Viri Galilaei, quid admiramini aspcientes in caelum? alleluia: quemadmodum vidistis eum ascendentem in caelum, ita veniet, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
“Men of Galilee, why are you marveling looking up to the sky (heaven)? The one whom you saw raising to the sky (heaven), will come (return) in the same way, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.” (Acts 1:11)
Click here to listen to an audio of the chant.
Sung by Liborius Lumma, Innsbruck (Austria).
The Ascension of the Lord is somehow – like Pentecost – the fulfillment of his vocation for us. The heaven is open, there is a promise for our lives that shall never be taken back again. The text of this chant is not directed to God, it is a narrative from the Acts of the Apostles, eventually directed to us. The message is said, now let us do what has to be done: live our lives and trust in life. The triple alleluia at the end of the chant is one of the most opulent and beautiful in Gregorian Chant, and it is no accident that we find it on this very day. We celebrated Easter for 40 days, like Israel’s pilgrimage for 40 years. Now we have reached the Promised Land and we shall live in it.
Please leave a reply.