The Twelfth Mystery: The Ascension
The Fruit: A Firm Hope and Ardent Longing for Heaven

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1. For forty days Our Lord walked among His Apostles, teaching all things in Scripture that referred to Himself and those things not in Scripture that, they, too, must know.

2. He commanded Peter three times to feed His sheep. This was a parallel to the three times that Peter denied Him in the courtyard of Caiphas.

3. He Commissioned the Apostles to preach the Gospel throughout the world, and to Baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

4. A few days before the Ascension of The Lord, the Eternal Father and the Holy Ghost appeared in   ineffable splendor surrounded by the choirs of Angels and Saints to the Blessed Virgin. Then the Incarnate Word ascended the throne and seated Himself with the other Two. The ever humble Mother of the Most High, in deepest reverence adored the Most Blessed Trinity, and in it Her Own Incarnate Son. The Eternal Father commanded two of the highest Angels to call Mary, in sweetest voices intimating to Her the Divine Will. She arose from the dust with the most profound humility and modesty accompanied by the Angels and approached the foot of the Throne, humbling Herself anew. The Eternal Father said to Her: "Beloved, ascend higher!" (Luke 14, 10). As these words at the same time effected what they signified, She was raised up and placed on the throne of Royal Majesty with the three Divine Persons. The Father then said: "My Daughter, to Thee do I entrust the Church founded by My Only Begotten, the new law of grace He established in the World, and the people, which He redeemed; to Thee do I consign them all." The Holy Ghost spoke to Her: "My Spouse, chosen from all creatures, I communicate to Thee My Wisdom and Grace together with which shall be deposited in Thy heart the Mysteries, the works and teachings and all that the Incarnate Word has accomplished in the world." And the Son also said: "My Most Beloved Mother, I go to My Father and in My stead I shall leave Thee and I charge Thee with the care of My Church; to Thee do I commend its children and my brethren, as the Father has consigned them to Me." ... Whoever shall call upon Her from his heart shall not perish; whoever shall obtain Her intercession shall secure for himself eternal life. What She asks of Us, shall be granted, and We shall always hear Her requests and prayers and fulfill Her will; for She has consecrated Herself perfectly to what pleases Us."

5. On that same day, by Divine dispensation, while the Lord was at table with the eleven Apostles, other disciples and pious women gathered at the Cenacle to the number of one hundred and twenty; for the Divine Master wished them to be present at His Ascension. Moreover, just as He had instructed the Apostles, so He now wanted to instruct these faithful respectively in what each was to know before His leaving them and ascending into Heaven: "My sweetest children, I am about to ascend to My Father, from Whose bosom I descended in order to rescue and save men. I leave with you in My stead My Own Mother as your Protectress, Consoler and Advocate, and as your Mother, whom you are to hear and obey in all things. Just as I have told you, that he who sees Me sees my Father, and he who knows Me, knows also Him; so I now tell you, that He who knows my Mother, knows Me; he who hears Her, hears Me; and who honors Her, honors Me. All of you shall have Her as your Mother, as your Superior and Head, and so shall also your successors. She shall answer your doubts, solve your difficulties; in Her, those who seek Me shall always find Me; for I shall remain in Her until the end of the World, and I am in Her now, although you do not understand how." The Lord thus fulfilled that which He promised in saint Matthew: "I am with you to the consummation of the World" (Matth. 28, 20).

6. The Lord added and said: "You will have Peter as the Supreme Head of the Church, for I leave him as My Vicar; and you shall obey him as the chief high priest. Saint John you shall hold as the son of My Mother; for I have chosen and appointed him for this office on the Cross."

7. They longed to detain Him, although they could not, because they saw it was not befitting; words of parting rose to their lips, but they could not bring themselves to utter them; each one felt sentiments of sorrow arising amid feelings both of joy and yet also of pious regret. Some of them broke their silence and exclaimed: "O Most Loving Lord and Father! O joy and life of our souls! Now that we know Thee as Our Redeemer, Thou departest and leavest us! Take us along with Thee, O Lord; banish us not from Thy sight. To these and other pleadings the Lord answered by bidding them not to leave Jerusalem and to persevere in prayer until He should send the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, as promised by the Father and as already foretold to the Apostles at the Last Supper.

8. The most auspicious hour, in which the Only Begotten of the Eternal Father was to ascend by His own power and in a most wonderful manner to the right hand of God, had come. In order to celebrate this  mysterious day, Christ Our Lord selected as witnesses the hundred and twenty persons, to whom, He had spoken in the Cenacle. They were the Most Holy Mary, the eleven Apostles, the seventy-two Disciples, Mary Magdalen, Lazarus their brother, the other Marys and the faithful men and women making up the above-mentioned number of one hundred and twenty.

9. With this little flock Our Divine Shepherd Jesus left the Cenacle, and, with His Most Blessed Mother at His side, He conducted them all through the streets of Jerusalem. The Apostles and all the rest in their order, proceeded in the direction of Bethany, which was less than half a league over the brow of Mount Oliveto. The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was already divulged throughout Jerusalem and Palestine. Although the perfidious and malicious princes and priests had spread about the false testimony of His being stolen by the disciples, yet many would not accept their testimony, nor give it any credit. It was divinely provided, that none of the inhabitants of the city, and none of the unbelievers or doubters, should pay any attention to this holy procession, or hinder it on its way from the Cenacle. All, except the one hundred and twenty just, who were chosen by The Lord to witness His Ascension into heaven, were justly punished by being prevented from witnessing it.
 
10. They an ascended Mount Olivet to its highest point. Then Our Lady prostrated Herself at the feet of Her Son and, worshipping Him with admirable humility, She adored Him as the True God and as the Redeemer of the World, asking His last blessing. All the faithful there present imitated Her and did the same. Weeping and sighing, they asked the Lord, whether He was now to restore the Kingdom of Israel (Acts 1, 6). The Lord answered, that this was a secret of the Eternal Father and not to be made known to them; but, for the present, it was necessary and befitting, that they receive the Holy Ghost.

Jesus, having taken leave of the faithful, His countenance beaming forth peace and majesty, joined His hands and, by His own power, began to raise Himself from the earth, leaving thereon the impression of His sacred feet. In gentlest motion He was wafted toward the aerial regions, drawing after Him the eyes and the hearts of those first-born children, who amid sighs and tears vented their affection. And as, at the moving of the First Cause of all motion, it is proper that also the nether spheres should be set in motion, so the Savior Jesus drew after Him also the Celestial Choirs of the Angels, the holy Patriarchs and the rest of the Glorified Saints, some of them with body and soul, others only as to their soul. All of them in heavenly order were raised up together from the earth, accompanying and following Their King, Their Chief and Head. The new and mysterious sacrament, which the right hand of the Most High wrought on this occasion for His Most Holy Mother, was that He raised Her up with Him in order to put Her in possession of the glory, which He had assigned to Her as His True Mother and which She had by Her merits prepared and earned for Herself.

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