall enter. The Lord commanded us to guard, so that no one born of the earth would come here, but now we marvel, seeing a man sitting on the cherubic throne, and before the seraphim attempting to pass through these gates." The angels revealed the power and rank of the Son of God, clothed in a human body, and persuaded the gatekeepers not to oppose the will of God, who does all things in wisdom. "The Son of God," they said, "descended to earth, and it was unknown to anyone, and now He ascends, bearing the image of a servant." But the gatekeepers answered: "We will not obey until we hear the word of God." Then Christ cried out: "Open to Me the gates of righteousness, and I will go into them and will praise the Lord" (Psalm 118:19). And recognizing the voice of the Lord, all the heavenly powers fell and worshiped, saying: "We did not see, Master, Your descent from heaven, but we all worship You, ascending in glory." And the Holy Spirit, coming out to meet, brings in the Son of God, equal to Himself, and honoring Him, says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him" (Hebrews 1:6). And God the Father Himself called out to the One coming in the flesh: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" (Psalm 2:7); "Sit thou at my right hand" (Psalm 110:1); "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" (Psalm 45:6); "The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them" (Psalm 89:11). And having seated the Son on the throne, the Father crowned Him with His right hand while the seraphim sang: "Thou settest a crown of pure gold on His head. Thou hast made Him most blessed for ever: Thou hast made Him exceeding glad with Thy countenance" (Psalm 21:3, 6). And finally, He anoints Him with the anointing of the divine essence, as David testifies: "Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows" (Psalm 45:7). Truly this feast is filled with joy and gladness; joy in heaven, for Christ has ascended to the Father, - and joy on earth, for all creation is renewed from corruption.

Therefore, let us also, brethren, come - let us rejoice in the Lord, who has ascended into heaven; let us worship Him who sits at the right hand of the Father, let us pray to Him who has received all power in heaven and on earth, let us bring as a gift our faith to the one reigning with the Father, let us not appear before Him empty on the day of the feast, that we may receive the grace of God. For today Christ gives His gifts to all: to the Father, He gives the flesh He offered in sacrifice, to the apostles He sends the Holy Spirit, to the souls of the holy prophets He introduces into the heavenly kingdom, to His saints He distributes the abodes of the heavenly city, to the righteous He opens paradise, to those who suffered for Him, the martyrs, He crowns, to the passion-bearers He sends the grace of miracles, to the bishops He gives the petitions of the soul, to the sinners He forgives sins, He has mercy on all who do His will and keep His commandments, He sends spiritual and physical health to our pious princes and triumph over enemies, He strengthens the churches, enriches the churchmen, makes those who serve Him priests and deacons honorable, sanctifies monasteries, glorifies abbots, strengthens monks in patience; He blesses all Christians: small and great, poor and rich, slaves and free, old men and youths, married and virgins, mothers and infants, orphans and widows.

Let us also come, brethren, to the holy church; let us magnify Christ our God, who has given us life and promised us after it the Kingdom of Heaven; let us exalt His name together, that He may send down upon us His Most Holy Spirit: for we are His servants and we send up glory, honor, and worship to Him with the Father and the Most Holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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