#they are all dependents or mounts of Heavenly Immortals

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Beauties in 1986 chinese drama Journey to the West西游记

yutujing玉兔精 jade rabbit spirit

zhizhujing蜘蛛精 spider spirit

chang'e嫦娥 moon goddess

jin bi bai mao shu jing金鼻白毛鼠精 Golden nosed white haired mouse spirit

nv er guo guo wang女儿国国王 The Queen of Women's Kingdom 

[phoenixtakaramono]

SUMMARY: Let it not be said that Shen Yuan didn’t know how to be an accomplished—arguably better—writer than Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky! A middle-aged author in his hubris, he’d unknowingly triggered his fate and had his consciousness whisked away into an unfathomable mystical world that he would later learn to be based on Proud Immortal Demon Way and his very own work-in-progress. When given the opportunity to customize his character’s stats and to design his one remaining Customizable Skill Slot, as a veteran reader of transmigration stories and their tropes, Shen Yuan demanded, “Grant me the protagonist’s halo of course!”

The SYSTEM was silent all but for a minute.【Understood. Unique Skill "PROTAGONIST'S HALO" activated. Esteemed Host, you share the Unique Skill "PROTAGONIST'S HALO" with one other.】

“Who?”

【This world’s Luo Binghe. From the original novel series.】

“...Hold on, I need some time to process this.”

(Little did Shen Yuan know that this world’s Luo Binghe is the same sadistic “Bing gē” from the released Extra short story. It was also too bad that Shen Yuan, in his mortal form, resembled Shen Qingqiu by a good thirty-to-forty percent.)

This was the second time they’d held hands. Fingers threaded together, palms touching. A significant amount of information could be communicated in the simple act of taking someone’s hand—the shape and texture of it, the roughness or softness of the life they’d led, and the strength or fragility of their grip. Luo Binghe would remember the feeling of that pale hand gripping his tightly for the rest of his life.

The mist billowed under Luo Binghe the moment he was allowed entry into the dream realm of the divine. Instantly, he was besieged with the feeling of falling into a frozen lake. The cold was a shock through his body, forcing his hand to convulsively clamp down as he stumbled.

Foolish, Luo Binghe berated himself. To have been finally welcomed inside the dream realm of a celestial being meant this version of his shizun had thought highly of Luo Binghe and his constitution. Yet instead of a composed and dignified air, Luo Binghe had just shown his weak side.

Shen Yuan halted midstride. Concern was written upon those white brows upon seeing his reaction.

It was, nonetheless, an opportunity. Luo Binghe forced an amiable smile as he pretended to be oblivious, masking any sign of his discomfort as he leaned against Shen Yuan’s weight. The sensation of pins-and-needles assailing him wasn’t something he couldn’t tolerate, but it was unpleasant. Except for their one point of contact, no part had been spared. His gaze lingered on the long scholarly fingers wrapped trustingly around his, before sweeping a glance over their new surroundings.

He felt like he’d stepped into a world composed of silk screens. Ahead, the fine mist passing through the painted scenery shrouded the outline of the tall mountain range and forest. Even the walls of the buildings were composed of firm brushstrokes and soft ink wash.

Since Luo Binghe had difficulty walking, Shen Yuan had to support him. Both men, mutually depending on each other, took slow steps forward.

Droplets of water splashed quietly from their strides as Shen Yuan guided him in the direction of whatever he’d wanted Luo Binghe to see. Like black ink that had been dipped into clear water, the transparent surface was beginning to darken with each tread that Luo Binghe took.

He stared down at his feet. The sight of the ink and water swirling into one another as though they were made to be together gave rise to the tide of emotions which had been circulating within his mind.

In the newly fallen darkness, he could sense his companion had fallen into another state of deep contemplation. As the two men disembarked in companionable silence, Luo Binghe took a long, measuring look at the landscape—at the secrets hiding within the fog, behind the translucent silks.

The atmosphere was incomparably resplendent and harmonious, yet it painted an undeniable fact about his companion. Knowledge could be gleaned of how this revered existence perceived the outside world. Life was a flow of changes—transient and ephemeral. Being in this realm didn’t feel real, with the indifference of an observer who was transcendent and so far removed from the mortal scale.

They were truly opposites—not only in their physical appearance and status, but also in how their dream realms manifested.  

“…You’ve always had an unruly habit to roam and draw unnecessary attention to yourself!” An insidious and vicious whisper brushed against Luo Binghe’s mind like a wisp of smoke. “ It’s impressive you can even move so well inside this barrier. To think you’d chase him here on impulse!”

Hearing the litany of grievances, Luo Binghe hid the blade that was his smile. Unlike himself, he had no doubt that his senior might have been exorcised had he not taken refuge in Luo Binghe.

Because however convincingly Meng Mo conveyed his displeasure, his voice was nonetheless weakened by the barrier. He was merely being crotchety to maintain appearances.

Shen Yuan had made it clear that his invitation into his dream was extended to Luo Binghe only. With that one remark addressing the senior dream demon, and by performing the gesture of taking his hand, it couldn’t have been even more obvious what he’d wanted.

Earlier, Luo Binghe had gambled that on this fateful evening that the celestial fortuneteller would have no choice but to attend to his growing fatigue. His guard would be lowered and that was when the opportunity would present itself.

The practice of invading and manipulating a person’s dreams was nothing new. With his secret tutelage cultivating on the demonic path, beginning when he’d been a mere Cang Qiong Mountain sect disciple, he had learned to infiltrate many minds. Several had been his lovers—the first being his shījiě, accidental as it had been pulling his martial sister along with him—although the treatment his women received was far more considerate than the cruel methods he inflicted upon all those who opposed him.

He had seen the duplicity of people’s hearts and reproduced illusions of varying natures. He’d learned how to lure others when they were at their most defenseless and be able to find their worst fears and memories to inflict the maximum psychological torment. With his enemies who were impervious to physical torture, few could claim immunity upon being confronted with their own inner demons. And with his lovers, he could skim their memory fragments and indulge any spring dreams either of them had fantasized about, causing romantic feelings to overflow.

Because unlike the waking world, the dream realm was honest.

The capability to doubt was stripped away. Memories could be spied on. Falsehoods were exposed. And no secrets could be kept from him. Oftentimes one’s impulses could not be held back within the dream realm.

It was a glimpse into one’s truest state.

Meng Mo’s withered voice interrupted his thoughts.

“The ways of those of the Heavenly Realm are mysterious—but they are proud and have always held contempt for our kind. I know you are captivated by him, but be more prudent in choosing your words around him. Don’t be muddled in the head just because you believe he can replace the late Qing Jing Peak Lord….” Ridicule had crept into Meng Mo’s tone. “His looks aren’t bad but to have aspirations of eating the tofu of someone who bears the farseeing, discerning eyes of the Heavens…. Your ambition is bold, as is your guts. This elder doesn’t know whether to be impressed or scold you for your shamelessness.”

Although his lips had thinned into a white line, Luo Binghe remained silent.

Water shaped its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flowed. Tonight, many of his initial plans had been waylaid. Although he couldn’t have predicted its trajectory, he wasn’t discontent with the final outcome. He’d gained information that would be invaluable to him—and he’d finally found his shizun.

There had been a quiescent anticipation in the night as Luo Binghe waited like a spider spinning its web, searching and reaching for the only mind of this residence who was of interest to him, until he’d finally sensed the faintest reverberation of the otherworldly and ephemeral—a presence that could only belong to him.  

And he’d pulled.

As someone who used to humbly occupy the Mortal Realm, never in his imagination did Luo Binghe expect he could claim success to the achievement of accessing the dream realm of divinity.

The rush of triumph had been dampened once, upon seeking Shen Yuan, Luo Binghe encountered a Qi-condensed barrier—a mental defense meant to repel demonic influences. Impenetrable even against the combined efforts of himself and his senior who had centuries worth of infiltration experience, no matter how much he’d concentrated—redirecting the violent and rough flow of his Qi into something more finessed—he was unable to cross the boundary.

Luo Binghe had been stuck at an impasse. Breaching the barrier would require a much greater display of force, inflicting irreparable mental harm onto the dreamer.

He’d realized the barrier had to stay.

The passage of time was immeasurable in the world of dreams, but with every moment that had passed without the precious person inside revealing himself, the fear had mounted. Perhaps Shen Yuan had predicted such an incident would occur and had taken precautionary measures.

In hindsight, his action had indeed been too rash.

It was inevitable that they would be going their separate ways in the coming morning. Moreover, the last deep impression he’d leave behind would cast Luo Binghe in an extremely bad light, with Shen Yuan withdrawing back into seclusion and harboring a grudge for being taken advantage of. The opportunity would have slipped through Luo Binghe’s fingers like granules of sand.

All would be lost. Faced with the possibility of being abandoned, Luo Binghe had been inconsolable. The tension in the air around him had been so thick, it’d presented an oppressive miasma in his own dream realm.

The giant boulder which weighed down his heart vanished when, with the keen senses of a cultivator, his five senses had detected a ripple in the fog.

From faraway, he’d been spellbound. He’d seen a silhouette resembling that from legend, with the unattainable white moon that was Shen Yuan descending down from the stars which glistened like shards in the night.

Despite the offense, he had chosen to come to Luo Binghe from his own volition.

Another realization had struck Luo Binghe. Seeing the regal figure out of his immaculate finery—dressed down to his inner clothing and with his moonlit hair undone, without a headpiece in sight—was a rare sight beyond measure. Aside from the servants who tended to their master, no one else must have seen him in such a compromising state.

It’d also been fascinating observing how someone of the Nine Heavens would interact within his world; Shen Yuan had assimilated quickly. Wandering aimlessly in an unfamiliar environment, his appearance reminded Luo Binghe of the purest white snow, high above and unreachable, the likes of which remained untarnished. Such bearing was similar to what Luo Binghe expected for somebody of high status. Like a fairy unaffected by mortal matters, Shen Yuan’s manner had been aloof and vague. The only difference was that his attitude toward Luo Binghe had not been uncaring. Courtesy had been given, even knowing who he was—and what he’d done, and would be capable of doing.

There was no one who could deny Shen Yuan’s appearance was picturesque. When he was smiling, it was as moving as spring flowers and the autumn moon. When he was lost in thought, he projected an air of melancholy—solemn and ambiguous, like the subject of a painting one could only admire from a distance.

“…Xiōng dì.” A cultured and steady voice trickled into Luo Binghe’s awareness, pulling him from his deep reflection.

An invigorating energy suddenly blanketed him. All discomfort fled, replaced with the refreshing feeling of a spring brook engulfing him. Shen Yuan had fallen a step back so that they were now shoulder to shoulder.

Shen Yuan’s gaze was appraising as his breaths feathered the fur. “I had not expected you being here would be strenuous on you. Please take care of your body.” A hand went up to clasp him on the shoulder. “Endure the skinship. I think, for now, it’s better to stay close to me until you can stand on your own. You’ll be safer by my side.”

Luo Binghe inhaled sharply.

“Hoh. How considerate!” Meng Mo’s dryness filtered into his thoughts. “He treats you very well. Such goodwill. He certainly has a good heart.”

Stay out of this, Luo Binghe rebuked. You are not invited to take part in this conversation. Scram!

Replying in the affirmative though, he ducked his head. The hidden meaning of Shen Yuan’s words had not been lost on him. He simply hadn’t expected how protective Shen Yuan was of him.

In this lifetime, Luo Binghe would like to think he could recognize his shizun even if he turned into ashes—or took on a different appearance. Even the slow-witted were able to see that Shen Yuan was of different temperament, reminding Luo Binghe of the other “Shen Qingqiu” of the mirror world. This fortuneteller had a sincere and utterly honest personality, thoughtful and broadminded. Even when blood was shed, he didn’t condemn Luo Binghe.

This night was the first time they’d met, but it was undeniable that there was a flow to their conversations—as though they were not strangers but were, instead, dear friends reuniting. It was as if someone had seen the unfulfilled desires of his heart and had crafted him a companion to be compatible. Being with Shen Yuan felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Embracing him had felt natural.

Although he was a man, Shen Yuan had fit so perfectly in his arms. The firmness and strength of his body. Warm and solid. Alive and real. It hadn’t been the same as hugging a soft feminine figure but even now, Luo Binghe could recall how it’d felt folding him into his arms, at the simple pleasure of sharing body heat. Of inhaling his clean scent.

Being that close to him, the intimacy of such an act, had been so strangely powerful the connection between them had felt tangible.

Here was somebody meant to be unattainable and unreachable, whom mere mortals never would’ve had the fortune to meet unless they’d managed to ascend to the highest realm. Knowing that he was supposed to keep all divinity at a respectable distance made his awareness of what he was doing seem all the more enchanting.

There was no such thing as a string of coincidences. Luo Binghe held no illusion of what this really was; a second chance was being offered to him. Since they have finally encountered, it must have meant they were fated. Since fated, one must live up to the fate that the Heavens have bestowed.

(Cont.)

The rest can be read on AO3!

