John Chrysostom, Ascension Sermon 4

In ascensionem Sermo 4

ON THE ASCENSION of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sermon 4.

52.799 one, and brightening the hearts of the faithful; bright also is the

subject of the present feast; and why it is bright, we will show in what follows. In six days, therefore, God made all his works, as it is written, and on the seventh he rested. Wherefore also in the last of days the Word of God was pleased to seek and to save that which was lost, and having become man, in the same way, according to the number of the days of the creation of the world, he delivered to us the feasts of his own economy. The first, therefore, and root of the feasts of Christ, is the wondrous birth according to the flesh from the holy Virgin and Theotokos Mary after the conception, in which Christ our God was present, bowing the heavens, that he might save a perishing world; in which angels, appearing to the shepherds, making known the wonder of the miracle, cried out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Wherefore it is also justly called the first feast. The second feast is the Epiphany of Christ our God, in which, coming to the Jordan, he showed to all men the condescension of his ineffable compassion; in which also a voice of the Father came from heaven, bearing witness concerning him: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

But the Spirit also, coming in the form of a dove, remained upon him, the consubstantial Trinity being manifested, that is, in the twinkling of an eye; of which the forerunner of the Lord, John, became a worthy eyewitness. Concerning which epiphany the blessed apostle Paul also said: The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Since, therefore, it is by nature the salvation of all men, it is worthily also called the greatest feast by the pious. The third of the feasts is the holy and adorable and all-venerable day of the saving passion of Christ our true God, in which, being nailed to the cross in the flesh, he blotted out the handwriting of sin that was against us; in which also he brought Adam, who had been cast out of paradise through disobedience, into it by a single word. For he says to the thief: Today you will be with me in paradise. Wherefore this also has been established as a great feast, and especially so; for Paul has said: For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. The fourth feast, the most glorious and peace-making day of the holy resurrection of Christ our God, in which, having also descended into the nether parts, he broke the eternal bars, and burst the bonds, he rose from the dead, having won the victory over hades, raising up with himself the righteous who lay therein, and coming to the disciples, he awarded them peace. Wherefore, beyond all contradiction, this renowned day has been reckoned by the faithful as the mother of feasts. The fifth feast, therefore, is the holy ascension of the Lord into the heavens, concerning which we are now making our treatise; and it is the fifth of the feasts, inasmuch as it was also accomplished on the fifth day of the week.

For this reason we ought to celebrate, because today Christ has taken up into heaven the first-fruits of our lump, that is, the flesh. Wherefore the Apostle also said: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Therefore, where the author of evil and inventor of sin, the devil, through the mass of his pride and the arrogance of his conceit, fell, there Christ, by the greatness of his own love for mankind, has restored man, who was cast out of paradise through his most wicked counsel. Worthy, therefore, of honor and of spiritual

In ascensionem Sermo 4

ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΛΗΨΙΝ Τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Λόγος δʹ.

52.799 μίας, καὶ φαιδρύνουσα τῶν πιστῶν τὰς καρδίας· φαιδρὰ δὲ καὶ τῆς

προκειμένης ἑορτῆς ἡ ὑπόθεσις· διὰ τί δὲ φαιδρὰ, ἐν τοῖς καθεξῆς ῥηθησομένοις ὑποδείξομεν. Ἐν ἓξ τοίνυν ἡμέραις ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς πάντα τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, καθὼς γέγραπται, τῇ δὲ ἑβδόμῃ κατέπαυσε. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐπ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν εὐδοκήσας ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλὸς, καὶ ἐνανθρωπήσας, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς κοσμοποιίας, τὰς ἑορτὰς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ οἰκονομίας ἡμῖν παρέδωκε. Πρώτη τοίνυν καὶ ῥίζα τῶν ἑορτῶν Χριστοῦ, ἡ κατὰ σάρκα ἐκ τῆς ἁγίας Παρθένου καὶ θεοτόκου Μαρίας μετὰ τὴν σύλληψιν παράδοξος γέννησις, ἐν ᾗ παρεγένετο Χριστὸς ὁ Θεὸς κλίνας οὐρανοὺς, ὅπως σώσῃ κόσμον ἀπολλύμενον· ἐν ᾗ ἄγγελοι τοῖς ποιμέσιν ὀφθέντες, τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ θαύματος γνωρίζοντες ἐβόων· ∆όξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία. ∆ιὸ καὶ δικαίως πρώτη ἑορτὴ προσηγόρευται. ∆ευτέρα δὲ ἑορτὴ, ἡ ἐπιφάνεια Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, καθ' ἣν ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ παραγινόμενος ἔδειξε πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τῆς ἀφάτου αὐτοῦ εὐσπλαγχνίας τὴν συγκατάβασιν· ἐν ᾗ καὶ φωνὴ Πατρὸς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἦλθε, μαρτυροῦσα περὶ αὐτοῦ· Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ἀγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾧ ηὐδόκησα.

Ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς ἐλθὸν ἔμεινεν ἐπ' αὐτὸν, τῆς ὁμοουσίου Τριάδος δηλαδὴ ἐπιφανείσης ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ· ἧς αὐτόπτης ἄξιος ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου πρόδρομος γέγονεν Ἰωάννης. Περὶ ἧς ἐπιφανείας καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· Ἐπεφάνη ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σωτήριος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις. Ἐπεὶ οὖν πάντων ἀνθρώπων σωτηρία πέφυκεν, ἀξίως καὶ ἑορτὴ μεγίστη ὑπὸ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ὀνομάζεται. Τρίτη τῶν ἑορτῶν ἡ ἁγία καὶ προσκυνητὴ καὶ πάνσεπτος τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ ἡμῶν Θεοῦ ἡμέρα, ἐν ᾗ ἐν σταυρῷ σαρκὶ προσηλωθεὶς, τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐξήλειψε γραμματεῖον· ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸν διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς ἐκβληθέντα τοῦ παραδείσου Ἀδὰμ διὰ μιᾶς φωνῆς ἐν αὐτῷ εἰσήγαγε. Φησὶ γὰρ τῷ λῃστῇ· Σήμερον μετ' ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ. Ὅθεν καὶ ταύτῃ ἑορτὴ μεγίστη καθέστηκε, καὶ μάλιστα· Παῦλος γὰρ εἴρηκε· Τὸ Πάσχα ἡμῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός. Τετάρτη ἑορτὴ, ἡ ὑπερένδοξος καὶ εἰρηνοποιὸς ἡμέρα τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως, καθ' ἣν καὶ ἐν τοῖς καταχθονίοις γενόμενος, τοὺς μοχλοὺς τοὺς αἰωνίους συντρίψας, καὶ τὰ δεσμὰ διαῤῥήξας, ἀνέστη ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, νίκην κατὰ τοῦ ᾅδου ἀράμενος, τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ κατακειμένους συναναστήσας δικαίους, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰσελθὼν, τὴν εἰρήνην αὐτοῖς κατεβράβευσεν. Ὅθεν πάσης ἀντιλογίας ἐκτὸς, μήτηρ αὕτη ἑορτῶν ἡ ἀοίδιμος ἡμέρα τοῖς πιστοῖς λελόγισται. Πέμπτη τοιγαροῦν ἑορτὴ ἡ ἁγία τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψις, περὶ ἧς νυνὶ καὶ τὴν πραγματείαν ποιούμεθα· πέμπτη δὲ τῶν ἑορτῶν ἐστι, καθότι καὶ πέμπτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἐπράχθη.

∆ιὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἑορτάζειν ὀφείλομεν, ἐπειδὴ σήμερον τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ ἡμετέρου φυράματος, τουτέστι τὴν σάρκα, ἐν οὐρανοῖς Χριστὸς ἀνήγαγε. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἔλεγε· Συνήγειρε καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἡμᾶς ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Ὅθεν ὁ ἀρχέκακος καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας εὑρετὴς διάβολος, διὰ τὸν ὄγκον τῆς ἐπάρσεως καὶ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας τὸν τῦφον, ἐξέπεσεν, ἐκεῖ τῷ μεγέθει τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φιλανθρωπίας τὸν διὰ τῆς ἐκείνου κακίστης συμβουλίας ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου ἐκβληθέντα ἄνθρωπον Χριστὸς ἀντικατέστησε. Τιμῆς οὖν ἀξία καὶ πνευματικῆς