Last night there were storms, but today everything is beautiful. The leaves of the white walnut tree in the cemetery are small and the flowers fill the branches with curls of green lace. I hear machines running at the mill and birds singing: nothing but that.
Tomorrow is the Ascension of the Lord, my favorite feast. At any time of the year, I like to seek out the antiphons of the feast of the Ascension that resonate in my ears and fill me with light and peace: vado parare vobis locum – I am going to prepare a place for you...
(Thomas Merton, diary entry from the vigil of the Ascension of the Lord, May 14, 1947)