[pamphletstoinspire]

The Feast of the Ascension.

by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

“And the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God.”–Mark xvi, 19.

The various feasts which we, as children of the Church, are called upon to celebrate throughout the year, invite us to consider, with special attention, and, as it were, to behold in spirit the mysteries of which that tender Mother makes mention herself, in so solemn a manner to us all.

This is particularly so on the festival of today, which commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven. We gaze with the disciples into the cloudless sky as if we fain would pierce the secrets of the celestial realm beyond, and witness the entrance of Christ therein. Then the thought arises within us: “O happy Apostles! chosen to behold the Ascension of the Lord; would that we could know the feelings which filled your hearts when you saw Him surrounded by a luminous cloud, disappear from view.”

Beloved in Christ Jesus, I will tell you: Unspeakable longing after heaven took possession of them when they beheld their beloved Master enter therein. The same longing should also fill our heart. O Mary, Queen of heaven, obtain for us that same longing which animated your immaculate heart, to follow your divine Son to the abode of eternal bliss. I speak in the most holy name of Jesus for the greater honor and glory of God.

As I have already said, the feelings of the disciples, as they stood gazing upon Jesus as he faded from their view, were concentrated in one ardent desire for heaven, to be and remain with him there forever. Yes; and so also would we have felt had we been present on Mount Olivet with Mary, the Apostles and disciples, when Christ raised Himself from the ground, blessed them, and, soaring aloft, was seen no more.

“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up to heaven?” was the question put to them by the Angels; and, my brethren, had I been present, I would have said: “O dear Angels, how can you ask? for, while the favored few, whom Christ selected to witness His wondrous ascension, did certainly congratulate Jesus upon entering His eternal home, they also sighed, from their very hearts, ‘O that we, too, could leave this earth, to be and remain with our beloved Saviour in heaven.'”

This ardent desire is the more important because it is the fundamental condition without which we can not follow the admonition contained in the succeeding words spoken by the angelic messengers: “This Jesus, Who is taken up from you, so shall come again.” He will exact a rigid account from every man as to whether he has fulfilled that end for which God called him into existence, redeemed him, and permitted him to belong to the kingdom of His Church.

Upon the eve of His Ascension, Christ declared that He would send His disciples to the confines of the earth; and that they might be better enabled to proclaim His word, He would prepare them with the strength of the Holy Ghost. For only those who combat and conquer, who work for and with Jesus, who complete the work on earth for which God created them, and remain faithful, receive a beauteous crown in heaven.

Besides the strength God the Holy Ghost bestows, that divine Spirit also implants in the heart another disposition–a longing to accomplish something for God. This is confirmed by numerous examples of heroic actions, performed by those who, devoting their lives to sanctity, listened to and acted upon the inspirations of that divine Spirit. What wonderful things have been accomplished, even according to the testimony of our own experience, at the price of innumerable sacrifices and hardships, from the impulse and through the strength of this ardent desire! This has also its perfect application in the great affair of salvation.

Whoever meditates as he should upon heaven, feels strong enough to labor, to struggle, and to suffer for it, in faithful perseverance, unto the end. And what should be more easy than for every faithful child of the Church to excite in his heart this longing desire? Consider how many and what powerful motives there are to increase it therein! Let us devote some moments to these considerations; and with the divine blessing, even as the words fall from my lips, this desire for heaven will arise and increase in our hearts.

Behold, in spirit, Christ ascending to heaven, and say, within yourselves, Dear Jesus, where are you going? O beautiful country! how I sigh after thee. Here is the land of our exile; there, our eternal home. Here are hunger and thirst; there, an excess of delight. Here, lamentation and wailing; there, the security of bliss. Here is poverty and nakedness; there, the glorious vesture of heaven, decorated with the diamonds of merit, acquired by our good works upon earth. Here we have no lasting dwelling; there, when the Christian enters upon the reward of a well-spent life, he can exclaim: “Heaven is mine; all is mine; I enter the dwelling which Jesus prepared for me, and ascend a royal throne, whereon I will be crowned with a radiant diadem forever.”

Here there is a never-ceasing sound of wailing, as human hearts grow faint with the burden of sorrow; there, in heaven, the eternal Alleluia resounds, and never for one moment does the celestial music of angelic voices cease. Here is the labor; there, rest and quiet–the reward; and O what a reward! Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; nor hath it ever entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those who love Him. Here we must endure mortification and persecution; there, we shall enjoy a peace which passeth all understanding.

Here we are subject to temptations; there, no thought of evil can come. Here it is constant struggle; there, is the triumph attained. Here the world, and those who are of the world, strive only for the possession of creatures; there, the sole desire of the blessed is to see and possess God Himself in His infinite perfection and beatitude. Here a shadow rests upon our brightest hours,– the thought of the impending separation from our loved ones by death; there, neither sorrow nor death can enter; and the union among the blessed and with God will be eternal.

Blessed Egidius! when we think of these striking contrasts, we can not wonder that the very mention of heaven–“Paradise”–threw your soul into an ecstatic state, while your ardent desire after its joys raised your body from the ground as if your spirit longed to soar.

Yes, beautiful Heaven! the ardent desire of my heart, who will give me wings like a dove, to fly from this valley of tears, and rest on the mountain of bliss? But this necessitates labor, struggling, suffering. And what, beloved in Christ, will make this suffering light? what but this ardent desire of heaven!

See the laborer as he goes forth to his daily toil, willing to endure all, and leave himself no rest, for he knows that the more diligently he works, the greater will be his gain. And daily experience proves, that it is the same in every walk of life; yet how poor and trifling, how infinitely small, is the richest guerdon which the world can give compared to the reward which awaits us in heaven for every meritorious' work performed by us on earth. How worthless should the world's rewards appear when we think how soon they pass away! How infinitely great should we deem the ones which never, never end! How brave and determined the warrior who knows that, if he return from the conflict with the laurel wreath of victory, his fortune is assured! How willingly he risks that life, which is to him so precious, for the hope of a possible reward. How bravely, therefore, my dearest Christians, should not you be able to combat, having in view the hope of Heaven– the crown of eternal victory!

Men have borne, with the greatest patience, the most painful operations, with a view to saving life or limb. Strive, therefore, to bear with patience the sorrows and trials of earth, to save your immortal souls. Oh, let us never forget the heaven which may be all our own! Let us think of it, not only while we celebrate this glorious festival, but long after it has passed away, that we may so live that, when we close our eyes to earthly things, we may, without delay, ascend to that bright and glorious home to dwell with Christ in Heaven for evermore. Amen.

“They going forth preached every-where, and the Lord working withal, confirming the word with signs that followed.”–Mark xvi, 20.

Jesus had entered into glory, and still the disciples remained spell-bound, gazing after Him with irrepressible yearning to follow Him to that heavenly home, whither He went to prepare a dwelling for the souls He had redeemed.

Suddenly, as the Evangelist St. Luke relates, there appeared to the Apostles two Angels clad in white robes of golden glory, who thus addressed them: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you 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.” This is the explanation of the above: “As surely as you have witnessed the departure of your blessed Saviour, so surely will He come again. He will come not in His humiliation, but in the full splendor of His incomparable Majesty, to you, as well as to the whole world.”

Jesus raised Himself on high and entered heaven as Conqueror over death and hell; and once again He will come, not as Reconciler, but as Judge. Can we endure the penetrating glance of His all-seeing eye; that eye which will, as it were, search into the very marrow of our souls? It depends very much upon ourselves. If we have during life been disposed as were the disciples on Mount Olivet on Ascension-day, there will be no terror for us in the coming of Christ at the end of the world.

O Mary, Queen of angels, to whom it was granted to be assumed body and soul into heaven, and to sit enthroned at the right hand of your divine Son, bless and protect us, that we may one day behold the bliss of heaven! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, for the greater honor of God!

Deep in the human heart there lingers sweet hope of ascending at last to heaven. There is scarce a sinner, be he ever so abandoned, that does not cherish the hope that by some unlooked-for grace he will behold his glorified Saviour. It is true that sincere, even if tardy, repentance can win forgiveness for any crime, no matter how great; yet we must not expect to be called by wonderful ways; but, to insure to ourselves the eventual possession of that exquisite bliss, we must, during our whole lives, look up to heaven with affections similar to those of the disciples as they looked after Jesus when He soared aloft beyond the skies. It was, above all, the wish to enter heaven with Him which animated them when they, after He had disappeared from their view, stood spellbound, looking up as if they could still behold His beloved face. I have already touched upon this disposition of ardent desire, but after the address of the angels there were other affections which deeply moved their hearts.

First, they congratulated Jesus upon His entrance into glory. In proportion to the compassion with which His humiliation and bitter sufferings had inspired them, they now rejoiced; and repressing their grief at His departure, felicitated Him upon having ascended to heaven. They stood upon Mount Olivet, that spot so rich in sacred memories,–that spot where the agony of the Son of God forced blood from His pores. Their feet touched the ground once moistened by that precious blood; and with these thoughts welling up in their hearts, they might well exclaim: “According to the afflictions of my heart, consolations have rejoiced my soul.”

The disciples rejoiced with Jesus, especially at the assurance He gave them: “I go to prepare for you a lasting dwelling,” and now they perceived more clearly than ever the grand and majestic character of the happiness which had been conferred upon them, of beholding the incarnate Son of God,–that happiness after which Abraham and the prophets had so ardently longed,–yet which they were not permitted to enjoy, with the exception of Moses and Elias.

They now understood the favor which had been meted out to them, and blessed the Saviour that they had received from His lips the word of salvation; that they had walked by His side, and had had constant personal intercourse with Him. They thanked Him with the most intense fervor of heart for their call to the true faith, and for their election, according to the Saviour's promise, to proclaim the word of life to the very extremities of the earth, and to distribute to the children of men the treasures of the Redemption, by propagating the true Church to which had been bequeathed such fruitful means of salvation.

And it was not merely sensible affections of the heart which so deeply moved them; for they, at the same time, made firm resolutions, with the assistance of divine grace, to fulfill their calling faithfully, and to obey the precept which had been given them, to await at Jerusalem, in prayer, the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete. And this, my brethren, should be the disposition of our hearts upon this glorious day.

Let us exult and praise the Lord for His Majesty; for if we love Jesus more than ourselves, we should rejoice at His Ascension to such a kingdom of delight. What exultation must expand the heart of the Christian who really loves Him, as he recalls today the words of the psalm which prophetically describes the Ascension of Christ: “Be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, for the King of Glory approaches!” and behold in spirit the myriads of Angels coming from heaven to meet Him, entoning the Alleluia of victory before the Lord.

We should also imitate the Apostles and disciples in their gratitude; for if we reflect that we have been called to the true faith through no merit of our own, while the souls of millions who might have responded more fully to the grace of God, and availed themselves more frequently of the means provided by Him to help us on our heavenward way, are left in the darkness of error. What cause for thankfulness is the certainty that we are on the right path to salvation, and that if we really wish to attain it, we can do so through Jesus Christ our Lord. We should also thank God that we, as children of the true Church, may lead other souls thereto, and thus propagate His kingdom. There is no other way to heaven than that which Jesus trod, the way of struggle, labor, and toil,–of self-denial, mortification, and tears–no other way, in short, than the royal road of the holy cross.

But heaven is worth it all, and when well nigh fainting in the conflict, the Christian should think of the Saviour, Who, in His painful walk to Calvary, faltered and fell three times; and, taking courage, exclaim with St. Paul: “I can do all in Him who strengthens me.” The same Holy Ghost, promised and sent by Christ to His Apostles and disciples; He has, according to St. John, promised to us also; and He will send Him if we, by zealous and fervent prayer, prepare our hearts for His reception. The Apostles and their companions at Jerusalem did so. And after that happy event they immediately ordained deacons for the service of the Church, that they might themselves have more time for prayer and union with God.

Let us, then, beloved in Christ, imitate their example, by an increase of zeal in prayer, as we celebrate this festive day. Let us, in spirit, place ourselves in their midst, and imagine the deep emotion with which we would have fallen at the feet of Christ and embraced them, had we been witnesses of this happy meeting between Him and His holy Mother, and faithful friends. With what ardor we would have implored Him to remember us before His Father in heaven, and promised to do His holy will in all things, that we might one day follow Him to the realms of everlasting bliss.

If we possess these affections, and fulfill the resolutions arising therefrom; if we think constantly of heaven, and live only for it, then most assuredly will we courageously combat those enemies who would fain deprive us of its celestial joys; and having borne the cross on earth, we shall wear an eternal crown above. Amen! 

FEAST OF THE ASCENSION by Fr. Prosper Gueranger 1870 The sun of the fortieth day has risen in all his splendor. The earth, which shook with gladness at the Birth of our Emmanuel (Ps. xcv. xcvi. xcvii.), now thrills with a strange emotion. The divine series of the mysteries of the Man-God is about to close. Heaven has caught up the joy of earth. The Angelic Choirs are preparing to receive their promised King, and their Princes stand at the Gates, that they may open them when the signal is given of the mighty Conqueror's approach (Ibid. xxiii. 7). The holy souls, that were liberated from Limbo on the morning of the Resurrection, are hovering round Jerusalem, waiting for the happy moment when Heaven's gate, closed by Adam's sin, shall be thrown open, and they shall enter in company with their Redeemer: a few hours more, and then to Heaven! Meanwhile, our Risen Jesus has to visit His Disciples and bid them farewell, for they are to be left, for some years longer, in this vale of tears.

