Feast of the Ascension - Catholic Holy Day of Obligation - Thursday, May 20, 2004

New Advent ^

[NYer]

The fortieth day after Easter Sunday, commemorating the Ascension of Christ into heaven, according to Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and Acts 1:2.

In the Eastern Church this feast was known as analepsis, the taking up, and also as the episozomene, the salvation, denoting that by ascending into His glory Christ completed the work of our redemption. The terms used in the West, ascensio and, occasionally, ascensa, signify that Christ was raised up by His own powers. Tradition designates Mount Olivet near Bethany as the place where Christ left the earth. The feast falls on Thursday. 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 calendar, has a vigil and, since the fifteenth century, an octave which is set apart for a novena of preparation for Pentecost, in accordance with the directions of Leo XIII.

History. The observance of this feast is of great 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, 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 Sylvia (Peregrinatio Etheriae) 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 was born (Duchesne, Christian Worship, 491-515). It may be that prior to the fifth 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 Council 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 fifth century.

Customs. Certain customs were connected with the liturgy of this feast, such as the blessing of beans and grapes after the Commemoration of the Dead in the Canon of the Mass, the blessing of first fruits, afterwards done on Rogation Days, the blessing of a candle, the wearing of mitres by deacon and subdeacon, the extinction of the paschal candle, and triumphal processions with torches and banners outside the churches to commemorate the entry of Christ into heaven. Rock records the English custom of carrying at the head of the procession the banner bearing the device of the lion and at the foot the banner of the dragon, to symbolize the triumph of Christ in His ascension over the evil one. In some churches the scene of the Ascension was vividly reproduced by elevating the figure of Christ above the altar through an opening in the roof of the church. In others, whilst the figure of Christ was made to ascend, that of the devil was made to descend.

In the liturgies generally the day is meant to celebrate the completion of the work of our salvation, the pledge of our glorification with Christ, and His entry into heaven with our human nature glorified.

[NYer]

Feast of the Ascension
Thursday after the sixth Sunday of Easter*

Christ in Glory
Detail from Disputa dei Sacramento - The Triumph of the Christian Faith
Raphael (ca 1508) Stanza della Segnatura, Apostolic Palace, Vatican

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Readings - Hymn

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The feast of the Ascension is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter Sunday*, commemorating the Ascension of Christ into Heaven and His completion of the work of our redemption. The liturgy on this day celebrates the entry of Christ into heaven with our human nature glorified, and the pledge of our glorification with Him. In the past, processions outside the church were held on this day to imitate Christ's leading the Apostles out of the city to the Mount of Olives, and to commemorate the entry of Christ into heaven.

* In some dioceses of the United States, this feast is celebrated on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. See local liturgical calendar.

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Readings

This high priest of ours is one who has taken His seat in heaven, on the right hand of that throne where God sits in majesty, monistering now in the sanctuary, in that true tabernacle which the Lord, not man, has set up. After all, it is ther very function of a pirest to offer gift and sacrifice.

Hebrews 8:1b:3a
Feast of the Ascension - Prayers for Midday

 

Collect:
God our Father,
make joyful in the ascension of your Son Jesus Christ.
May we follow Him into the new creation,
for His ascension is our glory and our hope.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

First Reading for Mass: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandment through through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. To them He presented Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

So when they had come together, they asked Him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." And when He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven."


Second Reading: Ephesians 1:17-23
Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

(Scripture: RSV-CE Ignatius Bible)

Hymn for the Ascension

Hail the day that sees Him rise

Hail the day that sees Him rise, Alleluia!
Glorious to His native skies: Alleluia!
Christ, awhile to mortals giv'n, Alleluia!
Enters now the highest heav'n! Alleluia

There the glorious triumph waits; Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates! Alleluia!
Wide unfold the radiant scene; Alleluia!
Take the King of glory in! Alleluia!

See! He lifts His hands above, Alleluia!
See! He shows the prints of love: Alleluia!
Hark! His gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
Blessings on His Church below. Alleluia!

Lord, beyond our mortal signt, Alleluia!
Raise our hearts to reach Thy height, Alleluia!
There Thy face unclouded see, Alleluia!
Find our heav'n of heav'ns in Thee. Alleluia!

Text: Charles Wesley (1707-88); Melody: Robert Williams (1781-1821)

[NYer]

Icon of the Ascension
Maronite Catholic Church

This icon of the ascension, the most beautiful in early Christian art, is clearly of Palestinian origin. In the upper corners are the Semitic gods worshiped in Assyria: "Sin" the moon (left) and the sun (right) Helios. These pagan gods of Babylon acknowledge the Son of the Living God. Christ is ascending in a sphere raised by 2 angels and a flying chariot; 2 other angels carry gold crowns on purple cloth. This offering of the crowns refers to Book of Revelation: "Worthy is the Lamb to receive glory, honor and power."

