Tuesday, 7 May 2013

The Second Mystery Of Paschaltide: The Feast Of The Ascension Of Our Lord. Historical Note For The Ascension.


Roman Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Illustrations and Captions taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.





English: Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860.
Deutsch: Holzschnitt aus "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860.
Français: Gravure en bois pour «Die Bibel in Bildern», 1860.
Date: 1851-1860.
Source: Die Bibel in Bildern.
Author: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794–1872).
Permission: Reproduction of a painting that is in the public domain because of its age.
This File: 13 December 2008.
User: McLeod.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Forty days after Our Lord's Resurrection, still in the Paschal Cycle, is kept the anniversary of the day that marked the end of His visible reign on Earth.

The Apostles, who had come to Jerusalem at the approach of Pentecost, were assembled in the Cenacle (Upper Room) when Our Lord appeared and took a last meal with them. Afterwards, He led them outside the City, on the Bethany side, to the Mount of Olives, the highest of the mountains which surround the capital. Then, Jesus, blessing His Apostles, raised Himself towards the sky.

This was at mid-day. Then a cloud hid Him from sight and two Angels came and told the disciples that: "This same Jesus", who had ascended  into Heaven, would thence return to Earth at the end of the world.


File:Ascension (Martorana).jpg


Painting of the Ascension by Vincenzo da Pavia, 
dating from 1533, above the Altar of La Martorana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
Photo: July 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Sibeaster.
(Wikimedia Commons).




The interior of Martorana Church, Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
Photo: August 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Urban.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio or San Nicolò dei Greci, commonly called the Martorana, overlooking the renowned Piazza Bellini in Palermo, Sicily, Southern Italy
Co-Cathedral of Eparchy of Eastern Rite, is part of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church


As a reminder of this last walk of Our Lord and His Apostles from the Cenacle to the Mount of Olives, it was the custom at Rome to have a Solemn Procession at the Hour of Sext (mid-day), when, after Pontifical Mass at Saint Peter's, the Pope went with the Cardinals and Bishops to Saint John Lateran Basilica.

On the Mount of Olives, on the spot where Our Lord ascended into Heaven, Saint Helen built a Basilica, after the pattern of that of the Holy Sepulchre. By a happily devised piece of symbolism, it was open to the sky. It was destroyed by the Mohammedans and replaced in the 14th-Century by a monument of mediocre style.


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