They are in the Cenacle, impatiently awaiting His coming. Suddenly He appears in their midst. Of the Mother's joy, who would dare to speak? As to the Disciples and the holy Women, they fall down and affectionately adore the Master, Who has come to take His leave of them. He deigns to sit down to table with them; He even condescends to eat with them, not, indeed, to give them proof of His Resurrection, for He knows that they have no further doubts of the mystery, but now that He is about to sit at the right hand of the Father, He would give them this endearing mark of familiarity. O admirable repast! in which Mary, for the last time in this world, is seated side by side with her Jesus, and in which the Church, (represented by the Disciples and the holy Women,) is honored by the visible presidency of her Head and Spouse.

What tongue could describe the respect, the recollected mien, the attention of the guests? With what love must they not have riveted their eyes on the dear Master? They long to hear him speak; his parting words will be so treasured! He does not keep them long in suspense; He speaks, but his language is not what they perhaps expected it to be, all affection. He begins by reminding them of the incredulity wherewith they heard of His Resurrection (St. Mark, xvi. 14). He is going to entrust His Apostles with the most sublime mission ever given to man; He would, therefore, prepare them for it by humbling them. A few days hence, and they are to be lights of the world; the world must believe what they preach, believe it on their word, believe it without having seen, believe what the Apostles alone have seen. It is by Faith that man approaches His God: they themselves were once without it, and Jesus would have them now express their sorrow for their former incredulity, and thus base their Apostolate on humility.

Then assuming a tone of authority, such as none but a God could take, He says 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 (Ibid. xvi. 15, 16). And how shall they accomplish this mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world? how shall they persuade men to believe their word? By Miracles. And these signs, continues Jesus, 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 (St. Mark, svi. 17, 18). He would have Miracles to be the foundation of his Church, just as He had made them the argument of His own divine mission. The suspension of the laws of nature proves to us that it is God Who speaks; we must receive the word, and humbly believe it.

Here, then, we have men unknown to the world and devoid of every human means, and yet commissioned to conquer the earth and make it acknowledge Jesus as its King! The world ignores their very existence. Tiberius, who sits on the imperial throne, trembling at every shadow of conspiracy, little suspects that there is being prepared an expedition which is to conquer the Roman Empire. But these warriors must have their armour, and the armour must be of heaven's own tempering. Jesus tells them that they are to receive it a few days hence. Stay, says He, in the city, till ye be endued with power from on high (St. Lluke, xxiv. 49). But what is this armour? Jesus explains it to them. He reminds them of the Father's promise, that promise, says He, which ye have heard by my mouth: for John, indeed, baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts, i. 4, 5).

But the hour of separation is come. Jesus rises: His blessed Mother, and the hundred and twenty persons assembled there, prepare to follow Him. The Cenacle is situated on Mount Sion, which is one of the two hills within the walls of Jerusalem. The holy group traverses the city, making for the eastern Gate, which opens on the Valley of Josaphat. It is the last time that Jesus walks through the faithless City. He is invisible to the eyes of the people who denied Him, but visible to His Disciples, and goes before them, as, heretofore, the pillar of fire led on the Israelites. How beautiful and imposing a sight! Mary, the Disciples, and the holy Women, accompanying Jesus in His Heaven-ward journey, which is to lead Him to the right hand of His Eternal Father! It was commemorated in the Middle-Ages by a solemn Procession before the Mass of Ascension Day. What happy times were those, when Christians took delight in honouring every action of our Redeemer! They could not be satisfied, as we are, with a few vague notions, which can produce nothing but an equally vague devotion.

They reflected on the thoughts which Mary must have had during these last moments of her Son's presence. They used to ask themselves, which of the two sentiments were uppermost in her maternal heart, sadness, that she was to see her Jesus no more? or joy, that He was now going to enter into the glory He so infinitely deserved? The answer was soon found: had not Jesus said to His Disciples: If ye loved me, ye would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father (St. John, xiv. 28)? Now, who loved Jesus as Mary did? The Mother's heart, then, was full of joy at parting with Him. How was she to think of herself, when there was question of the triumph of her Son and her God? Could she that had witnessed the scene of Calvary do less than desire to see Him glorified, Whom she knew to be the Sovereign Lord of all things, Him Whom, but a short time ago, she had seen rejected by His people, blasphemed, and dying the most ignominious and cruel of deaths?

The holy group has traversed the Valley of Josaphat; it has crossed the brook Cedron, and is moving onwards to Mount Olivet. What recollections would crowd on the mind! This torrent, of which Jesus had drunk on the day of His humiliation, is now the path He takes to triumph and glory. The Royal Prophet had foretold it (Ps. cix. 7). On their left, are the Garden and Cave, where He suffered His Agony and accepted the bitter Chalice of His Passion. After having come as far as what St. Luke calls the distance of the journey allowed to the Jews on a sabbath-day (Acts, i. 12), they are close to Bethania, that favoured village, where Jesus used to accept hospitality at the hands of Lazarus and his two Sisters. This part of Mount Olivet commands a view of Jerusalem. The sight of its Temple and Palaces makes the Disciples proud of their earthly city: they have forgotten the curse uttered against her; they seem to have forgotten, too, that Jesus has just made them citizens and conquerors of the whole world. They begin to dream of the earthly grandeur of Jerusalem, and, turning to their Divine Master, they venture to ask him this question: Lord, wilt thou, at this time, restore again the kingdom to Israel (Acts, i. 6)?

Jesus answers them with a tone of severity: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power (Ibid. 7). These words do not destroy the hope that Jerusalem is to be restored by the Christian Israel; but, as this is not to happen till the world is drawing towards its end, there is nothing that requires our Saviour's revealing the secret. What ought to be uppermost in the mind of the Disciples, is the conversion of the pagan world, the establishing the Church. Jesus reminds them of the mission He has just given to them: Ye shall receive, says He, the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts, i. 8).

According to a tradition, which has been handed down from the earliest ages of Christianity (Constit. Apost., lib. v. cap. xix), it is mid-day, the same hour that He had been raised up, when nailed to His Cross. Giving His Blessed Mother a look of filial affection, and another of fond farewell to the rest of the group that stand around him, Jesus raises up His hands and blesses them all. Whilst thus blessing them, He is raised up from the ground whereon He stands, and ascends into heaven (St. Luke, xxiv. 51). Their eyes follow Him, until a cloud comes and receives Him out of their sight (Acts, i. 9).

Yes, Jesus is gone! The earth has lost her Emmanuel! For four thousand years had He been expected: the Patriarchs and Prophets had desired His coming with all the fervour of their souls: He came: His love made Him our captive in the chaste womb of the Virgin of Nazareth. It was there He first received our adorations. Nine months after, the Blessed Mother offered Him to our joyous love in the Stable at Bethlehem. We followed Him into Egypt; we returned with Him; we dwelt with Him at Nazareth. When He began the three years of His public Life, we kept close to His steps; We delighted in being near Him, we listened to His preaching and parables, we saw His miracles. The malice of His enemies reached its height, and the time came wherein He was to give us the last and grandest proof of the love that had brought Him from heaven, His dying for us on a Cross; we kept near Him as He died, and our souls were purified by the Blood that flowed from His Wounds. On the third day, He rose again from His Grave, and we stood by exulting in His triumph over Death, for that triumph won for us a like Resurrection. During the Forty days He has deigned to spend with us since His Resurrection, our faith has made us cling to Him: we would fain have kept Him with us forever, but the hour is come; He has left us; yes, our dearest Jesus is gone! O happy the souls that He had taken from Limbo! they have gone with Him, and, for all eternity, are to enjoy the heaven of His visible presence.

The Disciples are still steadfastly looking up towards heaven, when lo! two angels, clad in white robes, appear to them, saying: Ye men of Galilee! why stand ye looking up to heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as ye have seen Him going into heaven (Acts, i. 10, 11)! He has ascended, a Saviour; He is to return, as Judge; between these two events is comprised the whole life of the Church on earth. We are therefore living under the reign of Jesus as our Saviour, for He has said: God sent not His Son into the world to Judge the world, but that the world might be Saved by Him (St. Joh, iii. 17): and to carry out this merciful design He has just been giving to His Disciples the mission to go throughout the whole world, and invite men, whilst yet there is time, to accept the mystery of Salvation.

What a task is this He imposes on the Apostles! and now that they are to begin their work, He leaves them! They return from Mount Olivet, and Jesus is not with them! And yet, they are not sad; they have Mary to console them; her unselfish generosity is their model, and well do they learn the lesson.

They love Jesus; they rejoice at the thought of His having entered into His rest. They went back into Jerusalem with great joy (St. Luke, xxiv. 52). These few simple words of the Gospel indicate the spirit of this admirable Feast of the Ascension: it is a Festival, which, notwithstanding its soft tinge of sadness, is, more than any other, expressive of joy and triumph. During its Octave, we will endeavour to describe its mystery and magnificence: we would only observe, for the present, that this Solemnity is the completion of the Mysteries of our Redemption; that it is one of those which were instituted by the Apostles (St. Augustine, EP. ad Januar); and finally, that it has impressed a character of sacredness on the Thursday of each week, the day already so highly honoured by the institution of the Eucharist.

We have alluded to the Procession, whereby our Catholic forefathers used, on this Feast, to celebrate the journey of Jesus and His Disciples to Mount Olivet. Another custom observed on the Ascension, was the solemn blessing given to bread and to the new fruits: it was commemorative of the farewell repast taken by Jesus in the Cenacle. Let us imitate the piety of the Ages of Faith, when Christians loved to honour the very least of our Saviour's actions, and, so to speak, make them their own, by thus interweaving the minutest details of His Life into their own. What earnest reality of love and adoration was given to our Jesus in those olden times, when His being Sovereign Lord and Redeemer was the ruling principle of both individual and social life! Now-a-days, we may follow the principle, as fervently as we please, in the privacy of our own consciences, or, at most, in our own homes; but publicly, and when we are before the World, no! To say nothing of the evil results of this modern limitation of Jesus' rights as our King, what could be more sacrilegiously unjust to Him Who deserves our whole service, everywhere and at all times? The Angels said to the Apostles: This Jesus shall come, as ye have seen Him going into heaven: happy we, if, during His absence, we shall have so unreservedly loved and served Him, as to be able to meet Him with confidence when He comes to judge us! 

FEAST OF THE ASCENSION by Fr. Raphael Frassinetti, 1900

Gospel. Mark xvi. 14 – 20. At that time as the eleven were at the table, Jesus appeared to them, and 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.

After Our Lord had consoled the Apostles by appearing to them at different times, and by wishing them peace, He declared at last that He was about to leave this world and ascend to heaven “to prepare a place for them.”

On this day, for the last time, He came to visit the Apostles. He promised to send them the divine Spirit, the Spirit of strength and wisdom. He said that the time had arrived for Him to go from them to remain in the enjoyment of His peace. He raised His hands, blessed them, and took leave of them all, as well as of His dear Mother. He then conducted them to the Mount of Olives. There they listened to His words, with their eyes fixed upon Him, when suddenly He was raised above them; higher and higher still He was borne, until a light cloud withdrew Him from their sight. While they were beholding Him going up to heaven, suddenly two angels stood by them, who said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven?” This same Jesus whom you have just seen ascending into heaven will return again at the end of the world to judge mankind. He will then appear in the same form in which you have just seen Him. You ought then, my dear young friends, joyfully do all that He has commanded you before He left you, that you may be well received by Him on His return. The disciples fell to the ground and adored their Lord and Master, and then returned to Jerusalem; where they retired to a quiet place, and remained in prayer until the coming of the Holy Ghost.

My dear young people, who can imagine the great triumph with which the King of glory was received on His entrance into heaven. The whole court of heaven was there, ready to meet its Master and Creator. All came forward to make their submission to the great Conqueror of the world and the devil, who has returned in triumph. These good souls must have been in an ecstasy of joy when they saw the great Hero; they looked with wonder on those wounds, which shone like stars. As He entered heaven they joined Him singing hymns and canticles to the great glory of God; then they conducted Him to His throne in heaven, where He sits at the right hand of His Father.

Our Lord, my dear young friends, left this world and ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for us; we had lost heaven, but He regained it for us. He again opened heaven to us, that pleasant, happy place, which will be our home for all eternity. As long as we live on this earth, we shall have to suffer many evils, sickness, and, finally, death, but in heaven we shall have everything; riches, happiness, enjoyment; we shall be inebriated with torrents of delight. The angels will be our companions, the saints will be there, and Mary and Jesus, too. We shall enjoy the happiness that God gives; we shall see God's omnipotence, with which He created heaven and earth; we shall see His wisdom and providence, by which all created things are governed; we shall see all the perfections and attributes of God clearly. We shall then see the Son of God in the Godhead, and Jesus in His divine person. We shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. We shall see God in the splendor of His glory on a throne of majesty; the centre and source of all the joy and brightness of heaven. If one little drop of that heavenly joy should fall from heaven into hell, it would sweeten the dreadful pains that are felt there.

