Blog Post

Ancient Gates, Ascensions, & St Helen

by Erin Doom

Feast of Sts Constantine & Helen, Equal to the Apostles; Feast of the Ascension in West

Anno Domini 2020, May 21

1. Essays et al: “Lift Up You Ancient Doors”

For two decades now, I’ve listened to the proclamation of Psalm 24 every year at Pascha, the Orthodox celebration of the Resurrection. Here’s how it is read (each time the priest says “Lift up your gates,” he knocks on the shut doors of the Church):

Priest: Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.

Reader: Who is this King of Glory?

Priest: The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle

Priest: Lift up. Your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.

Reader: Who is the King of Glory?

Priest: The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle.

Priest: Lift up. Your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.

Reader: Who is the King of Glory?

Pries: The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. The Lord of the powers. He is the King of Glory.

During this annual reading, I’ve always had the icon of the resurrection in my mind’s eye, imagining Christ trampling down the gates of Hades and rescuing Adam, Eve, and all the saints of old from death. But there is SO MUCH more to consider. My friend Mark Mosley does an amazing job of revealing multiple layers of interpretation and then he concludes by posing the question: “What does Psalm 24 do when sung in the catacombs of one’s own heart? Put in rather blunt modern and American lingo, ‘How does Psalm 24 help me?’” His answer is a remarkably powerful challenge that we all need to heed.

Please take some time to read his piece here.

2. Books & Culture: Helena by Evelyn Waugh

While the West celebrates the Feast of the Ascension today, the East commemorates Sts. Constantine and Helen, Equal to the Apostles. Here’s an Eighth Day Books review of the book Evelyn Waugh considered to be his finest novel: Helena. Be sure to purchase your copy from Eighth Day Books.

3. Bible & Fathers: "Ascensions and the Imitation of Christ"

Acts 26:1, 12-20; Jn. 10:1-9. Online here.

Here are the opening lines to a homily by St. Gregory Palamas on the Feast of the Ascension:

Today the Lord not only stood with His disciples after His resurrection, but was also parted from them and was taken up into heaven as they watched (Acts 1.9-11), ascended and entered into the true Holy of Holies and sat down on the right hand of the Father, far above all principality and power and every name and honor that is known and named, either in this world, or in that which is to come (cf. Eph. 1.20-21). There were many resurrections before Christ’s resurrection, and similarly, there were many ascensions before His ascension. The Spirit lifted up Jeremiah the prophet, and an angel took up Habakkuk (Bel & Dr. 33-39 LXX). In particular it is written that Elijah went up with a chariot of fire (2 Kgs. 2.11). But even he did not go beyond the realms of earth, and the ascension of each of those mentioned was just a sort of movement lifting them up from the ground without taking them out of the area surrounding the earth. Similarly, the others who were resurrected all died and returned to the earth. By contrast, Christ has risen and death no longer has dominion over Him (cf. Rom. 6.9), and now He has ascended and sat down on high, every height is below Him and bears witness that He is God over all (Rom. 9.5).