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Ascension Day

Ascension Day
Obereschach Pfarrkirche Fresko Fugel Christi Himmelfahrt crop.jpg
Christi Himmelfahrt by , c. 1893
Also called Holy Thursday
Ascension Day
Ascension Thursday
Observed by Christians
Type Christian
Significance commemorates the Ascension of Jesus into heaven
Observances Service of Worship / Mass
Date 39 days after Easter (Western)
2016 date

May 5 (Western)

June 9 (Eastern)
2017 date

May 25 (Western)

May 25 (Eastern)
2018 date

May 10 (Western)

May 17 (Eastern)
2019 date

May 30 (Western)

June 6 (Eastern)
Frequency annual
Related to Easter, Pentecost

May 5 (Western)

May 25 (Western)

May 10 (Western)

May 30 (Western)

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, also known as Ascension Thursday, Holy Thursday, or Ascension Day, commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical feasts (i.e., universally celebrated) of Christian churches, ranking with the feasts of the Passion, of Easter, and Pentecost. Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter (following the count given in Acts 1:3), although some Christian denominations have moved the observance to the following Sunday.

The observance of this feast is of great antiquity. Eusebius seems to hint at the celebration of it in the 4th century. At the beginning of the 5th century, St. Augustine says that it is of Apostolic origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was the universal observance of the Church long before his time. Frequent mention of it is made in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and in the Constitution of the Apostles. The Pilgrimage of Aetheria speaks of the vigil of this feast and of the feast itself, as they were kept in the church built over the grotto in Bethlehem in which Christ is traditionally regarded as having been born. It may be that prior to the 5th century the fact narrated in the Gospels was commemorated in conjunction with the feast of Easter or Pentecost. Some believe that the much-disputed forty-third decree of the Synod of Elvira (c. 300) condemning the practice of observing a feast on the fortieth day after Easter and neglecting to keep Pentecost on the fiftieth day, implies that the proper usage of the time was to commemorate the Ascension along with Pentecost. Representations of the mystery are found in diptychs and frescoes dating as early as the 5th century.


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