comfort them with words of encouragement. During these forty days previous to His Resurrection, He must have often appeared to His blessed Mother, in order to gladden her maternal heart with words of consolation, and by manifestations of His glory to compensate her for all the bitter sorrows she had experienced during life, and especially at His passion and death.

St. John the Evangelist, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," assures us that all the details and incidents of His divine Master's life upon earth, whether before or after His Resurrection, are not to be found in the Holy Scriptures. He says, in closing his own account: "There are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written, every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written." Here we have from the lips of St. John an argument in defense of tradition; a plain assertion that the Scriptures can not be the sole rule of faith. For many things are not written, says the Evangelist. Hence, while we know that all Catholic teaching is founded on the word of God, yet we ought not to expect to find everything in the Bible. Speaking of himself St. John writes: "This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true."

CHAPTER V

THE NINTH APPEARANCE OF JESUS. HIS ASCENSION

Matt. xxviii. 18-20; Mark xvi. 15-19; Luke xxiv. 46-53; Acts i. 4-14

1. THE FINAL PROMISES. CHARGE TO THE APOSTLES "AND Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, into the whole world, teach ye all nations, preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world. 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.'

"The Acts of the Apostles" assure us that besides the miracles wrought by the apostles, many wonders were also performed by the faithful laity. At a time when Christianity was to be introduced into the world, the frequent performance of miracles was necessary, in order to prove and confirm the teachings of the Gospel. For later generations, however, and especially for ourselves, this frequent recurrence of miracles is not at all required. For we see before us the standing miracle of the Church itself. We are witnesses of her miraculous history; we have the united testimony of millions of martyrs and confessors.

"And He said to them: Thus it is written; and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead on the third day; and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things; and I send the promise of My Father upon you; but stay you in the city till you be endued with power from on high.

"He led" His disciples out of the city of Jerusalem, "as far as Bethania, and commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father which you have heard," saith He, "by My mouth. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. They therefore who were come together asked Him, saying: Lord, wilt Thou at this time re-establish the kingdom of Israel? But He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power. But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost, coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth."

2. THE ASCENSION

All these conversations were held, probably, partly in the inn at Jerusalem, partly in the house of Lazarus at Bethania; although commentators are not agreed regarding the exact time and place. He now arose and went out with Mary and His apostles to Mount Olivet. This mountain having

been the scene of the agony and humiliation of the Son of Man, was chosen by Him to be the witness of His glorious Ascension. Many of the disciples and several devout women followed at some distance.

How tender the words of parting which were now addressed by the divine Son to His Virgin Mother, and to the apostles and disciples! How lovingly and fervently they kissed, for the last time, the marks of the wounds on the feet of their glorified Lord! What tears of reverence and love, of mingled joy and sadness, fell from the eyes of this glorious company!

"And after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He lifted up His hands and He blessed them. And while they looked on, and while He blessed them, He departed from them, and was taken up into heaven,1 and a bright cloud received Him out of their sight. And He sitteth on the right hand of God. And they adored Him.'

"And while they were beholding Him going up to heaven, lo, two men stood by them in white garments, who also said: 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."

"And having adored, they returned to Jerusalem, with great joy, from the mount that is called Olivet, which is nigh Jerusalem, within a Sabbath-day's journey. And when they were come in to the city they assembled in an upper room and remained together, persevering with one mind in prayer, with Mary the mother of Jesus, other devout women, and His brethren, and they were always in the temple praising God."

