Ascension Day - Holy Day of obligation

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD

Aspiration.
O King of glory! Who didst on this day ascend victoriously above the heavens, leave us not orphans, but send us, from the Father, the Spirit of truth Whom Thou hast promised, and receive us all into Thy glory.
Why, on this day, is the Easter-candle extinguished and carried away after the Gospel? It is done in remembrance of the hour in which Christ, Who is typified by the Easter-candle, left this Church.

Spritual readings from the "Roman Breviary" - at Matins

Jesu, tibi sit glória,
Qui victor in cælum redis,
Cum Patre et almo Spíritu,
In sempitérna sæcula.  Amen.

Lesson 1-3
Book of the Apostles Ch 1; 1-14

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pértaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, 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.  Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.  And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

EXPLANATION (after "Devout Instructions" by L.Goffine)
For forty days after His resurrection, Jesus remained with His disciples, to convince them of the truth of His resurrection, to teach them in regard to His kingdom, that is, His Church, and their vocation; and as they were still thinking of an earthly kingdom to be established by Christ, He refferred them to the instruction of the Holy Ghost, and then ascended to heaven, whence he shall come to be our judge. Rejoice over the instructions which are preserved for you through the Church; but rejoice especially that Jesus has taken possession of the glory gained by his most profound humiliations, for now he is there an intercessor for you; there He prepares for you a mansion; there is now your home. To-day look up to heaven where Christ is, hope, suffer, love, and pray.

Psalm 46.  Omnes Gentes

CLAP your hands together, all ye peoples: * O sing unto God with the voice of melody.
2  For the LORD is high, and to be feared; * he is the great King upon all the earth.
3  He shall subdue the peoples under us, * and the nations under our feet.
4  He shall choose out an heritage for us, * even the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved.
5  God is gone up with a merry noise, * and the LORD with the sound of the trump.
6  O sing praises, sing praises unto our God; * O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.
7  For God is the King of all the earth: * sing ye praises with understanding.
8  God reigneth over the nations; * God sitteth upon his holy seat.
9  The princes of the peoples are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham; * for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield.

Sermon of St. Leo, the Pope on Ascension

After the blessed and glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (wherein was raised up in three days that true Temple of God which had been destroyed by the ímpiety of Jewry), there came by God's providential ordering a season of forty days, the annual commemoration of which endeth on this day.  The original great forty days, dearly beloved, were spent by the Lord in profitable instruction for our benefit.  On this wise, his bodily presence was still given to the earth during all these forty days, that our faith in his resurrection might be armed with all needful proofs.  For the death of Christ had troubled the hearts of many of his disciples ; their thoughts were sad when they remembered his agony upon the cross, his giving up of the Ghost, and the burial in the grave of his lifeless body : and so a sort of hesitation had begun to weigh on them. Hence the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples who had been fearful concerning the death on the cross, and doubtful of the trustworthiness of the report of Christ's resurrection, were so strengthened by the clear demonstration of the truth, that, when they saw the Lord going up into the heights of heaven, they sorrowed not ; nay, they were even filled with great joy.  And, in all verity, it was a mighty and unspeakable cause of rejoicing for all the holy multitude of believers, when they perceived that the nature of mankind was thus exalted above all creatures, even the heavenly spirits, so as to pass above the ranks of the Angels, and be raised beyond the heights of the Archangels.  For on this wise they perceived that no limit was set upon the uplifting of that nature short of the right hand of the Eternal Father, where it was to be Sharer of his throne, and Partaker of his glory ; and nevertheless it was still nothing more than that nature of man, which the Son hath taken upon him.
Therefore, dearly beloved, let us also rejoice with fitting joy.  For the Ascension of Christ is exaltation for us.  And whither the glory of the Head of the Church is passed in, thither is the hope of the body of the Church called on to follow.  Let us rejoice with exceeding great joy, and give God glad thanks.  This day is not only the possession of paradise made sure unto us, but in Christ our Head we are actually entering into the heavenly mansions above.  Through the unspeakable goodness of Christ we have gained more than ever we lost by the envy of the devil.  For those whom our venomous enemy cast down from the happiness of their first estate, those same hath the Son of God made to be of one body with himself, and hath given them a place at the right hand of the Father : with whom he liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.  Amen.

The Lesson is taken from the Holy Gospel according to Mark Ch. 16; 14-20
14 At length he appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. 15 And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. 19 And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. 20 But they going forth preached every where: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.

"Let us," says St Augustine, "in spirit, ascend with Christ, that when the time comes we may follow Him in body also. But we must know, dear brethren, that neither pride, nor avarice, nor impurity can ascend with Christ, our Lord, for pride does not keep company with the teacher of humility, nor wickedness with the source of all good, nor impurity with the Son of the Virgin." (from "Devout Instructions" by Fr L.Goffine)

From the Homily 29 of St. Gregory the Pope

I may be allowed to say that the disciples' slowness to believe that the Lord had indeed risen from the dead, was not so much their weakness as our strength.  In consequence of their doubts, the fact of the Resurrection was demonstrated by many infallible proofs.  These proofs we read and acknowledge.  What then assureth our faith, if not their doubt?  For my part, I put my trust in Thomas, who doubted long, much more than in Mary Magdalene, who believed at once.  Through his doubting, he came actually to handle the holes of the Wounds, and thereby closed up any wound of doubt in our hearts.To confirm to our minds the trustworthiness of the fact that our Lord did indeed rise again from the dead, it is well for us to remark one of the statements of Luke : Eating together with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem : and a little afterward : While they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.  Consider these words, note well these mysteries.  After eating together with them, he was taken up.  He ate and ascended : that the fact of his eating might shew the reality of the Body in which he went up.  But Mark telleth us that before the Lord ascended into heaven he upbraided his disciples with their unbelief and hardness of heart.  From this I know not what we should gather, but that the Lord then upbraided his disciples, from whom he was about to be parted in the body, to the end that the words which he spake unto them as he left them might be the deeper imprinted on their hearts.When, then, he had rebuked the hardness of their hearts, what command did he give them?  Let us hear.  Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.  Was the Holy Gospel, then, my brethren, to be preached to things insensate, or to brute beasts, that the Lord said to his disciples : Preach the Gospel to every creature?  Nay ; but by the words Every creature, we must understand man, in whom are combined qualities of all creatures.  Being he hath in common with stones, life in common with treees, feeling in common with beasts, understanding in common with angels.  If, then, man hath something in common with every creature, man is to a certain extent every creature.  The Gospel, then, if it be preached to man only, is preached to every creature.