Yesterday
was Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord, otherwise known as Ascension
Thursday. I want to offer a prayer and
an image for the occasion. .
This
came out of last month’s Magnificat: “A
Prayer for Eternal Life” by St. Anselm, who lived from 1033 to 1109. He lived quite a life. Born in Italy, became a Benedictine monk in
France, and an archbishop in Canterbury England. He was a theologian and philosopher and
involved in some of the political disputes of the day. He wrote this really beautiful prayer.
A
Prayer for Eternal Life
My Lord and my God, my
joy and the hope of my heart, tell my soul if this is that joy which you spoke
to us about through your Son: Ask and you
will receive that your joy may be full.
For I have found a fullness of joy that fills the whole heart, mind, and
soul, indeed it fills the whole of a man, and yet joy beyond measure still
remains. The whole of that joy cannot
enter into those who rejoice, but those who rejoice can enter wholly into that
joy.
Speak, Lord, to your
servant, in the depths of his heart, tell him if this is that joy that your
servants enter into when they enter into the
joy of their Lord? But, of course,
that joy in which your chosen ones will rejoice, neither has eye seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart
of man.
So as yet, Lord, I have
not spoken about or understood how greatly your blessed ones rejoice. They will rejoice as much as they love, and
they will love as much as they know. How
much will they know you, Lord, how much will they love you? Truly in this life, neither has eye seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart
of man, how much they will know and love you in that life.
The
painting is by Benvenuto Tisi, a sixteenth century Italian painter. The Ascension of Christ from 1520.
The Ascension is what led to our eternal life!
