From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
May 12, 2026 (#97)
The Ascension of the Lord...Ascension Thursday?
In the dioceses of the United States, generally speaking, the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is now observed on the Sunday following the traditional day, namely, the Thursday after the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The exceptions to this are the dioceses of the Provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha, and Philadelphia, where “Ascension Thursday” remains a holy day of obligation. All the other provinces (which consist of an archdiocese and its suffragan dioceses) of the country have transferred the observance of this ancient feast to the following Sunday, as permitted by the Holy See. (Saints Augustine and Jerome, who believed the feast to be of apostolic origin, would, we might imagine, have been surprised at the modern transfer of the feast, to say the least.)
The Gospel of Saint Mark, in chapter 16, and the Gospel of Saint Luke, in chapter 24, as well as the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 1) recount the episode wherein Jesus Christ, in the presence of his disciples, on the 40th day after his resurrection, appeared to ascend into heaven. The liturgy of the day celebrates the completion of Christ’s work of our salvation when, having conquered sin and death, he himself, now glorified, enters triumphantly into heaven with our human nature. Ancient tradition has long since identified the Mount of Olives, near Bethany, as the location of this event. Saint Helena oversaw the construction of the first memorial on the site, which was destroyed by the Persians in 614. In the following century, it was rebuilt but destroyed again in the 8th century. The Crusaders erected a church on the site, which in turn was destroyed by Muslims, who left standing a small octagonal structure which pilgrims today can enter. A stone in the flooring of that structure is said to contain an imprint of the foot of Christ.
Such was the importance of the feast, that over the centuries the church celebrated its vigil liturgically and three days of special intercessory prayers for a good harvest and blessings on human labor, called Rogation days, on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday prior to the feast. In some European churches, At the conclusion of the day's Mass, the custom developed wherein a figure of Christ was raised above the altar through an opening in the roof of the church. And in some of those locations, as the figure of Christ ascended, a figure of the devil was made to descend, reminding the faithful of the spiritual battle that remains for us on this earth as we wait in hope to join Christ in the Kingdom where he already reigns gloriously.