The Christ figure with long brown hair is a deliberate reference to the Lord of the universe (Pantokrator). He holds an open scroll since: "the Lamb is worthy to break open the seal". By the position of his right hand he solemnly proclaims the new Law. The winged-chariot is a flame-colored throne and includes a human head, an eagle, a lion, a bull, symbols of the 4 evangelists. The hand alludes to God the Father.

Mary is depicted in the ancient prayer posture and in her womanhood, since she is mother and nourisher. The artist sees the Church identified with and personified in her, since both are gifted with divine wisdom. Here the Mother of the Church and the Church are worshiping Christ who is returning to the Father.

The angels near Mary hold wanderer's staffs. Their clothing and haloes are similar to those of Christ since all 3 are citizens of heaven.

The apostles are ecstatic as they "star-gaze", but the angels warn them to go and proclaim this news since Christ will return at the end of the world (Act 1,9). An interesting note here is the presence of St Paul with the book (left of Mary). In fact he was not present at the ascension but was included by the artist. The apostle Peter (right of Mary) holds the keys of the kingdom entrusted to him by Christ.

[enuu]

Pity we your Catholic bretheren in the Western Ecclesiastical Provinces! Our cowardly and liberal bishops out here seem to be systematically doing everything they can to de-Catholicize Catholicism. The latest travesty is Ascension Thursday is NO LONGER a Holy Day! Not a day of obligation, no special masses, no recognition. You just forget about it and instead celebrate it on the 7th Sunday of Easter ("Ascension Sunday").

Our Pastor, a conservative, devout man with a wry sense of humor notified parishioners of this new system thus in our bulletin:

"Ascension Thursday has been shoved ahead to the following Sunday. In other words, apparently Jesus ascended 43 days after his Resurrection instead of 40 days."

[Pyro7480]

Thanks NYer for the Maronite icon. Their church in DC has a copy of this icon on the right side of the sanctuary.

[B Knotts]

In other words, apparently Jesus ascended 43 days after his Resurrection instead of 40 days.

But only on the West Coast. ;-)

[Salvation]

[NYer]

The latest travesty is Ascension Thursday is NO LONGER a Holy Day!

What!! Just checked Easterbrooks Liturgical Calendar for the Year 2004 and discovered that your are right!

Thursday, May 20

Ascension of the Lord - * Holy Day of Obligation *
In the archdioceses and dioceses of the US states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington only
Thursday of the Sixth week of Easter
Saint Bernardine of Siena, priest - Optional Memorial

Guess you won't be able to have your 'beans and grapes' blessed until Sunday!
(From the History of the Feast: Certain customs were connected with the liturgy of this feast, such as the blessing of beans and grapes)

[dangus]

Feast of the Ascencion is not a day of obligation in the Arlington, VA diocese! IN fact, there are no special masses even offered... if you can't make morning mass because you need to go to work, you cannot celebrate it. My young adults group cancelled our Eucharistic adoration figuring on there being an evening mass. When we told the priest why we were cancelling it, he didn't even bother telling us there was no mass.

[dangus]

Of course... the "40 days" was just a symbolic rounding off, didn't you know that? Just like the Septuagint (the 70) was written by 72, etc.
</smart-a$$>

[eastsider]

Ping!

[NYer]

Feast of the Ascencion is not a day of obligation in the Arlington, VA diocese!

This may be as good a day as any to take a nice drive!

St. Anthony Maronite Church
4611 Sadler Rd.
Glen Allen, VA 23060
[Richmond] 804 270-7234
Liturgical Schedule:
Daily Liturgy at 9:00 AM
Sunday at 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM
Holy Days of Obligation at 9:00 AM and 6:30 PM

[Romulus]

Not a Holy Day here either, and no noon Mass I can get to.

NYer -- In the Ascension icon you posted, the dark blue center of the mandorla in which the Lord appears is an acknowledgement of the hesychast spirituality of the Rabbula Gospels's rough contemporary, the father known as pseudo-Dionysius, who writes:

"The Divine Dark is the inaccessible Light in which God is said to dwell. Into this dark, invisible because of its surpassing brightness and unsearchable because of the abundance of its supernatural torrents of light, all enter who are deemed worthy to know and see God: and by the very fact of not seeing or knowing, are truly in Him Who is above all sight and knowledge."

