Daily Reading for May 13 • Ascension Day
See the Conqueror mounts in triumph;
See the King in royal state,
Riding on the clouds, his chariot,
To his heavenly palace gate!
Hark! The choirs of angel voices
Joyful alleluias sing,
And the portals high are lifted
To receive their heavenly King.
He who on the cross did suffer,
He who from the grave arose,
He has vanquished sin and Satan;
He by death has spoiled his foes.
While he lifts his hands in blessing,
He is parted from his friends;
While their eager eyes behold him,
He upon the clouds ascends.
You have raised our human nature
On the clouds to God’s right hand:
There we sit in heavenly places,
There with you in glory stand.
Jesus reigns, adored by angels;
Man with God is on the throne;
Mighty Lord, in your ascension,
We by faith behold our own.
A hymn by Christopher Wordsworth, quoted in The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle (New York: Doubleday, 2001).