READINGS AND PROPERS
Extraordinary Form
Sunday Within the Octave of the Ascension (White,
Semi-double)
[Station at St. Mary
of the Martyrs]
INTROIT ¤ Ps. 26.
7-9
Exaudi, Domine,
vocem meam, qua clamavi ad te, alleluia: tibi dixit cor meum, quaesivi vultum
tuum, vultum tuum, Domine, requiram: ne avertas faciem tuam a me, alleluia,
alleluia. -- Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea: quem timebo? V.: Gloria
Patri . . . -- Exaudi, Domine, vocem meam . .
.
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, I will seek: turn not away Thy face
from me, alleluia, alleluia. -- (Ps. 26. 1). The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?
V.: Glory be to the Father . . . -- Hear, O Lord, my voice with which I have
cried . . .
COLLECTS.--O
almighty and everlasting God, make us bear towards Thee always a devoted will,
and serve Thy majesty with a sincere heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy
Son, who liveth and reigneth . . .
Grant, we beseech
Thee, almighty God: that we, who believe Thine only-begotten Son, our Redeemer,
to have ascended on this day into heaven, may also ourselves dwell in mind amid
heavenly things. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and
reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost . . .
EPISTLE ¤ I Peter 4.
7-11
Lesson from the
first Epistle of Blessed Peter the Apostle.
[Let us watch and
pray in faith and charity, awaiting the descent of the Holy Ghost.]
Dearly beloved, Be prudent and watch in prayers.
But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves:
for charity coevereth a multitude of sins. Using hospitality one towards
another, without murmuring: as every man hath received grace, ministering the
same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man
speak, let him speak, as the words of God: if any minister, let him do it, as
of the power which God administereth: that in all things God may be honored
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
GRADUAL ¤ Ps. 46. 9
Alleluia, alleluia.
V.: Regnavit Dominus super omnes gentes: Deus sedet super sedem sanctam suam.
Alleluia. V.: Non vos relinquam orphanos: vado, et venio ad vos, et gaudebit
cor vestrum. Alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.
V.: The Lord hath reigned over
all the nations; God sitteth on His holy throne. Alleluia. V.: (John.
14. 18). I will not leave you orphans: I go away, and I come unto you, and your
heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.
GOSPEL ¤ John 15.
26, 27; 16: 1-4
† Continuation of
the holy Gospel according to St. John.
[Our Lord Jesus
Christ promised that He would send the Holy Ghost.]
At that time, Jesus
said to His disciples: When the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony of Me: and
you shall give testimony because you are with Me from the beginning.
These things I have spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will
put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you
will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you,
because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But these things I have told
you, that, when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you of them.
OFFERTORY ¤ Ps. 65.
8, 9, 20
Ascendit Deus in
jubilatione: et Dominus in voce tubae,
alleluia.
God is ascended with a shout, and
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet, alleluia.
SECRETS.--May these
spotless Sacrifices purify us, O Lord, and give to our minds the strength of
heavenly grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who . . .
Accept, O Lord, the
gifts we offer up to Thee, for the glorious Ascension of Thy Son: and
mercifully grant that we may be freed from present perils and attain unto
everlasting life. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth
and reigneth with Thee in the unity
PREFACE
Preface for
Ascension
Vere dignum et
justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere,
Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus, per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Qui post resurrectionem suam omnibus discipulis suis manifestus apparuit, et
ipsis cernentibus est elevatus in coelum, ut nos divinitatis suae tribueret
esse participes. Et idio cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et
Dominationibus, cumque omni militia coelistis exercitus, hymnum gloriae tuae
canimus, sine fine dicentes:
It is truly meet and
just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all
places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God:
through Christ our Lord. Who, after His Resurrection, appeared openly to all
His disciples, and, while they looked on, was taken up into heaven, that He
might grant unto us to be sharers in His own divinity. And therefore, with
Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of
the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying:
SPECIAL FORM OF
COMMUNICANTES
Communicantes for
the Ascension
Communicantes, et
diem sacratissimum celebrantes, quo Dominus noster, unigenitus Filius tuus,
untiam sibi fragilitatis nostrae substantium, in gloriae tuae dextera
collocavit; sed et memoriam venerantes, in primis gloriosae semper Virginis
Mariae, Genitricis ejusdem Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi: set et . .
.
Communicating, and
keeping this most holy day on which Thine only-begotten Son our Lord set at the
right hand of Thy glory the substance of our frail human nature, which He had
taken to Himself; and also reverencing the memory, first, of the glorious Mary,
ever Virgin, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ: as also . . .
COMMUNION ¤ John 17.
12, 13, 15
Pater, cum essem cum
eis, ego servabam eos, quos dedisti mihi, alleluia: nunc autem ad te venio: non
rogo, ut tolla eos de mundo, sed ut serves eos a malo, alleluia,
alleluia.
Father, while I was
with them, I kept them whom Thou gavest Me, alleluia; but now I come to Thee: I
pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst
keep them from evil, alleluia, alleluia.
POSTCOMMUNION.--Grant,
we beseech Thee, O Lord, that being filled with Thy sacred gifts, we may ever
remain in thanksgiving for them. Through our Lord . . .
Grant to us, we
beseech Thee, almighty and merciful God, that we may obtain the invisible
effects of that which we have shared by communion in visible Mysteries. Through
our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity
of the Holy Ghost . . .