But, my dear young friends, remember that if you wish to attain the possession of this happiness and to reign with Jesus, you must not look for your heaven here on this earth; those who enjoy this world will hardly enjoy heaven. Many wish to give full sway to their passions here, and then expect to have the reward of heaven also. But they are foolish, for if they indulge their passions here in this world, they defile their souls, and cannot enter heaven. If you want to get to heaven, keep the law of God, keep the commandments of the Church, observe the laws of the state, and you will have a right to its joys.

Not only should we observe the commandments of God, but we must also join to it the imitation of Jesus Christ if we wish to possess the place which He has prepared for us in heaven. My dear children, Jesus Christ is the model that is set before us and we must imitate Him just as the artist does who has a model before him; he marks the outlines, and then faithfully follows every lineament, every particular feature with the most scrupulous exactness. Have you so far endeavored to model your lives on that of Jesus Christ? “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,” so that those who see you will say, “this is a faithful imitator of the divine Master.” It is easy to recognize the original and the faithful copy.

Jesus, my dear young people, is the lily of the valley, the immaculate Lamb. Here is a very important virtue. Do you possess that scrupulous purity of thought and action which renders man like the angels? Jesus was obedient, obedient even unto death. What are the inclinations which most young people follow? They are disobedient and rebellious, independent and loving liberty; they are constantly looking for pleasure, so that life loses the necessary seriousness which belongs to it. What a difference between their life and that of Christ! Your whole effort, my dear children, should be to imitate Jesus in the purity of His life, in His obedience to the divine will, and His respect for authority. Lead a mortified life, joyfully accepting all the trials you may meet with here on this earth, and then shall come true as St. Paul says, “As you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation.”

A young man once came to St. Jerome and said he desired to abandon the world, to follow Jesus and to imitate Him. He was rich. St. Jerome voluntarily accepted him among his disciples, but he took him aside and gave him a little instruction. First he said, “Son, our life is a very hard one, as you see; we have no shoes, our clothes are coarse, we have to bear the cold and the heat in our houses; to endure abuses and hard words from people and violent temptations from the devil. I know not whether you can endure all this; you seem to have been brought up tenderly and in luxury.” The young man answered, “Am I more delicate than Jesus was when He walked about without shoes, suffered hunger and thirst, cold and heat, many persecutions and at last death? He has promised to help me: had I twenty bodies I would sacrifice them all for His love.”

O, my dear young people, if you will reflect seriously but for a moment, you will see that the imitation of Jesus Christ is a necessity. “I have given you an example that as I have done to you, so you do also.” Jesus desires you all to be in paradise. Do you not wish to go there? Yes, certainly; everybody expects to go to heaven; it is the greatest insult even to intimate to your friend that there is a danger of his going to hell.

Do, then, as the Apostles did. When they saw Our Lord ascend and taken away from them their hearts followed Him because they had no interest except in the glory of Jesus and the spread of His kingdom on earth. They desired trials, torments, persecutions, even violent deaths in order to be the sooner with Christ. They disliked the world and all its vanities. Let us not put our love on the things of this earth; let us look up to heaven, where our home is. Let us suffer, let us labor hard, let us employ all our time in this life, and so deserve a heavenly reward. 

[earl-of-221b]

On the pilgrims as demons in Journey to the West, and the pilgrims as gods in The New Legends of Monkey 2018 adaption. (aka, my extremely jumbled thoughts on why the pilgrims being demons is cool and relevant and new legends kind of fundamentally misses the point of jttw. But it’s ok. It’s an alright reimagining, it’s fine to like new legends. But this is why I think new legends is such a different jttw adaption from everything that has ever come out of china or asia. Again. Just my speculation on why this is.) 

Also it’s thanks to @dorkshadows post on the same subject that made me overthink this a lot.

In the Journey to the West, one might think it curious that the protagonists/heros of the story are the pilgrims - especially the disciples, who are all demons. (Minus the horse who is really a dragon lol.) The disciples’ jobs are to protect the holy human Tang Monk/ Tripitaka from demons who want to eat his flesh and become immortal, so the whole time they are fighting mainly against their own kind. But the reason the disciples are on this journey is to get redemption from their past crimes and maybe even get enlightenment - Sun Wukong/Monkey needs to be redeemed for the havoc in heaven and being mean and arrogant, Zhu Bajie/Pigsy needs to be redeemed for being horny on main all the damned time, and Sha Wujing/ Sandy for....breaking an important heavenly vase. 

It’s important to note that the three aren’t evil or Bad by default because they were demons. Sun Wukong lived at Mount Huaguo for a couple hundred years (?I think?) with thousands of other demon monkeys in peace before the havoc in heaven. As a demon he was accepted as a disciple by venerable Taoist master, Puti.  Bull Demon and Ironfan are not straight up evil, they were only antagonists to the pilgirms because they were under the impression their demon son was killed by them (he wasn’t.) Their (young and bratty evil) Demon Son, Red Boy, in fact got a chance to redeem himself for attempting to eat Tang Monk and being annoying and bratty by becoming Bodhisattva Guanyin’s disciple! Demons only deserve to get murdered by the pilgrims if they Make The Bad Decision To Eat Tang Monk. To attempt to get immortality by Cheating The System. (Demons can get immortality if they just Cultivate Themselves. Sure it takes hundreds of years but it’s free and no one has to get eaten.)

It’s also important to note that out of the three, only Sun Wukong/Monkey was born, by nature, a demon. Bajie/Pigsy and Wujing/ Sandy were originally gods. Bajie used to be Marshal Tianpeng, in charge of a significant heavenly army. One day in heaven, he got extremely drunk. In his drunken state, he made sexual advances on goddess Chang’e of the moon, who did not appreciate it. So Bajie/ Pigsy was apprehended, stripped of his title, and chucked down to hell to be reincarnated as a pig demon. Are you a lecherous bastard? U deserve to be tossed from heaven to be a pig demon. Wujing/ Sandy used to be the Curtain Lifting General. One day he dropped an important heavenly artefact, causing the Queen Mother to be so enraged she stripped him of his title and had him chucked to earth to be a horrible, ugly sand demon. Every day 7 swords would drop from heaven and impale him 7 times, causing him excruciating pain, so depending on the version, Wujing/ Sandy hides in the sand or the lake from these attacks. (This really was a disproportionate punishment though, it really sucks. I guess to cope with this shitty unjust punishment, Wujing/Sandy really became Evil and started eating humans as a demon.) Their punishment was to be forced from being a god to being a demon. 

Many of the demons that the pilgrims fight on the journey west used to be animals of the heavenly court - like Change’s jade rabbit, and somebody’s celestial cow, or celestial lion, or literally Taishang Laojun/Laozi’s celestial child disciples. Celestial beings who became demon or moonlighted as demons. 

The thing I’m trying to say with all of this is that it is possible to change from a demon to a god, or a god to a demon or etc etc etc. There is no inherent evil. (So I guess there’s no inherent good either lol. Ying Yang and all that). 

Sun Wukong, while he is a demon, is also regarded as a god at the same time. He was employed by heaven as a demon and has the title of a god - Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He is often respected as a god by other gods, and respected/ feared as a demon by other demons. 

After the journey, he is a demon and a god and a buddha. 

He’s all of that. 

Journey to the West is an extrapolation of chinese culture, where there is no black and white dichotomy between good and evil. There is always movement between natures and states and forms. Buddhas can wear the faces of demons (Bodhisattva Guanyin once disguised herself as a demon). Demons can change to become gods - demons can achieve enlightenment. (Sun Wukong/ Monkey). Humans can become gods (Chang’e, Nezha, Pagoda God Li Jing, the Eight Immortals, and demigods like Erlang Shen and Sanseng Mu). Humans can become Buddha (Tathagata Budda, Bodhisattva Guanyin, Tang Monk and every person who reached Budhahood). Gods can become demons (Bajie/ Pigsy, Wujing/ Sandy). When people die, they get reincarnated. It’s fluid. 

In The New Legends of Monkey adaption of jttw, the pilgrims are all gods. They start off as gods and they remain as gods. They are good because they are gods. The demons are evil because they are demons. They do bad things because they are demons. The god pilgrims had done nothing wrong - they’re not trying to get redemption. In new legends, by nature, there is good and there is evil. A dichotomy. Black and white. This, tbh, looks much much more influenced by Christianity. Like angels v demons. Jesus v the devil. When people die, they go to hell, or go to heaven. It’s set. 

[kaneowldust]

Report 20: Sidequest Logs, Alright!

So I decided to take a bit of a detour with the main story, as far behind as I am, and clean up some sidequest dungeons in my backlog outside of fishing and crafting. Namely Aquila, Helephant Tower, and Marleybone side dungeons. I will say the way queue system the game put in in a heavenly godsend as it is SO much easier to get a party of four outside of shouting in the commons or posting in the forums.

The Helephant Tower is…an odd dungeon. So the basis is that someone broke into Belladona’s office and stole a jewel known as the Heart of the Helephant. Our mission obviously is to get into the tower and take it back. So it’s one of those tower slog dungeons. Here is where it gets….odd. Okay, who decided to put the hardest bosses in the first round? You fight against two barbarian parodies who have several cheats attached. One you can’t trap and they will steal your blades. Plus one casts a 90% tower shield on themselves each round. Even when you get rid of the gimmick partner, the shield guy will cast a hard hitting leviathan spell every two rounds. After that the rest of the dungeon is relatively easily.

Aquila is where things got a bit dicer. Technically at level 30 you get an invitation to participate in a series of yearly challenges set by the gods of the Grecian based world of Aquila. Once you talk to Cyrus, he will send you to Colossus Boulevard where a special chariot is awaiting your arrival. This is the only way to get to Aquila. 

There is no World Door for this level. In the Garden of Hesperides, you get a brief introduction to each challenge of the Immortal Games before being sent on your way. There are three challenges depending on your level. The first one is at level 30 where you must go to Mount Olympus and go through a series of fights and puzzles before reaching Zeus who admits he was holding back out of good sport. You face the most amount of gods here as Athena is your guide and commenter in this round. You fight Apollo, Aries, and possibly Eris if you fail the puzzle as well.

Our second round is at level 60 where you must delve into the depths of Atlantis and under Hermes’ direction-take the two Sea Cow statues from Poseidon’s children. You also free a cursed Aquillian warrior and please the sirens. Poseidon also starts using cheats as he cannot be trapped. Since I was level 103 at this point, these could be done on my own.

The last one, Tartarus, requires a full party. Just about every boss has a cheat and can be very difficult to defeat solo especially at level 90. Cerberus is perhaps the hardest boss out of all of them as one head is surrounded by Tower Shields and the other will absorb your traps. Out of all the levels I will have to give it credit that Tartarus looks the most intricate of the three dungeons. With Mount Olympus, a lot of the structure feels like Wysteria with an added coat of Grecian paint. 

But compared to the dead palate of Khryalis it is a welcome setting. Atlantis suffers the most here as most the backdrops we have seen from Celestia. This is also the dungeon with the least variant of monster designs as, again, many seem to have been pulled from Celestia’s assets. While Tartarus takes place underground, there is a nice sense of desolation and creepiness. Plus you can find some nice housing items to take. Hades will also drop modified Mastery Amulets down here and just my luck I get the Ice one. The ICE one. The one absolutely useless to me since I am in the ice school.

At level 90 three more challenges are open to you. Each area also has an additional side boss you can fight for an extra badge. Aquila has the smallest amount of badges with a total of 6 you can obtain: one for each dungeon and one for each mini boss. For these side bosses I suggest a full party as they can have some of the highest health and vicious cheats that can really ruin your day. And Earthquake. Bloody earthquake. Nothing ruins your blade stacks like Earthquake am I right?

Aside from that, this is more of a distraction since you don’t get a bunch of benefits from here at later levels. Or maybe because I was spoiled from Pirate101. Okay, enough distractions, let’s get into the cold winds of Mother Polaris! Take to the sky my friends!

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

14th August >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest, Martyr 

on Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

Wednesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Red)

(Readings for the feria (Wednesday))

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

There Moses died as the Lord had said, and since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like him.

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land— Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms, and as far as Zoar. The Lord then said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.” So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died as the Lord had said; and he was buried in the ravine opposite Beth-peor in the land of Moab, but to this day no one knows the place of his burial. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. For thirty days the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses.

Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the children of Israel gave him their obedience, thus carrying out the Lord’s command to Moses.

Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He had no equal in all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land, and for the might and the terrifying power that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 66:1-3a, 5 and 8, 16-17

R/ Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

sing praise to the glory of his name;

proclaim his glorious praise.

