PROPER OF THE SEASON

E-mail       Print
THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

Major Double of the First Class Feast         White Vestments

        Editor's Note: All Scriptural Readings are taken from the Douay-Rheims version of the Latin Vulgate Bible. The preface commentaries are a combination of thoughts from various sources. Red type indicates Our Lord's direct words in Holy Scripture. Italicized Maroon type indicates Latin with priests' refrain and server's response in bold..

        The Station was at St. Peter's, a basilica dedicated to one of the principal witnesses of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. To-day (Collect) is kept the anniversary of Christ's Ascension, which marked the close of His life on earth. During the forty days that followed His Resurrection He laid the foundations of His Church, to which he was about to send down the Holy Ghost. The Epistle and Gospel of the day are a summary of our Lord's instructions in this respect. He then left this earth, and the Introit, Collect, Epistle, Alleluia, Gospel, Offertory, Secret, Preface and Communion commemorate His glorious Ascension, which is a pledge of our own going up into Heaven.
        The souls which He has freed from Limbo are His escort (Alleluia): with Him they enter the kingdom of heaven, where they are made more fully partakers of His Godhead (Preface).
        The Ascension teaches us our duty to raise up our hearts to God, and in the Collect we are made to pray that we may dwell in spirit with Jesus in the heavenly regions.
        Let us offer up to God the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in remembrance of the glorious Ascension of His Son (Suscipe and Unde et memores), so that, delivered from present evils, we may attain with Him unto eternal life (Secret).

      Source: Marian Missal and St. Andrew Daily Missal

READINGS FOR ASCENSION THURSDAY

INTROIT:
      [Acts 1: 11] (Viri Galilaei). Ye men of Galilee, why wonder you, looking up to Heaven? allelulia: He shall so come as you have seen Him going up into Heaven. Allelulia, allelulia, allelulia (Psalm 44: 2), Oh, clap your hands, all ye nations; shout unto God with the voice of joy. Glory be to the Father... Ye Declare it with the voice of joy...
Kyrie... and Gloria

Dominus Vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus.

COLLECT:
      Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that we who believe Thy only-begotten Son, our Redeemer, to have this day ascended into the heavens, may ourselves also in, mind dwell amid Heavenly things. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

EPISTLE:
      (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 showed 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 the kingdom to Israel?" But he said to them: "It is not for you to know the times 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 to 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 yon 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."

Deo Gratias.

ALLELUIA
     [Psalm 46: 6] Alleluia, alleluia! God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Alleluia! V.(Psalm 67: 18-19] The Lord is in Sinai, in the holy place; ascending on high He led captivity captive. Alleluia!

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum N...
Gloria tibi, Domine.

GOSPEL:
      (Mark 16: 14-20) At that time, Jesus 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. And He said to them: "Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned: And these signs shall follow them that believe. In My name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues; 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." And the Lord Jesus after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere, the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.
Laus tibi, Christe.

Dominus Vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus.

OFFERTORY:
     (Psalm 46: 6) God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Alleluia!

SECRET:
      Accept, O Lord, the gifts we offer Thee in memory of the glorious ascension of Thy Son, and graciously grant that, being delivered from present dangers, we may attain eternal life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God... Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

PREFACE OF THE ASCENSION

    Dominus Vobiscum.
    Et cum spiritu tuo.
    Sursum Corda
    Habemus ad Dominum
    Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
    Dignum et justum est.
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: SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS... It it 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: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...

COMMUNION:
     (Psalm 67: 33-34) Sing ye to the Lord who mounteth above the Heaven of heavens to the east. Alleluia!

Dominus Vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus.

POSTCOMMUNION:
      Grant us, we beseech Thee, O almighty and merciful God, that what we have received in visible mysteries may profit us by its invisible effect. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in unity with the Holy Ghost, one God, forever and ever. Amen.


For the Prayers at the End of the Low Mass, see Leonine Prayers


PROPER OF THE SEASON

CREDO & CULTURE on the Truths and Traditions of Holy Mother Church   FEATURES & ARTICLES in our op-ed section   DEVOTION & REFLECTION section   DAILY NEWS & INFORMATION   MAIN PAGE of the most current text issue