Today, Christians around the world celebrate the Ascension of Christ, his physical departure from Earth into the presence of God in Heaven.
In the 14th-century Gospel Athos, Mone Batopediou 937, after the miniatures depicting the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ we shared on Good Friday and Easter, there is an illumination of the Ascension.
The image shows the ascending Christ blessing the Theotokos, flanked by two angels, and the twelve Apostles. Above and below, this miniature – like the others – is captioned with a short poem.
✒️ Ἄνεισι Χριστὸς εἰς πατρῷαν ἑστίαν
σαρκὸς θεώσας ἥνπερ εἴληφε φύσιν.
📖 Christus wird zum väterlichen Herd emporsteigen,
nachdem er die Natur des Fleisches, die er angenommen hatte, vergöttlicht hat.
🌐 https://www.dbbe.ugent.be/occurrences/23607
📸 A. Rhoby, 2018, Ausgewählte Byzantinische Epigramme in Illuminierten Handschriften. Wien: 644