Say to God: “How tremendous are your deeds!”

R/ Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Come and see the works of God,

his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.

Bless our God, you peoples;

loudly sound his praise.

R/ Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare

what he has done for me.

When I appealed to him in words,

praise was on the tip of my tongue.

R/ Blessed be God who filled my soul with fire!

Gospel Acclamation

2 Corinthians 5:19

Alleluia, alleluia.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 18:15-20

If your brother listens to you, you have won him over.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that  every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

———————————

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest, Martyr 

(Liturgical Colour: Red)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Wednesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

Wisdom 3:1-9

As sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

The souls of the just are in the hand of God,

and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;

and their passing away was thought an affliction

and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.

For if before men, indeed, they be punished,

yet is their hope full of immortality;

Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,

because God tried them

and found them worthy of himself.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their visitation they shall shine,

and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;

They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

and the Lord shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with his elect.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 116:10-11, 12-13, 16ac-17

R/ Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

I believed, even when I said,

“I am greatly afflicted”;

I said in my alarm,

“No man is dependable.”

R/ Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

How shall I make a return to the Lord

for all the good he has done for me?

The cup of salvation I will take up,

and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

R/ Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

O Lord, I am your servant;

you have loosed my bonds.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

R/ Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

Gospel Acclamation

John 12:25

Alleluia, alleluia.

If you hate your life in this world,

you will preserve it to life eternal.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

John 15:12-16

This is my commandment: love one another.

Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. I was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[unfetteredeternalnow]

Hymn III

O ruler of the Highest Gods, Hermouthis, Lady, Isis, pure and sacred, mighty, of mighty name, Dēo, O most hallowed bestower of good things, to all men who are righteous, you grant blessings: to possess wealth, a life that is pleasant, and most serene happiness: material gain, good fortune, and happy soundness of understanding. All who live lives of greatest bliss, the best of men: sceptre-bearing Kings and those who are rulers, if they depend on You, rule until old age, leaving shining and splendid wealth in abundance to their sons and sons' sons, and to men who come after. But the one whom the heavenly Queen has held most dear of princes, rules both Asia and Europe, keeping the peace; the harvests grow heavy for him, with all kinds of good things, bearing fruit . . . and where indeed there are wars and slaughter of countless throngs, Your strength and godly power annihilates the multitude; but to the few with him it gives courage. Hear me, Agathētychē, when I pray to You, Lady, whether You have journeyed into Libya or to the south wind, or whether You are dwelling in the outermost regions of the north wind ever sweetly blowing, or whether You dwell in the blasts of the east wind, where are the risings of the Sun, or whether You have gone to Olympus, where the Olympian gods dwell, or whether You are in heaven above, a judge with the immortal gods, or whether You have mounted the chariot of the swift-driving sun, You are directing the world of men, looking down on the manifold deeds of the wicked and gazing down on those of the just. If You are also present here too, You witness mens' individual virtue, delighting in the sacrifices, libations, and offerings of the men who dwell in the nome of Suchos, the Arsinoïtes, men of mixed races who all, yearly, are present on the twentieth of the month of Pachon and Thoth, bringing a tenth for You and for Anchoēs, and Sokonopis, most sacred of gods, at Your feast. O Hearer of prayers, black-robed Isis, the Merciful, and You Great Gods who share the temple with Her, send Paean to me, Healer of all ills.

Isidoros wrote it.

[libidomechanica]

There spear

or rumpled People nature. Next Camus,  reverend since to cherry, One  is no less lie fall. Within  the vallies or height: and heavenly  do, until mine we flutterly trace its  lips from the right pavilion innocent  by a while, once, let the Powder  form divide. And with a  little was was no Room  for all they all knowst when Zephyr  pencil may the dreadful freight have name  mounted Vessels of louely  place, would shore, the Gem was nourishd  lighted Hair dawn you sleep, where foes  detail; so, lovely, a doves steals up  in a life, dearly spirit, while  sages to his hooves checks his  Dignity of filthy comforte, and  her face presumed not in  her act because was  Ariel once too, I would chirrup  the airy one flee; for the  should take, to be immortal 

Beams lanchd his saving north and encroachines  must have superior few to you  love, usurer side him that lines to  hell her upon her love depend of  faith Love in “t” the more circlings  charmd, will keep I was a fruits  deadly do, and, whence caprice: then who showes  glory traces, beat goddess! In  moue, that Firmán-issuing still remits take  thee the thinke hold heard long this merrily!  Name, I country season. Prelude, faint breathlesse:  looks do not running from the vastness,  and this; when an evening  to my form, in brief, the stays  are that down, I brough a field of  all am learned with such  a might he world that I disclose heaving  dally rise, lay nough looking sudden, laught with  universal knife, thou may accept  in the wind, wrestlesse, but quickly  repented joys of rightway the  pure some from though sorrow; and gem of  her. What is a matter that 

[glorioustragedyluminary-blog]

Rpg

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[sanskritintheeveryday]

Hinduism in Shin Megami Tensei

Shin Megami Tensei is a JRPG. It is set in the near future, when the world has been wrecked by a demon invasion. There are two factions: Order of Messiah and Ring of Gaea. One follows YHVH (he’s like God, if he were a jerk) and the other Lucifer. Their factions are Law and Chaos, respectively. Law will bring about peace and not a lot of deaths, but everyone will be under a nasty dictator. Chaos will bring freedom for everyone, but there will be Social Darwinism and a lot of bloodshed. In the middle is the Neutral alignment, harder to play, but in my opinion, much more satisfying and masochistic.

There are four heroes: the protagonist, the Chaos Hero, the Law Hero, and the Heroine. The game pretty muchly follows whether you want to help the dictator God or the I-discard-the-weak Lucifer, or neither, and your adventures as you go about this.

A lot of the demons were derived from many religions-to have a sampling, Aztec Mythology, Haitian Mythology, Inuit Mythology, Irish Mythology, Occult, et cetera. And now for the relevant part: some of the demons are derived from Hindu mythology, and two of the bosses you fight are a Hindu god and a Hindu demon.

Some issues: is it all right to portray a Hindu god like this, in a game. First, games in general. I believe it depends a lot on the game, and what portrayal the gods are given in that game. For example, see the post about the Ramayana movie. It was well-done and accurate, and I believe that when any form of art at all, even a game, is done accurately and well, it is all right to portray gods in games. A game is a piece of art, just like a beautiful painting or a movie. A game takes months or years to do correctly, takes a whole team of people, and is a blend of art, music, and player interaction. Making a great game takes high scores in all of these categories, whereas art and music are less busy. When you make a beautiful piece of art, you don’t have to worry about what music will be played as viewers view it.

(This is the part most relevant to this blog, but it’s highly recommended to read the analysis under the break first.) This being said, whether something insults a person is very dependent on the person. Your mileage will vary any time a religion near and dear to one’s heart is portrayed in any way. In Valmiki’s Ramayana, first Vishnu-as-Rama had his wife go into a flaming pyre. Then, in the Uttara Kanda, he abandoned her, and did several actions that were out of character for him. This Uttara Kanda was added after Valmiki made the original, and authors like Kalidasa did not like this addition. So any time a god is portrayed, there is the potential for insults. How insulting a material is heavily depends on how much research was put into the making of said material.

That’s about games and gods in general, so how about Shin Megami Tensei?  Does Vishnu’s addition make sense? I believe it does. This is a game of the war of the gods, and if you include Atzec gods and Egyptian gods, then the Hindu gods should make an appearance. Otherwise, it would imply the Hindu gods don't really care enough about the world to do anything about it.

Vishnu is in the Tokyo Government Offices fighting against his enemy, Ravana and his son Indrajit who are on the side of Chaos. He will join you if you are Law, and fight against you if Neutral or Chaos

Is this consistent with Vishnu? He is the preserver of the universe and protects it whenever there is evil or chaos. It’s not known how much Vishnu knows about how evil YHVH really is. YHVH’s zealots mostly said the world will be peaceful once Lucifer is defeated. Considering that Vishnu will fight against you if you are Chaos (the weak should be abandoned) or Neutral, he will fight you. This is understandable, because it doesn’t seem like Vishnu would really want to help the protagonist bring chaos and bloodshed to the world.

Shouldn’t Vishnu know that YHVH is a nasty, murdering, jerk? Technically he should. However, this is mostly a fight between YHVH and Lucifer and it’s not known how much Vishnu is involved in the war. To him, you may be the bigger threat because your added power will give Ravana and Indrajit (and Lucifer) a huge boost, if Chaos aligned, or just throw everything off completely, if Neutral.

In addition, YHVH has said a power above him has set it to where you the hero will be reincarnated in many worlds to defeat him. Does Vishnu know this? If so, maybe he wants to minimize casualties as best he can. His alignment is Neutral after all. Still though, Vishnu’s motivations are left vague. The player can draw conclusions on whose side Vishnu is really on. These conclusions will decide how insulting this is to you.

Under the break is an analysis of characters, designs, their moves, entries and how accurate they are, several words and phrases from other persona games that references to Sanskrit, etc.

Persona 4:

There is some Sanskrit in Persona 4. There are some items, called Soma, Hiranya, and Amrita. Soma is from the Sanskrit word सोम. The item restores the party's HP and SP. सोम was fermented juice offered to the gods, and drunk by priests.

Hiranya is from the Sanskrit word हिरण्य meaning golden. It cures all ailments but Down and Unconscious for one party member.

Amrita is from the Sanskrit word अमृत. The item cures all ailments but Down and Unconscious for all party members. अमृत is from the Sanskrit root, मृ, to die. The Past Passive Participle of मृ is मृत. The अ prefix means “un”; so अमृत means “un-dead”. 

Through the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, there are demons you can fight, or are forced to fight via random encounters. These are the demons derived from Hindu mythology:

First, in Shin Megami Tensei.

Apsaras, अप्सरसः, are cloud spirits in Hindu mythology. They are the court musicians of Indra. In the game, they are Yoma race-messengers of gods. That’s accurate.

The in-game dictionary reads as:  "Origin: India. Nymphs that dwell with Indra. They are similar to the Greek Nymphs. They tempt ascetics and fall in love with humans. They also carry fallen soldiers to heaven, like the Valkyries of Norse lore."—Shin Megami Tensei A-Mode DDS Dictionary

This is mostly correct. The last part seems to be more about the Valkyries than the Apsaras. As for the art, the Apsaras are usually shown in more revealing clothing. The yellow skin and green hair is also weird, and should be chalked up to artistic liberties.

Ananta, शेषनाग, also called अनन्त शेषनाग (Endless Shesanaga), the king of all nagas, and the bed on which Vishnu rests. In the game, they are of the Dragon race-dragon-like creatures.

The in-game dictionary reads,  "Origin: India. One of the kings of the Nagas. It is a giant serpent with a thousand heads, whose name means 'infinite.' It sleeps under the earth and will watch over the end of the world with Vishnu. Until the time comes, Ananta will protect Vishnu for eons in the sea of milk."

As for the art, Śeṣanāga is a big snake with many heads, and slate blue and green are good colors. Śeṣanāga usually has his heads upright in a cobra-like formation though.

Asura- असुर. They wrestle with the Devas over power. In the Vedas, Indra and the other gods along with the evil demons are called Asuras. In-game, Asura is of the Tenma race-Heavenly Demons. They can be guardian or protector deities.

The in-game dicitonary reads, "Origin: India. The supreme god of Vajrayana. He is also known as Maha Vairocana, the god of fire and light. He is the universe himself and exists within the smallest of things. He is portrayed sitting meditating on a white lotus, in the center of both realms."

This entry has less to do with Hinduism and more to do with in-game lore. In Shin Megami Tensei, Asura is Lucifer’s right-hand man, the final boss for Law and Neutral players. Asura mocks the player, and once he dies, balance is restored to the world (if you also kill the corresponding Law counterpart).

The art seems to be nice. The pose he makes is reminiscent of Hindu poses.

Garuda- गरुड. A large legendary bird-like creature, the mount of Lord Vishnu. In the game, he is of the Avian race-sacred birds, of which Garuda is the top ranked.

The in-game dictionary reads, "Origin: India. Vishnu's half-man, half-bird mount. His mother became a slave after losing a bet with the Nagas. To save her, he stole Amrita from the gods to exchange it for her freedom. On his way back, he was intercepted by Vishnu, but Brahma intervened. Garuda became Vishnu's mount in exchange for immortality. Afterwards, he devised a plan to take his mother back and became a scourge of the Nagas. In Buddhism, Garuda is known as one of the 28 attendants of Senju-Kannon."

This is correct. I am not so sure about the Buddhism part though. 

