The Morning Offering

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!

The Morning Offering
Thursday, May 28 / May 15 (Church Calendar)
The Holy Ascension of Our Lord

"O Christ God, Thou hast ascended in glory, granting joy to Thy disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Through the blessing they were assured that Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world!" --Troparion of the Ascension

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Saints of the Day:

May 15 / 28. St. Pachomius the Great, founder of coenobitic monasticism . St. Isaiah, Bishop and wonderworker of Rostov. The slain Crown Prince Demetrius of Moscow. St. Achilles, Bishop of Larissa. St. Euphrosynus, abbot, wonderworker of Pskov, and his disciple St. Serapion. St. Isaiah, wonderworker of the Kiev Caves. St. Pachomius, abbot, and St. Silvanus, of Nerekhta. St. Demetrius, prince-prisoner, of Uglich (Vologda). New-Martyrs Archbishop Pachomius of Chernigov (1938), his brother Archbishop Avercius (1927), their father Priest Nicholas Kedrov (1936), and their brother-in-law Priest Vladimir Zagarsky (1937). (Greek Calendar: St. Barbarus the Myrrh-gusher of Corfu. St. Andrew the hermit and wonderworker.

Photo of the Day:

Enclosure wall, separating the monastic cells and library from the public area.

Thought for the Day:

I would once again want to remind people of that potential to overcome crisis that the Church has. And it has long been aware of the "know-how" for bringing human souls out of crisis. As the 20th century saint and confessor Roman Medved said, we must "cultivate the spirit in such a way that it can stand before the Lord on its own and choose good altogether freely and deliberately..."

His Holiness KIRILL, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

Scripture Readings for the Day:

Acts 1:1-12

Prologue

 ¹ The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, ² until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, ³ to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit Promised

⁴ And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; ⁵ for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." ⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" ⁷ And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

⁹ Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, ¹¹ who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

The Upper Room Prayer Meeting

¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.

Luke 24:36-53

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶ Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you." ³⁷ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
⁴⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?" ⁴² So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. ⁴³ And He took it and ate in their presence.

The Scriptures Opened

⁴⁴ Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." ⁴⁵ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
⁴⁶ Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ And you are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

The Ascension

⁵⁰ And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.