3. THE FESTIVAL OF ASCENSION THURSDAY

Every year, on the joyful festival of our Lord's Ascension, a feast that has been most solemnly celebrated in the Church from remotest antiquity, the soul of every true Christian yields itself up to pious meditation on those mysteries in the life of Jesus which may indeed be in some measure conceived by the believing heart, but which can not be spoken by human tongue. It is a festival of universal triumph. The just souls of the Old Testament triumph and rejoice, for now they have been released from limbo, and with power and glory are on their way to heaven. The holy angels are triumphant, for to-day they see, for the first time, the beginning of that 'With the souls of the just whom He had delivered from limbo.

glorious occupation by redeemed souls of the places made vacant ages before by the fall of the angels. The prophets of old rejoice, for on this feast their prophecies concerning Christ's first coming have been completely verified. The Blessed Virgin exults, for now at last she beholds her beloved Son exchanging the cross of Good Friday for a happy and everlasting throne in heaven. Human nature triumphs, for now it is glorified in the person of Christ, and is enthroned at the right hand of its Creator. The whole human family rejoice, for now they have a powerful Advocate in heaven to prepare for men of good will dwellings of everlasting happiness. Jesus Christ Himself triumphs; for, having been obedient to the death of the cross, He, in reward therefor, will henceforth rule all nations, till He shall come again at the last day to judge the living and the dead.

To-day Christ in the flesh really left this world; therefore, during the mass of the festival, the Easter-candle, which for forty days has stood burning on one side of the altar as the symbol of our risen Saviour, is extinguished and taken away. Yet Jesus is with us, really and truly present, in the Sacrament of the altar, waiting for us to approach Him, that we may, through the mysterious power of this Sacrament, obtain the grace to participate in His Ascension into heaven.

CHAPTER VI

THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN AFTER THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. HER HAPPY DEATH. HER BURIAL. HER MIRACULOUS TRANSLATION INTO HEAVEN

1. MARY'S OUTER LIFE

SERAPHIM and Cherubim, and the whole court of heaven have given a reverent welcome to the returning King of Glory. And now that the clouds of heaven have shut out from our further view the sacred person of Jesus, let us turn awhile for consolation to His blessed Mother, who will yet remain amongst us for some time. Holy Scripture makes but two statements concerning the Blessed Virgin's life subsequent to the Ascension of Jesus; namely, that she continued in constant and kindly intercourse with the apostles, and that St. John, the favorite disciple of her Son, took her under his own

special care. Our Blessed Lady survived about fifteen years after the coming of the Holy Ghost. Most of this time she passed in the city of Jerusalem, in a simple and humble home on Mount Zion, converted after her death into a chapel by the apostles.

The account given to St. Bridget by an angel of God of this portion of Mary's life is extremely interesting. "When the Son of God returned to His kingdom of glory, He wished that His Virgin Mother should remain for some time after Him upon earth in order to encourage and strengthen the good, and to reclaim the erring; to be a mother to the apostles, a support to the first martyrs, a teacher to the confessors, a model to the virgins, a comforter to the widows, and an adviser to married people. This mission she faithfully fulfilled; for when the apostles came to her she disclosed to them all those things concerning the life of her Son which they did not know, or knew but imperfectly. For although they had been enlightened by the Holy Ghost, Mary had been more enlightened than they. She stimulated the martyrs to bear their trials courageously, and even cheerfully, for the sake of Jesus, who Himself had willingly submitted to the severest trials for their sake and salvation. She reminded them that she herself, for the three and thirty years preceding His death, had suffered with great patience continual affliction of heart. She modestly imparted many useful lessons to the first confessors of the faith, who soon learned from her word and example to regulate their lives according to the maxims of her divine Son. From her the virgins learned how to keep themselves pure in thought, word and deed, to avoid levity and other occasions of sin, and to direct all their actions to the glory of God and the sanctification of their souls. She alleviated and soothed the sorrows of widows in their loneliness by relating her own sorrow at the death of St. Joseph, and especially at the cruel death of her son Jesus; how in her heavy trials she had always submitted her will to the divine will, resolved to suffer meekly and patiently any and every tribulation, rather than to desert God for the greatest of earthly goods. Finally, she counselled the married people to love each other with pure and disinterested love, and to devote themselves with unreserved good will to the service of God. She told them how she and her departed spouse were always of one mind, and had loved each other faithfully till death parted them."