Ascension Thursday

TODAY IS A day of obligation for Catholics. It is the Feast of The Ascension which has been observed since antiquity. Although no documentary evidence of it exists prior to the beginning of the fifth century, St. Augustine says that it is of Apostolic origin. It is one of the Ecumenical feasts ranking with the feasts of the Passion, of Easter and of Pentecost among the most solemn in the Catholic calendar.

Ascension Day is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter Sunday, to commemorate the ascension of Christ into heaven, according to Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and Acts 1:2. The Ascension is for Christians both a fact and a promise; in exaltation, Catholics confess His Ascension into heaven, in The Apostles Creed.

"He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father... "

Hail the day that sees Him rise,

Ravished from our wistful eyes!

Christ, awhile to mortals given,

Re-ascends His native heaven.

There the glorious triumph waits,

Lift your heads, eternal gates!

Wide unfold the radiant scene,

Take the King of glory in!

John Wesley

"He was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19), thereby glorifying human nature; restoring the likeness of God to humanity; and preparing an eternal place for His People. In a sense this feast ends the Easter revelry: after the Gospel is read during the Ascension Thursday Mass, the Paschal candle is extinguished. It does not, however, end Eastertide. The nine days that the Apostles spent in prayer from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost provide not only the archetypal inspiration for all later novenas but the eagerly awaited build-up for what is often called the birthday of the Church, the Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsunday. This is the day that the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles, giving them the grace and resolve to teach and convert all nations.