And elsewhere he writes:

"We pray that we may enter the Radiant Darkness, and through blindness and ignorance may see and know that this blindness and ignorance is itself above sight and knowledge"

You may know that the Rabbula Gospels contain one of the oldest images of the Crucifixion.

[dangus]

Aaah... Maronites. Thanks, but I can't get to the 804 area code by 6:30... that's a couple hours away in rush-hour traffic. There is a church I found which has a 7:00 daily mass regularly scheduled.

[NYer]

Wow! I'm impressed! Frankly, I haven't researched the Rabbula Gospels that intensely .... yet. Did find this however, whic is absolutely fascinating.

* * * * *

The Syrian Orthodox Church believes that the Holy Bible, which comprises of the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the divine word of God. Its Fathers labored in translating the Holy Scriptures into Syriac since the very dawn of Christianity. Further, the Syriac New Testament is quite unique for it presents the teachings of our Lord in an Aramaic dialect (Syriac) which is akin and would have been mutually comprehensible with the Palestinian dialect of Aramaic in which Christ taught.

The words of Christ were first transmitted in his native language, the Palestinian dialect of Aramaic, either orally or in a written form. It is from this Aramaic tradition that the Greek Gospels were derived. The Syriac New Testament as we know it today is an early translation of the Greek text back into Syriac, the Aramaic dialect of Edessa (Modern Urfa in Southeast Turkey). The Syriac Old Testament is a translation from the original Hebrew and Aramaic (a different Aramaic dialect from Syriac which is known by the name 'Biblical Aramaic').

You may know that the Rabbula Gospels contain one of the oldest images of the Crucifixion.

Crucifixion-Resurrection

This icon is unique in the Rabbula Gospels since it depicts 2 scenes in the life of Christ, and reflects the spiritual perspective of St John's "hour of glory". In the "lifting up" of the Son of God the entire plan of divinization is achieved.

The crucifixion takes place against a background of blue mountains (Gareb and Agra). The sun with the eye in the upper part (left) and the moon (right) appear on each side of Christ for this is the hour of darkness and light. The 3 victims are crucified with 4 nails and no foot supports - a unique feature here. Near the cross of Christ 3 soldiers gamble for his clothes.

Jesus is depicted in full royal garments, in typical Syriac style. His long purple-gold tunic signifies the lordship of Christ who is exalted by his Father. The Syriac writing on the tablet declares: "This is the King of the Jews."

To the left of Christ is Longinus holding the lance which pierced the side of Jesus. The man with the sponge on the right side is Steaton who later converted and was martyred. To the far right are the 3 women who stood at the cross of Jesus: Mary of Magdala, Salome and Mary the wife of Clopas.

Dimas the good thief (viewer's left but Christ's right) with his head bent toward Christ is penitent and seeking God's mercy. The Scriptures recount him saying: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." To which Jesus responded: "This day you will be with me in paradise." Gestas, the unrepentant thief on the right, has an upturned and proud face. The mark near his lip may indicate an evil spirit. Standing near the cross of Dimas is Christ's mother Mary with raised hands covering her tormented face. The Apostle John suffers silently as he looks on with desolate eyes.

The resurrection scene in the lower half of the icon actually includes 3 distinct scenes: the empty tomb (Mt 28,2), the women carrying fragrant ointment(left-Mt 28,1), and the appearance of Jesus to the women on the road to Jerusalem ( right-Mt 28,9).

The resurrection scenes are dominated by plush greenery which suggests the new life of resurrection. The empty tomb in the shape of a small temple (center) is supported with 2 pink columns to form 2 brackets in the shape of lion's muzzles. The artist here suggests that the jaws of death cannot contain Christ. The 3 fearful soldiers are held back from the tomb by 3 rays of light seen radiating from the tomb.

On the left, an angel, carrying a wanderer's staff, sits on the stone, and talks to the women approaching the tomb. The first woman dressed in a royal purple mantle and with a halo alludes to the Mother of Christ. She is holding an alabaster jar; the second woman holds a smoking, cube-shaped censer.

On the right side, these same women kneel before the Risen Lord. The artist has given us a very full treatment of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the oldest in Christian iconography.

Source: The Syriac Maronite Art Tradition

[NYer]

Standing near the cross of Dimas is Christ's mother Mary with raised hands covering her tormented face.

During Great Lent, our Maronite parish held an Adoration of the Cross service each Friday night. Nearly all of the songs were in Arabic. The prayer service concluded with the priest elevating the crucifix while altar servers incensed him and the crucifix, and the congregation sang the following, set to a doleful melody. This would be the prayer of our Blessed Mother at the foot of the crucifix, as she gazes up at her Son.

O My Son

O My Son O My beloved
See the plight Love brings you to
What distress and What affliction
Wicked men have Laid on you.
O My Son O what transgression
Or what evil Did you do that you
Should be vexed and wounded
with no hope for any cure

Look on me, Daughter of Sion
Crushed beneath this might wave
Anguish fills my very marrow
And it leads me to the grave
There is none to be a friend now
And this angry mob to brave
Coming forward to console me
For the suff'ring I endure

You can hear that melody at this link, along with a few others. ('The Lord Is With Us', was the entrance hymn at last month's Enthronement Ceremony for Gregory John Mansour, the new bishop of the Brooklyn Eparchy.

Maronite Liturgical Music

[Romulus]

Jesus is depicted in full royal garments, in typical Syriac style. His long purple-gold tunic signifies the lordship of Christ who is exalted by his Father.

The garment's called a "colobium". The bright vertical bands on either side of the colobium are called "clavi"; they signify senatorial rank.

There's a similar Crucifixion in the Roman forum, in the 8th-century church of Santa Maria Antiqua -- known to have been a place of Syrian worship (though the inscriptions are in Latin):

[NYer]

Is that a pot of incense burning at the base of the crucifix? Beautiful icon! Here's another.

LUCY-AXXE HUNT / BIRMIXGHAM

An icon of the Crucifixion (figs. 1 – 10) is displayed in the main church of the Virgin at the Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr as-Suriani), in the Wadi Natrun in the Western Desert in Egypt’. Attributed here to a Syrian Orthodox artist in the third quarter of the thirteenth century, its imagery of mankind’s salvation through the Passion of Christ’s suffering and death is expressed in the vocabulary of contemporary Italian art. With the personifications at the top representing the overturn of the darkness of death with the light of renewal, the icon evokes the Orthodox Easter liturgy of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This points up a virtually unexplored aspect of medieval Passion iconography. Focusing attention on the Syrian Orthodox role in icon production, the icon is a witness to the development and dissemination of Holy Land imagery in the thirteenth-century eastern Mediterranean. Its interpretation contributes to debate currently centred on the icons of St. Catherine’s monastery, Mount Sinai, and Cyprus.

The icon’s dimensions are 61 x 68 x 2.7 cm. Its construction can be briefly summarised. On the obverse the nails fixing the integral raised frame are clearly visible, together with a patch of linen glued onto the wood, near the lower right corner. A metal loop is attached at the top for suspending the panel. The panel has split vertically in two, just to left of centre. The sections are held together by two transverse planks attached at the back (fig. 2), the upper 3.6 cm thick, the lower 3.5 cm. By comparison with icons at St. Catherine’s monastery Mount Sinai and in Cairo, which have similarly split, it may be assumed that the icon is made of a soft wood, rather than one of the harder imported types’. The pigments, which are muted browns and greens and dark reds shot with passages of bright orange-red, are applied onto the gesso base alongside (as opposed to over) the gilding. The inscriptions are in Greek. One, delicately written in white along the transverse at the top of the cross, declares Christ to be the King of Glory. The others, in red, denote the scene as the Crucifixion with Christ, the Virgin, and John . To the modern eye the imagery at first appears confused and over- loaded with detail. But its logic, attending to mankind’s salvation through the Crucifixion, unfolds with closer scrutiny. The dead Christ suspended on the cross – an immediately recognizable focus – forms with the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist a triangular framework. Other individuals and groups are associated with this: the crucified thieves, lance and sponge bearers, holy women and the centurion. Below, the dead arise from tombs to left and right. At the top are four angels. One half-length pair, flanking the arms of the cross, is in mourning. The other pair, above, is in flight. The angel top left introduces a bright female personification while gesturing to the sun. Another opposite expels a dark personification on the other side of the moon. This juxtaposition of light and dark, positive and negative, is central to the interpretation of the panel as representing man’s redemption through Christ’s death. Professor A. Dean McKenzie has pointed to the convergence of Byzantine and western elements’. But why were these chosen and how is the icon to be understood within its cultural and historical context of a Syrian monastery?

LINK

[avg_freeper]

Thank you so much.

I am new to the Catholic church and just discovered that today was a Holy Day of Obligation. I couldn't find any churches holding Mass this evening and felt lost. But your post and readings have brought up my spirits.

God bless both of you.