Hanuman

Indrajit

Jatayu

KaliKinnara

Kinnari

Lakhe

Nandi

Angat (Onkot)

Rakshasa

Ravana

Sources:

Shin Megami Tensei

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei#/media/File%3AShin_Megami_Tensei_The_First.jpg

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Persona_4_Skills

http://sanskritdictionary.com/?iencoding=iast&q=soma&lang=sans&action=Search

http://sanskritdictionary.com/?iencoding=iast&q=hira%E1%B9%87ya&lang=sans&action=Search

http://sanskritdictionary.com/?iencoding=iast&q=am%E1%B9%9Bta&lang=sans&action=Search

http://sanskritdictionary.com/?q=m%E1%B9%9B%22&lang=sans&iencoding=iast&action=Search

http://sanskrit.inria.fr/cgi-bin/SKT/sktconjug?lex=SH&q=mR&t=KH&c=6&font=roma

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsara

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Yoma

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Ananta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shesha

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Asura

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Tenma

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asura

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Garuda

http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Avian

[pamphletstoinspire]

THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

“And the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God.”–Mark xvi, 19.

The various feasts which we, as children of the Church, are called upon to celebrate throughout the year, invite us to consider, with special attention, and, as it were, to behold in spirit the mysteries of which that tender Mother makes mention herself, in so solemn a manner to us all.

This is particularly so on the festival of today, which commemorates the Ascension of Christ into heaven. We gaze with the disciples into the cloudless sky as if we fain would pierce the secrets of the celestial realm beyond, and witness the entrance of Christ therein. Then the thought arises within us: “O happy Apostles! chosen to behold the Ascension of the Lord; would that we could know the feelings which filled your hearts when you saw Him surrounded by a luminous cloud, disappear from view.”

Beloved in Christ Jesus, I will tell you: Unspeakable longing after heaven took possession of them when they beheld their beloved Master enter therein. The same longing should also fill our heart. O Mary, Queen of heaven, obtain for us that same longing which animated your immaculate heart, to follow your divine Son to the abode of eternal bliss. I speak in the most holy name of Jesus for the greater honor and glory of God.

As I have already said, the feelings of the disciples, as they stood gazing upon Jesus as he faded from their view, were concentrated in one ardent desire for heaven, to be and remain with him there forever. Yes; and so also would we have felt had we been present on Mount Olivet with Mary, the Apostles and disciples, when Christ raised Himself from the ground, blessed them, and, soaring aloft, was seen no more.

“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up to heaven?” was the question put to them by the Angels; and, my brethren, had I been present, I would have said: “O dear Angels, how can you ask? for, while the favored few, whom Christ selected to witness His wondrous ascension, did certainly congratulate Jesus upon entering His eternal home, they also sighed, from their very hearts, ‘O that we, too, could leave this earth, to be and remain with our beloved Saviour in heaven.'”

This ardent desire is the more important because it is the fundamental condition without which we can not follow the admonition contained in the succeeding words spoken by the angelic messengers: “This Jesus, Who is taken up from you, so shall come again.” He will exact a rigid account from every man as to whether he has fulfilled that end for which God called him into existence, redeemed him, and permitted him to belong to the kingdom of His Church.

Upon the eve of His Ascension, Christ declared that He would send His disciples to the confines of the earth; and that they might be better enabled to proclaim His word, He would prepare them with the strength of the Holy Ghost. For only those who combat and conquer, who work for and with Jesus, who complete the work on earth for which God created them, and remain faithful, receive a beauteous crown in heaven.

Besides the strength God the Holy Ghost bestows, that divine Spirit also implants in the heart another disposition–a longing to accomplish something for God. This is confirmed by numerous examples of heroic actions, performed by those who, devoting their lives to sanctity, listened to and acted upon the inspirations of that divine Spirit. What wonderful things have been accomplished, even according to the testimony of our own experience, at the price of innumerable sacrifices and hardships, from the impulse and through the strength of this ardent desire! This has also its perfect application in the great affair of salvation.

Whoever meditates as he should upon heaven, feels strong enough to labor, to struggle, and to suffer for it, in faithful perseverance, unto the end. And what should be more easy than for every faithful child of the Church to excite in his heart this longing desire? Consider how many and what powerful motives there are to increase it therein! Let us devote some moments to these considerations; and with the divine blessing, even as the words fall from my lips, this desire for heaven will arise and increase in our hearts.

Behold, in spirit, Christ ascending to heaven, and say, within yourselves, Dear Jesus, where are you going? O beautiful country! how I sigh after thee. Here is the land of our exile; there, our eternal home. Here are hunger and thirst; there, an excess of delight. Here, lamentation and wailing; there, the security of bliss. Here is poverty and nakedness; there, the glorious vesture of heaven, decorated with the diamonds of merit, acquired by our good works upon earth. Here we have no lasting dwelling; there, when the Christian enters upon the reward of a well-spent life, he can exclaim: “Heaven is mine; all is mine; I enter the dwelling which Jesus prepared for me, and ascend a royal throne, whereon I will be crowned with a radiant diadem forever.”

Here there is a never-ceasing sound of wailing, as human hearts grow faint with the burden of sorrow; there, in heaven, the eternal Alleluia resounds, and never for one moment does the celestial music of angelic voices cease. Here is the labor; there, rest and quiet–the reward; and O what a reward! Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; nor hath it ever entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those who love Him. Here we must endure mortification and persecution; there, we shall enjoy a peace which passeth all understanding.

Here we are subject to temptations; there, no thought of evil can come. Here it is constant struggle; there, is the triumph attained. Here the world, and those who are of the world, strive only for the possession of creatures; there, the sole desire of the blessed is to see and possess God Himself in His infinite perfection and beatitude. Here a shadow rests upon our brightest hours,– the thought of the impending separation from our loved ones by death; there, neither sorrow nor death can enter; and the union among the blessed and with God will be eternal.

Blessed Egidius! when we think of these striking contrasts, we can not wonder that the very mention of heaven–“Paradise”–threw your soul into an ecstatic state, while your ardent desire after its joys raised your body from the ground as if your spirit longed to soar.

Yes, beautiful Heaven! the ardent desire of my heart, who will give me wings like a dove, to fly from this valley of tears, and rest on the mountain of bliss? But this necessitates labor, struggling, suffering. And what, beloved in Christ, will make this suffering light? what but this ardent desire of heaven!

See the laborer as he goes forth to his daily toil, willing to endure all, and leave himself no rest, for he knows that the more diligently he works, the greater will be his gain. And daily experience proves, that it is the same in every walk of life; yet how poor and trifling, how infinitely small, is the richest guerdon which the world can give compared to the reward which awaits us in heaven for every meritorious' work performed by us on earth. How worthless should the world's rewards appear when we think how soon they pass away! How infinitely great should we deem the ones which never, never end! How brave and determined the warrior who knows that, if he return from the conflict with the laurel wreath of victory, his fortune is assured! How willingly he risks that life, which is to him so precious, for the hope of a possible reward. How bravely, therefore, my dearest Christians, should not you be able to combat, having in view the hope of Heaven– the crown of eternal victory!

Men have borne, with the greatest patience, the most painful operations, with a view to saving life or limb. Strive, therefore, to bear with patience the sorrows and trials of earth, to save your immortal souls. Oh, let us never forget the heaven which may be all our own! Let us think of it, not only while we celebrate this glorious festival, but long after it has passed away, that we may so live that, when we close our eyes to earthly things, we may, without delay, ascend to that bright and glorious home to dwell with Christ in Heaven for evermore. Amen.

“They going forth preached every-where, and the Lord working withal, confirming the word with signs that followed.”–Mark xvi, 20.

Jesus had entered into glory, and still the disciples remained spell-bound, gazing after Him with irrepressible yearning to follow Him to that heavenly home, whither He went to prepare a dwelling for the souls He had redeemed.

Suddenly, as the Evangelist St. Luke relates, there appeared to the Apostles two Angels clad in white robes of golden glory, who thus addressed them: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you 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.” This is the explanation of the above: “As surely as you have witnessed the departure of your blessed Saviour, so surely will He come again. He will come not in His humiliation, but in the full splendor of His incomparable Majesty, to you, as well as to the whole world.”

Jesus raised Himself on high and entered heaven as Conqueror over death and hell; and once again He will come, not as Reconciler, but as Judge. Can we endure the penetrating glance of His all-seeing eye; that eye which will, as it were, search into the very marrow of our souls? It depends very much upon ourselves. If we have during life been disposed as were the disciples on Mount Olivet on Ascension-day, there will be no terror for us in the coming of Christ at the end of the world.

O Mary, Queen of angels, to whom it was granted to be assumed body and soul into heaven, and to sit enthroned at the right hand of your divine Son, bless and protect us, that we may one day behold the bliss of heaven! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, for the greater honor of God!

Deep in the human heart there lingers sweet hope of ascending at last to heaven. There is scarce a sinner, be he ever so abandoned, that does not cherish the hope that by some unlooked-for grace he will behold his glorified Saviour. It is true that sincere, even if tardy, repentance can win forgiveness for any crime, no matter how great; yet we must not expect to be called by wonderful ways; but, to insure to ourselves the eventual possession of that exquisite bliss, we must, during our whole lives, look up to heaven with affections similar to those of the disciples as they looked after Jesus when He soared aloft beyond the skies. It was, above all, the wish to enter heaven with Him which animated them when they, after He had disappeared from their view, stood spellbound, looking up as if they could still behold His beloved face. I have already touched upon this disposition of ardent desire, but after the address of the angels there were other affections which deeply moved their hearts.

First, they congratulated Jesus upon His entrance into glory. In proportion to the compassion with which His humiliation and bitter sufferings had inspired them, they now rejoiced; and repressing their grief at His departure, felicitated Him upon having ascended to heaven. They stood upon Mount Olivet, that spot so rich in sacred memories,–that spot where the agony of the Son of God forced blood from His pores. Their feet touched the ground once moistened by that precious blood; and with these thoughts welling up in their hearts, they might well exclaim: “According to the afflictions of my heart, consolations have rejoiced my soul.”

The disciples rejoiced with Jesus, especially at the assurance He gave them: “I go to prepare for you a lasting dwelling,” and now they perceived more clearly than ever the grand and majestic character of the happiness which had been conferred upon them, of beholding the incarnate Son of God,–that happiness after which Abraham and the prophets had so ardently longed,–yet which they were not permitted to enjoy, with the exception of Moses and Elias.

They now understood the favor which had been meted out to them, and blessed the Saviour that they had received from His lips the word of salvation; that they had walked by His side, and had had constant personal intercourse with Him. They thanked Him with the most intense fervor of heart for their call to the true faith, and for their election, according to the Saviour's promise, to proclaim the word of life to the very extremities of the earth, and to distribute to the children of men the treasures of the Redemption, by propagating the true Church to which had been bequeathed such fruitful means of salvation.

And it was not merely sensible affections of the heart which so deeply moved them; for they, at the same time, made firm resolutions, with the assistance of divine grace, to fulfill their calling faithfully, and to obey the precept which had been given them, to await at Jerusalem, in prayer, the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete. And this, my brethren, should be the disposition of our hearts upon this glorious day.

Let us exult and praise the Lord for His Majesty; for if we love Jesus more than ourselves, we should rejoice at His Ascension to such a kingdom of delight. What exultation must expand the heart of the Christian who really loves Him, as he recalls today the words of the psalm which prophetically describes the Ascension of Christ: “Be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, for the King of Glory approaches!” and behold in spirit the myriads of Angels coming from heaven to meet Him, entoning the Alleluia of victory before the Lord.

We should also imitate the Apostles and disciples in their gratitude; for if we reflect that we have been called to the true faith through no merit of our own, while the souls of millions who might have responded more fully to the grace of God, and availed themselves more frequently of the means provided by Him to help us on our heavenward way, are left in the darkness of error. What cause for thankfulness is the certainty that we are on the right path to salvation, and that if we really wish to attain it, we can do so through Jesus Christ our Lord. We should also thank God that we, as children of the true Church, may lead other souls thereto, and thus propagate His kingdom. There is no other way to heaven than that which Jesus trod, the way of struggle, labor, and toil, – of self-denial, mortification, and tears–no other way, in short, than the royal road of the holy cross.

But heaven is worth it all, and when well nigh fainting in the conflict, the Christian should think of the Saviour, Who, in His painful walk to Calvary, faltered and fell three times; and, taking courage, exclaim with St. Paul: “I can do all in Him who strengthens me.” The same Holy Ghost, promised and sent by Christ to His Apostles and disciples; He has, according to St. John, promised to us also; and He will send Him if we, by zealous and fervent prayer, prepare our hearts for His reception. The Apostles and their companions at Jerusalem did so. And after that happy event they immediately ordained deacons for the service of the Church, that they might themselves have more time for prayer and union with God.

Let us, then, beloved in Christ, imitate their example, by an increase of zeal in prayer, as we celebrate this festive day. Let us, in spirit, place ourselves in their midst, and imagine the deep emotion with which we would have fallen at the feet of Christ and embraced them, had we been witnesses of this happy meeting between Him and His holy Mother, and faithful friends. With what ardor we would have implored Him to remember us before His Father in heaven, and promised to do His holy will in all things, that we might one day follow Him to the realms of everlasting bliss.

If we possess these affections, and fulfill the resolutions arising therefrom; if we think constantly of heaven, and live only for it, then most assuredly will we courageously combat those enemies who would fain deprive us of its celestial joys; and having borne the cross on earth, we shall wear an eternal crown above. Amen!