(The priest may also
use the Propers of the Solemnity of the Ascension if he will offer an External
Solemnity.)
Ordinary Form
External Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus
Christ
Lesson: Acts 1:1-11
The former treatise
I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, Until
the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he
had chosen, he was taken up. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his
passion, by many proofs, for
forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And eating
together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have
heard (saith he) by my mouth.
For John indeed baptized with water: but you shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.
They therefore who
were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore
again the kingdom of Israel? But he said to them: It is not for you to know the
time or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power: But you shall receive the power of
the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the
earth. And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was
raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were
beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white
garments. Who also said: Ye
men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven.
Responsorial: Ps. 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
R: God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of
trumpets for the Lord.
O clap your hands,
all ye nations:
shout unto God with
the voice of joy,
For the Lord is
high, terrible:
a great king over
all the earth.
God is ascended with jubilee,
and the Lord with the sound of
trumpet.
Sing praises to our God, sing ye:
sing praises to our king, sing ye.
For God is the king
of all the earth:
sing ye wisely.
God shall reign over
the nations:
God sitteth on his holy throne.
Epistle: Eph. 1:17-23
Brethren: The God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation,
in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your heart enlightened that you may
know what the hope is of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power
towards us, who believe according to the operation of the might of his power,
Which he wrought in Christ, raising
him up from the dead and setting him on his right hand in the heavenly places.
Above all principality and power and virtue and dominion and every name that is
named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And he hath
subjected all things under his feet and hath made him head over all the church,
Which is his body and the fulness of him who is filled all in all.
Gospel: Mt. 28:16-20
And the eleven
disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And seeing him they adored:
but some doubted. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying:
All power is given
to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even
to the consummation of the world.
(Optional: After the Gospel, the paschal
candle, a figure of the risen Christ, is extinguished.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
REFLECTIONS AND INSIGHTS
Jesus disappeared in
our sight, but He never left us. In fact, He became more present than ever.
This is the reason
why He have established the Sacraments: so that the countenance of His Father
be reflected to Him whose Name makes efficacious the Sacraments He established;
and by the Holy Spirit promised by Him, all who receive these would be holy and
pleasing to God almighty, or at least bring them closer to being such.
The Glorious
Ascension of our Lord only means that our Lord has not only called Israel to
His flock (though they still possess the title of being the "Chosen
People") but the whole world that He have created in the beginning. The
Mass is that sign of unity. Because of His ascension to His heavenly throne, we
can clearly see Him together with the Angels and the Saints, as we behold the
bread and wine that became the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of that same
Lord who possessed His throne in heaven. In reaction to this great mystery, we
also have set up thrones for Him here on earth--the Tabernacles in our churches
and chapels--so that whoever would like to converse with the King of kings may
freely do so.
In fact, the Mass
should be the most compelling argument that would dispel the common thought
that Christ have left us, because He said: "I will be with you always
until the end of days."
The apostles and the
Blessed Mother witnessed how Jesus, in His own power, returned to the right of
the Father. They were given a command: To go and preach whatever they have
learned and witnessed firsthand to the whole world. This they did, but before that,
they also waited for the promised Paraclete to arrive. Why? The apostles are
cowardly men to execute the final order their Master have said. But even if we
say this, The Lord already knew that they would need courage. They chose to be
brave, yet the resolve is only half of the story. For nine days, they prayed
for this Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity to come. And He indeed came,
granting them what they need to go forth and preach the Gospel to all nations.
In the midst of the
Apostles was Mary. Being the Mother of their Master, her motherly presence
compelled the Twelve (the Eleven have already elected Matthias as replacement
to Judas) to trust on her Son that the Holy Spirit will indeed come. Maybe she
have been an important part of this self-imposed vigil because she was
overshadowed by the Holy Spirit when she conceived Jesus. Only this time, being
His Spouse, she became the beacon of this same Spirit. The Apostles have prayed
(and may have also fasted) within these nine days with Mary as they awaited the
Holy Spirit.
So what does this imply to us?
So what does this imply to us?
Simple. We should
always give thanks to God for all that He have given us. His death destroyed
eternal death. His resurrection restored eternal life. His possession of glory
invites us to choose bravery in this world of cowardice and persecution. We
must never employ the thought that Jesus left us in order to fight and die
without any cause. In fact, if Jesus can speak the modern parlance of the day,
He may have said to us: "Been there. Done that. Don't worry, I'll be with
you."
One final thought:
The angels have spoken to the Apostles told them: "This Jesus who is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into
heaven." As we return our focus on the Mass, we will notice that these
blessed words would materialise as the priest, stretching his hands over the
oblations, invokes the Father that the Holy Spirit may come down in order for
these holy gifts to become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus,
He came down to the altar, to the hands of the priest, in like manner as He
ascended into the heavens.
And so we ask: Will
I choose to be brave by proclaiming the Gospel as the Apostles and as the
Saints did?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PRAYING THE COLLECT
Grant, we beseech
Thee, almighty God: that we, who believe Thine only-begotten Son, our Redeemer,
to have ascended on this day into heaven, may also ourselves dwell in mind amid
heavenly things.
Through our Lord
Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the
Holy Ghost: One God, world without end. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment