HOMILY—Ascension and the East (Volo)

Until recent years, the debate about which direction the priest should be facing when celebrating Mass was usually about the difference between the Extraordinary and the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, otherwise known as the Tridentine Mass and the Novus Ordo Mass. But more and more one is hearing this discussion even in reference to the post-Vatican II Mass. There is a growing concern for a return to the sacred and a return to the traditional orientation in the Mass is a significant part of it. Our present Holy Father, Benedict XVI is among its notable proponents.

The traditional orientation of the priest at Mass is called “ad orientem,” which means “to the east.” This orientation of both the priest and faithful at Mass was practiced from the very beginning of Christianity because worship facing East held a profoundly mystical significance. It was the ancient and universal practice of all Christians and for many centuries, all churches were built facing east. In time, conditions didn’t always allow the building to face true east, but Mass was always offered in the same manner so as to symbolically turn to the liturgical east, as it was called, such as here in Volo.

Many people today say that in the traditional celebration of Mass the priest has his back to the people to conceal the Sacred Mysteries. Others think that the Mass was offered in this manner so that the priest and people could face the tabernacle. But both of these descriptions are wrong and neither of them gets to the core of why we celebrate Mass in this manner. For instance, the tabernacle was never the reason for this orientation because it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the tabernacle was put at the back of the altar as it is now. Worship facing the east had a great cosmological significance, precisely because of the great event that we commemorate today. Christians believed that when Christ ascended into heaven, He ascended to the east and that when He would return in His Second Coming, He would come from that same direction. By always facing to the east in worship they were, therefore, always standing ready for the return of their Lord. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that after the Apostles witnessed Jesus ascending into heaven, two angels told them: “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”[1] The East represented the anticipated Second Coming of Christ, the King.

The first Christians were Jews and the orientation of prayer to the east was a concept that was not at all foreign to them because Jews believed that Eden was located to the East.[2] Christians worshiped to the east not because it pointed to the earthly Paradise as the Jews had did, but because it now pointed to the new Paradise in Heaven to which Christ had risen on Ascension Day.

Early Christian literature has many references to worship facing east. The Apostolic Constitutions state that a church should be build “with its head to the East”.[3] St. John Damascene wrote that while we wait for the coming of the Lord “we adore Him facing East” because it is a tradition that was passed down to us by the Apostles. St. Augustine wrote, “When we rise to pray, we turn East, where heaven begins.”[4]

The rising sun in the east as an image of Christ the Light of the world was also a powerful symbol for the early Christians. In the third century, Origen wrote that we ought to pray in the direction of the rising sun because it is an act, which symbolizes the soul’s gaze toward the rising of the true Light, Jesus Christ. The writings of other Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, and St. Basil, confirm this practice[5]

This symbol of the sun as an image of the Divine Light is found throughout the Bible. In the Book of Psalms we read about “the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.”[6] In the Book of the Prophet Malachi we read that “the sun of righteousness shall rise.”[7] In his mystical vision Ezekiel saw “the glory of the God of Israel come from the east” and it “entered the Temple by the gate facing east.”[8] And in the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, Christ’s face “shone like the sun.”[9]

The sun is a cosmic symbol of the light of the resurrected Christ, who dispels the darkness of sin and death. When the sun sets in the west, the world sinks into darkness, which we equate with death. That is what happens when a soul shuts out the Light of Christ. Darkness envelopes the soul and leads it to spiritual death. The east, on the other hand, brings the rising sun and its energy for a new day. So, by turning toward the rising sun when we worship, we turn toward Christ, whom it symbolizes.

Tradition tells us that Christ ascended to the east from the Mount of Olives on the day of the Ascension, the event we commemorate today. But Scripture itself alludes to the fact that He will return from that same direction on the Last Day.[10] In the Book of Revelation we read that the east will be the direction from where the Angel of the Lord will come in the end time “ascending from the rising of the sun.”[11] And Christ Himself told us that “as the lightening comes from the east so will be the coming of the Son of man”[12] and his face will be like “the sun shining in full strength.”[13]

The structures in which Christians traditionally worshipped were not just functional buildings as so many modern churches are today. The church building and everything in it reflected a very deep symbolism. We call the body of the church the “nave,” a word derived from the Latin word for “ship”—navis. So, we can say that during our short time on earth, we are on a journey and the church building in which we worship is, so to speak, the ship by which sail to the east to the port of our eternal rest in heaven. It is in this sacred space that the Christian body constantly voyages to the East[14] to the Heavenly Paradise and to the Rising Sun.

In the early Church there was a custom whereby after the homily the Bishop or priest would cry out to the faithful: Conversi ad Dominum!—“turn towards the Lord,” turn towards the East, towards the rising sun, the sign of Christ returning. Benedict the XVI has recently used this phrase a number of times because he wants to tell us that we need to recapture that profound element of our worship by turning away from the closed circle of ourselves “towards the Lord,” the rising Sun of Righteousness.

The early Church believed that it was from the east that Christ would return in glory. That is why the east has historically always been the direction of heaven for Christians, and therefore, by facing East they would be able to participate in the mystical liturgy of heaven. Both priest and laity looked toward the East in unity as if in procession because it was the gateway to heaven, their destiny. The altar was “the place where heaven is opened up” leading the church “into the eternal liturgy”[15] of heaven.

4 May 2008                                                                                                          Hom-Ascension&theEast-Volo

St. Peter’s in Volo