Feast of the Ascension by Fr. Prosper Gueranger 1870

The sun of the fortieth day has risen in all his splendor. The earth, which shook with gladness at the Birth of our Emmanuel (Ps. xcv. xcvi. xcvii.), now thrills with a strange emotion. The divine series of the mysteries of the Man-God is about to close. Heaven has caught up the joy of earth. The Angelic Choirs are preparing to receive their promised King, and their Princes stand at the Gates, that they may open them when the signal is given of the mighty Conqueror's approach (Ibid. xxiii. 7). The holy souls, that were liberated from Limbo on the morning of the Resurrection, are hovering round Jerusalem, waiting for the happy moment when Heaven's gate, closed by Adam's sin, shall be thrown open, and they shall enter in company with their Redeemer: a few hours more, and then to Heaven! Meanwhile, our Risen Jesus has to visit His Disciples and bid them farewell, for they are to be left, for some years longer, in this vale of tears.

They are in the Cenacle, impatiently awaiting His coming. Suddenly He appears in their midst. Of the Mother's joy, who would dare to speak? As to the Disciples and the holy Women, they fall down and affectionately adore the Master, Who has come to take His leave of them. He deigns to sit down to table with them; He even condescends to eat with them, not, indeed, to give them proof of His Resurrection, for He knows that they have no further doubts of the mystery, but now that He is about to sit at the right hand of the Father, He would give them this endearing mark of familiarity. O admirable repast! in which Mary, for the last time in this world, is seated side by side with her Jesus, and in which the Church, (represented by the Disciples and the holy Women,) is honored by the visible presidency of her Head and Spouse.

What tongue could describe the respect, the recollected mien, the attention of the guests? With what love must they not have riveted their eyes on the dear Master? They long to hear him speak; his parting words will be so treasured! He does not keep them long in suspense; He speaks, but his language is not what they perhaps expected it to be, all affection. He begins by reminding them of the incredulity wherewith they heard of His Resurrection (St. Mark, xvi. 14). He is going to entrust His Apostles with the most sublime mission ever given to man; He would, therefore, prepare them for it by humbling them. A few days hence, and they are to be lights of the world; the world must believe what they preach, believe it on their word, believe it without having seen, believe what the Apostles alone have seen. It is by Faith that man approaches His God: they themselves were once without it, and Jesus would have them now express their sorrow for their former incredulity, and thus base their Apostolate on humility.

Then assuming a tone of authority, such as none but a God could take, He says 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 (Ibid. xvi. 15, 16). And how shall they accomplish this mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world? how shall they persuade men to believe their word? By Miracles. And these signs, continues Jesus, 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 (St. Mark, svi. 17, 18). He would have Miracles to be the foundation of his Church, just as He had made them the argument of His own divine mission. The suspension of the laws of nature proves to us that it is God Who speaks; we must receive the word, and humbly believe it.

Here, then, we have men unknown to the world and devoid of every human means, and yet commissioned to conquer the earth and make it acknowledge Jesus as its King! The world ignores their very existence. Tiberius, who sits on the imperial throne, trembling at every shadow of conspiracy, little suspects that there is being prepared an expedition which is to conquer the Roman Empire. But these warriors must have their armour, and the armour must be of heaven's own tempering. Jesus tells them that they are to receive it a few days hence. Stay, says He, in the city, till ye be endued with power from on high (St. Lluke, xxiv. 49). But what is this armour? Jesus explains it to them. He reminds them of the Father's promise, that promise, says He, which ye have heard by my mouth: for John, indeed, baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts, i. 4, 5).

But the hour of separation is come. Jesus rises: His blessed Mother, and the hundred and twenty persons assembled there, prepare to follow Him. The Cenacle is situated on Mount Sion, which is one of the two hills within the walls of Jerusalem. The holy group traverses the city, making for the eastern Gate, which opens on the Valley of Josaphat. It is the last time that Jesus walks through the faithless City. He is invisible to the eyes of the people who denied Him, but visible to His Disciples, and goes before them, as, heretofore, the pillar of fire led on the Israelites. How beautiful and imposing a sight! Mary, the Disciples, and the holy Women, accompanying Jesus in His Heaven-ward journey, which is to lead Him to the right hand of His Eternal Father! It was commemorated in the Middle-Ages by a solemn Procession before the Mass of Ascension Day. What happy times were those, when Christians took delight in honouring every action of our Redeemer! They could not be satisfied, as we are, with a few vague notions, which can produce nothing but an equally vague devotion.

They reflected on the thoughts which Mary must have had during these last moments of her Son's presence. They used to ask themselves, which of the two sentiments were uppermost in her maternal heart, sadness, that she was to see her Jesus no more? or joy, that He was now going to enter into the glory He so infinitely deserved? The answer was soon found: had not Jesus said to His Disciples: If ye loved me, ye would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father (St. John, xiv. 28)? Now, who loved Jesus as Mary did? The Mother's heart, then, was full of joy at parting with Him. How was she to think of herself, when there was question of the triumph of her Son and her God? Could she that had witnessed the scene of Calvary do less than desire to see Him glorified, Whom she knew to be the Sovereign Lord of all things, Him Whom, but a short time ago, she had seen rejected by His people, blasphemed, and dying the most ignominious and cruel of deaths?

The holy group has traversed the Valley of Josaphat; it has crossed the brook Cedron, and is moving onwards to Mount Olivet. What recollections would crowd on the mind! This torrent, of which Jesus had drunk on the day of His humiliation, is now the path He takes to triumph and glory. The Royal Prophet had foretold it (Ps. cix. 7). On their left, are the Garden and Cave, where He suffered His Agony and accepted the bitter Chalice of His Passion. After having come as far as what St. Luke calls the distance of the journey allowed to the Jews on a sabbath-day (Acts, i. 12), they are close to Bethania, that favoured village, where Jesus used to accept hospitality at the hands of Lazarus and his two Sisters. This part of Mount Olivet commands a view of Jerusalem. The sight of its Temple and Palaces makes the Disciples proud of their earthly city: they have forgotten the curse uttered against her; they seem to have forgotten, too, that Jesus has just made them citizens and conquerors of the whole world. They begin to dream of the earthly grandeur of Jerusalem, and, turning to their Divine Master, they venture to ask him this question: Lord, wilt thou, at this time, restore again the kingdom to Israel (Acts, i. 6)?

Jesus answers them with a tone of severity: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power (Ibid. 7). These words do not destroy the hope that Jerusalem is to be restored by the Christian Israel; but, as this is not to happen till the world is drawing towards its end, there is nothing that requires our Saviour's revealing the secret. What ought to be uppermost in the mind of the Disciples, is the conversion of the pagan world, the establishing the Church. Jesus reminds them of the mission He has just given to them: Ye shall receive, says He, the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts, i. 8).

According to a tradition, which has been handed down from the earliest ages of Christianity (Constit. Apost., lib. v. cap. xix), it is mid-day, the same hour that He had been raised up, when nailed to His Cross. Giving His Blessed Mother a look of filial affection, and another of fond farewell to the rest of the group that stand around him, Jesus raises up His hands and blesses them all. Whilst thus blessing them, He is raised up from the ground whereon He stands, and ascends into heaven (St. Luke, xxiv. 51). Their eyes follow Him, until a cloud comes and receives Him out of their sight (Acts, i. 9).

Yes, Jesus is gone! The earth has lost her Emmanuel! For four thousand years had He been expected: the Patriarchs and Prophets had desired His coming with all the fervour of their souls: He came: His love made Him our captive in the chaste womb of the Virgin of Nazareth. It was there He first received our adorations. Nine months after, the Blessed Mother offered Him to our joyous love in the Stable at Bethlehem. We followed Him into Egypt; we returned with Him; we dwelt with Him at Nazareth. When He began the three years of His public Life, we kept close to His steps; We delighted in being near Him, we listened to His preaching and parables, we saw His miracles. The malice of His enemies reached its height, and the time came wherein He was to give us the last and grandest proof of the love that had brought Him from heaven, His dying for us on a Cross; we kept near Him as He died, and our souls were purified by the Blood that flowed from His Wounds. On the third day, He rose again from His Grave, and we stood by exulting in His triumph over Death, for that triumph won for us a like Resurrection. During the Forty days He has deigned to spend with us since His Resurrection, our faith has made us cling to Him: we would fain have kept Him with us forever, but the hour is come; He has left us; yes, our dearest Jesus is gone! O happy the souls that He had taken from Limbo! they have gone with Him, and, for all eternity, are to enjoy the heaven of His visible presence.

The Disciples are still steadfastly looking up towards heaven, when lo! two angels, clad in white robes, appear to them, saying: Ye men of Galilee! why stand ye looking up to heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as ye have seen Him going into heaven (Acts, i. 10, 11)! He has ascended, a Saviour; He is to return, as Judge; between these two events is comprised the whole life of the Church on earth. We are therefore living under the reign of Jesus as our Saviour, for He has said: God sent not His Son into the world to Judge the world, but that the world might be Saved by Him (St. Joh, iii. 17): and to carry out this merciful design He has just been giving to His Disciples the mission to go throughout the whole world, and invite men, whilst yet there is time, to accept the mystery of Salvation.

What a task is this He imposes on the Apostles! and now that they are to begin their work, He leaves them! They return from Mount Olivet, and Jesus is not with them! And yet, they are not sad; they have Mary to console them; her unselfish generosity is their model, and well do they learn the lesson.

They love Jesus; they rejoice at the thought of His having entered into His rest. They went back into Jerusalem with great joy (St. Luke, xxiv. 52). These few simple words of the Gospel indicate the spirit of this admirable Feast of the Ascension: it is a Festival, which, notwithstanding its soft tinge of sadness, is, more than any other, expressive of joy and triumph. During its Octave, we will endeavour to describe its mystery and magnificence: we would only observe, for the present, that this Solemnity is the completion of the Mysteries of our Redemption; that it is one of those which were instituted by the Apostles (St. Augustine, EP. ad Januar); and finally, that it has impressed a character of sacredness on the Thursday of each week, the day already so highly honoured by the institution of the Eucharist.

We have alluded to the Procession, whereby our Catholic forefathers used, on this Feast, to celebrate the journey of Jesus and His Disciples to Mount Olivet. Another custom observed on the Ascension, was the solemn blessing given to bread and to the new fruits: it was commemorative of the farewell repast taken by Jesus in the Cenacle. Let us imitate the piety of the Ages of Faith, when Christians loved to honour the very least of our Saviour's actions, and, so to speak, make them their own, by thus interweaving the minutest details of His Life into their own. What earnest reality of love and adoration was given to our Jesus in those olden times, when His being Sovereign Lord and Redeemer was the ruling principle of both individual and social life! Now-a-days, we may follow the principle, as fervently as we please, in the privacy of our own consciences, or, at most, in our own homes; but publicly, and when we are before the World, no! To say nothing of the evil results of this modern limitation of Jesus' rights as our King, what could be more sacrilegiously unjust to Him Who deserves our whole service, everywhere and at all times? The Angels said to the Apostles: This Jesus shall come, as ye have seen Him going into heaven: happy we, if, during His absence, we shall have so unreservedly loved and served Him, as to be able to meet Him with confidence when He comes to judge us! (6, 10)

FEAST OF THE ASCENSION by Fr. Raphael Frassinetti, 1900

Gospel. Mark xvi. 14 – 20. At that time as the eleven were at the table, Jesus appeared to them, and 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.

After Our Lord had consoled the Apostles by appearing to them at different times, and by wishing them peace, He declared at last that He was about to leave this world and ascend to heaven “to prepare a place for them.”

On this day, for the last time, He came to visit the Apostles. He promised to send them the divine Spirit, the Spirit of strength and wisdom. He said that the time had arrived for Him to go from them to remain in the enjoyment of His peace. He raised His hands, blessed them, and took leave of them all, as well as of His dear Mother. He then conducted them to the Mount of Olives. There they listened to His words, with their eyes fixed upon Him, when suddenly He was raised above them; higher and higher still He was borne, until a light cloud withdrew Him from their sight. While they were beholding Him going up to heaven, suddenly two angels stood by them, who said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven?” This same Jesus whom you have just seen ascending into heaven will return again at the end of the world to judge mankind. He will then appear in the same form in which you have just seen Him. You ought then, my dear young friends, joyfully do all that He has commanded you before He left you, that you may be well received by Him on His return. The disciples fell to the ground and adored their Lord and Master, and then returned to Jerusalem; where they retired to a quiet place, and remained in prayer until the coming of the Holy Ghost.

My dear young people, who can imagine the great triumph with which the King of glory was received on His entrance into heaven. The whole court of heaven was there, ready to meet its Master and Creator. All came forward to make their submission to the great Conqueror of the world and the devil, who has returned in triumph. These good souls must have been in an ecstasy of joy when they saw the great Hero; they looked with wonder on those wounds, which shone like stars. As He entered heaven they joined Him singing hymns and canticles to the great glory of God; then they conducted Him to His throne in heaven, where He sits at the right hand of His Father.

Our Lord, my dear young friends, left this world and ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for us; we had lost heaven, but He regained it for us. He again opened heaven to us, that pleasant, happy place, which will be our home for all eternity. As long as we live on this earth, we shall have to suffer many evils, sickness, and, finally, death, but in heaven we shall have everything; riches, happiness, enjoyment; we shall be inebriated with torrents of delight. The angels will be our companions, the saints will be there, and Mary and Jesus, too. We shall enjoy the happiness that God gives; we shall see God's omnipotence, with which He created heaven and earth; we shall see His wisdom and providence, by which all created things are governed; we shall see all the perfections and attributes of God clearly. We shall then see the Son of God in the Godhead, and Jesus in His divine person. We shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. We shall see God in the splendor of His glory on a throne of majesty; the centre and source of all the joy and brightness of heaven. If one little drop of that heavenly joy should fall from heaven into hell, it would sweeten the dreadful pains that are felt there.

But, my dear young friends, remember that if you wish to attain the possession of this happiness and to reign with Jesus, you must not look for your heaven here on this earth; those who enjoy this world will hardly enjoy heaven. Many wish to give full sway to their passions here, and then expect to have the reward of heaven also. But they are foolish, for if they indulge their passions here in this world, they defile their souls, and cannot enter heaven. If you want to get to heaven, keep the law of God, keep the commandments of the Church, observe the laws of the state, and you will have a right to its joys.

Not only should we observe the commandments of God, but we must also join to it the imitation of Jesus Christ if we wish to possess the place which He has prepared for us in heaven. My dear children, Jesus Christ is the model that is set before us and we must imitate Him just as the artist does who has a model before him; he marks the outlines, and then faithfully follows every lineament, every particular feature with the most scrupulous exactness. Have you so far endeavored to model your lives on that of Jesus Christ? “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,” so that those who see you will say, “this is a faithful imitator of the divine Master.” It is easy to recognize the original and the faithful copy.

Jesus, my dear young people, is the lily of the valley, the immaculate Lamb. Here is a very important virtue. Do you possess that scrupulous purity of thought and action which renders man like the angels? Jesus was obedient, obedient even unto death. What are the inclinations which most young people follow? They are disobedient and rebellious, independent and loving liberty; they are constantly looking for pleasure, so that life loses the necessary seriousness which belongs to it. What a difference between their life and that of Christ! Your whole effort, my dear children, should be to imitate Jesus in the purity of His life, in His obedience to the divine will, and His respect for authority. Lead a mortified life, joyfully accepting all the trials you may meet with here on this earth, and then shall come true as St. Paul says, “As you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation.”

A young man once came to St. Jerome and said he desired to abandon the world, to follow Jesus and to imitate Him. He was rich. St. Jerome voluntarily accepted him among his disciples, but he took him aside and gave him a little instruction. First he said, “Son, our life is a very hard one, as you see; we have no shoes, our clothes are coarse, we have to bear the cold and the heat in our houses; to endure abuses and hard words from people and violent temptations from the devil. I know not whether you can endure all this; you seem to have been brought up tenderly and in luxury.” The young man answered, “Am I more delicate than Jesus was when He walked about without shoes, suffered hunger and thirst, cold and heat, many persecutions and at last death? He has promised to help me: had I twenty bodies I would sacrifice them all for His love.”

O, my dear young people, if you will reflect seriously but for a moment, you will see that the imitation of Jesus Christ is a necessity. “I have given you an example that as I have done to you, so you do also.” Jesus desires you all to be in paradise. Do you not wish to go there? Yes, certainly; everybody expects to go to heaven; it is the greatest insult even to intimate to your friend that there is a danger of his going to hell.

Do, then, as the Apostles did. When they saw Our Lord ascend and taken away from them their hearts followed Him because they had no interest except in the glory of Jesus and the spread of His kingdom on earth. They desired trials, torments, persecutions, even violent deaths in order to be the sooner with Christ. They disliked the world and all its vanities. Let us not put our love on the things of this earth; let us look up to heaven, where our home is. Let us suffer, let us labor hard, let us employ all our time in this life, and so deserve a heavenly reward.

From: www.pamphletstoinspire.com

[pamphletstoinspire]

Novena for the Holy Souls - 1 Begins October 24th through November 1st - Feast Day: November 2nd

Pray, oh pray for these poor souls in Purgatory, Especially for those who have no one to pray for them!

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Novena

The word Novena derives it name from the Latin word “novem” meaning “nine.” A novena can be either a private or public devotion in the Catholic Church to obtain special graces.

Day 1

Sin is the one thing that holds back the progress of man's ascent to God. Only sin blocks his path. Vice and crime throw human beings back to animal levels when they should be mounting toward the angels. Death in mortal sin means the complete failure that is hell. It flings a man, who is destined for eternal happiness, into eternal loss and pain. Death in venial sin or with the punishment due to sin still on the soul means a halt in the progress toward heaven. The poor soul --- poor indeed in his eagerness to reach God and the tedious, painful delay that keeps him from God --- must linger in God's prison house.

This is the sad land of purgatory. It is a place of anxious, almost impatient waiting. Since there are in purgatory relatives we loved and friends we knew and thousands of others who call to us for help, we pause and say:

The Prayer for the Holy Souls (Say at the end of each day)

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Day 2

Nothing else is humanly harder to bear than painful waiting. All the souls in purgatory are sure one day to reach heaven. They know how wonderful heaven is and how desirable is God. But they cannot follow the violent impulse that drives them toward their happiness. They must hunger for God and still be withheld from the possession of Him. In hell there is only bleak and hopeless despair.

In purgatory there is hope and certainty and love and eagerness --- and long periods of waiting.... waiting... waiting....

There is suffering too in purgatory, the suffering that washes away in flame the stains of guilt and cleanses as with fire the soul that will eventually enter into the presence of the spotless God. But the real pain of purgatory is that awful eagerness for God, who is just out of reach, and that longing to go home to heaven, which is almost seen but as yet unattainable. Nothing defiled can enter heaven; that we know. So purgatory is the place where defilement is removed, where the souls that are destined for glory are prepared by punishment and tedious delay for their glorious homecoming with God.

For the love we bear our friends in purgatory we pray: (say prayer for the Holy Souls as above)

Day 3

This life on earth is, as we have heard a thousand times, a time of merit. When through the Church's indulgences we avail ourselves of the merits of Christ and of the saints, we can wipe away the guilt of forgiven sins and eliminate the punishment due to venial sins, as we can also do through penance and deeds of charity.

But once the soul enters purgatory, the time for that soul to gain merit is ended. When we suffer on earth, we can offer our suffering to God, increasing thereby our future happiness in heaven and canceling out the pains of purgatory. When a soul suffers in purgatory, he slowly and tediously cancels the debts of sins; he gains no further merit for heaven. Nor are there indulgences in purgatory, nor fresh use of the merits of Christ, of His Mother, and of the saints.

Thanks however to our union in the Mystical Body of Christ, thanks to the communion of the saints, we can gain merit for the suffering souls. We can win indulgences and apply them to the period of waiting of these souls. We can cut their sufferings and speed their entry into heaven by whatever of good that we offer for them on earth.

In all generosity we say for these souls who depend on us: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

Day 4

Swiftly the memory even of the dear dead seems to pass from human minds. Memory is like the tears upon a coffin, swiftly evaporated, quickly dried. The rush of the days fills the minds and hands of the living. The press of old associations and the establishment of new friends helps supplant and elbow into the dusty corners of our minds the friends now hidden in God's penitentiary. But these prisoners do not forget us.

In the slow, painful dragging of the days they have time to remember. They are so hungry for God that they have little heart for new companions. They are made sensitive --- to memory, to neglect, to hope for deliverance, to the knowledge that those who once cried aloud their love have so swiftly forgotten.

With gratitude do they think of those who do remember them. With sadness they think of those who have so swiftly dropped them. They pray to God, who loves them even in their exile, for the thoughtful and the mindful. They beg that those who have pushed them away for the near and the living will drop into their prison house a thought, a prayer, a good deed in ransom.

Remembering our own dear dead, we pray for them: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

Day 5

These in purgatory are the friends of God. These are the souls who will in a short time be glorious and powerful saints in heaven. Their souls are saved. Their crowns are awaiting them. Their thrones are prepared, and their mansions are ready. God loves them deeply, as He loves all those faithful sons and daughters who fought the good fight. Their prayers for others come straight to His throne. They can no longer pray for themselves; their time to merit is over. They can pray and they do pray for those on earth whom they love. That loving mother in purgatory is interceding for her children.... That devoted father is now more devoted.... Those friends have not forgotten the value of their friendship.... Those relatives are bound to us with ties much closer than blood.

Most of all the holy souls pray for their benefactors. Our slight remembering of them wins for us a great measure of intercession from them. We pray thoughtlessly; they pray with the intensity of souls who are coming ever closer to God. We ask for deliverance for them; they beg God for a thousand blessings for us.

In sheer wisdom and to our own advantage we say: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

Day 6

Our souls hunger for God with far more intensity than ever a starving body hungers for food. Here in this world we are distracted by the pressure of the life about us. In purgatory there are no distractions. Their eyes are fixed on the closed gates of heaven, the holy souls long for God, yearn for God, hunger and thirst for God. The terms of their sentence ring in their ears: "Thus and thus long shall you remain separated from your joy, until these sins and these misdeeds and these blemishes and these stains have been atoned for."

Balanced against their consuming hunger for God is their certainty that they would not dare enter His Presence with the slightest stain upon them. They almost wish that the fires burned more fiercely and more rapidly so that the pain could be at once more intense and more cleansing.

Imagine then their gratitude for every prayer or good deed by which we help them cleanse their souls and speed them on their way to God. Imagine the leaping with joy with which they welcome any act by which we cut their sentence, shorten their stay in purgatory, and hasten their entrance into heaven.

We can give joy to these holy souls here and now as we say: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

Day 7

What food is to a starving man.... What drink is to the parched sailor riding the tropic seas on a raft.... What light is to the man long blind.... What restored health is to the patient invalid.... What freedom is to the prisoner.... All this and far, far more is release from purgatory to a holy soul. And when food... light... health... freedom come suddenly, unexpectedly, the human heart leaps and bounds, and the soul knows the sharp ecstasy of joy.

So it is with each prayer that we say for the beseeching souls in purgatory. Our prayer is bread and water and light and health; it is a reprieve and a release and freedom and a homecoming. It is the cutting of bonds, the lessening of weary waiting, the termination of exile, the sudden glorious lift that picks them up and seems almost to shoot them toward the center of their joy, God Himself.

For us that prayer is an almost careless gesture. For us a routine act of charity... Prayer, an alms, a bit of fasting, a good deed done... forgotten in the doing. For them something beyond price and measure, something for which they can repay us only in the immortal coin of eternity.

Such a good deed we perform as we pray: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

Day 8

Then on a happy day, release comes. Perhaps for souls whose friends on earth forgot them and for whom because of valid reasons God showed no special consideration that release comes only at the end of long and bitter centuries. Perhaps it comes far sooner than they dared to hope. Their friends have remembered them. Prayers have poured in upon them. God has accepted these in part or in full payment of their debt. But late or soon the release comes, the sentence is finished, the grim gates of purgatory swing open. Ahead are the white and shining portals of the eternal city. Like the rush of light the released soul sweeps upward toward God.

Fierce winds have not the fierce intensity that marks this flight of a soul from exile to the happiness for which God destined it.

Then in the presence of God there is the moment of triumph, the welcome by the Trinity, the entrance into the heavenly mansion... the enthronement of another saint. As that moment shall begin for that soul, an eternity of bliss and incomparable happiness that shall be without flaw, never to be marred by uncertainty or disillusionment. For then, the soul shall possess God for all eternity.

We can have part in that swift flight to joy if we pray: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

Day 9

Joy does not cause the souls in heaven to forget. On the contrary joy makes them more alive to memory. The soul that has entered into bliss does not for a second forget the generous friends on earth who helped him reach God and glory. Now a saint in heaven, he uses to the full his power of intercession.

He prays God to be merciful and generous to the generous. By name he mentions to Christ and to Mary those who mentioned his name when he was helpless to help himself. He speaks to the Trinity about his friends.

He becomes in effect a mighty benefactor, persuasively beseeching God to extend mercy and grant favors to those who remembered him in purgatory. He prays with the fervor of new-found joy that their passage through life will be safe, their stay in purgatory brief, their entrance into heaven swift and triumphant. He prays that one day they too might behold the beatific vision and see God, Face to face through the endlessness of eternity. It is their unselfish urge to share so great a bliss that we ask them to send us.

To help insure for ourselves a shortened purgatory, we pray: (say prayer for the Holy Souls)

This novena was taken from a pamphlet entitled:

All Souls Novena

written by Daniel A. Lord, S.J.

© 1947

Nihil Obstat, John M. Fearns, S.T.D.

Imprimatur + Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop NY

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