The history of the holiday
The Ascension is a significant event in Christianity. This is one of the twelve main holy holidays. Celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter and always on Thursday. You can learn about the history of this bright religious holiday from the Gospel of Luke and Mark, as well as from the Acts of the Holy Apostles.
The number 40 was not chosen by chance. In ancient times, according to the law of Saint Moses, boys were brought to the temple on the fortieth day to dedicate to God. At the beginning of his earthly life, little Jesus was also consecrated for 40 days. After the miraculous resurrection, the Savior ascended into heaven on the fortieth day. This is how a holiday appeared, reflecting the essence of this important event. It was on this day that Jesus became God, and his human nature became invisible to human eyes.
It is known from sacred texts that Christ, having been executed and resurrected from the dead, appeared to his disciples for 40 days. The Savior's faithful companions could see with their own eyes the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
On the 40th day, the Lord, again appearing to the disciples, led them from Jerusalem to Holy Bethany to the most holy Mount of Olives. Christ raised his hands and blessed his followers, and then, before their eyes, began to ascend to heaven. A moment - and the Savior disappeared behind the clouds. After which two angels in white clothes appeared in the sky. They announced to the faithful apostles about the Second Coming of Christ.
The disciples returned to Jerusalem and made all the followers of the teachings of their Savior happy with the news they had heard. On the tenth day after the Ascension, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, as the Savior had warned. Thanks to this event, the disciples of Christ became even stronger in their faith in God and received the strength and blessing to preach the teachings of Jesus among people. Since then, on the fiftieth day after Easter, Christians celebrate another holy holiday - Pentecost.
THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD GOD AND OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
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Troparion of the holiday three times, tone 4:
Thou hast ascended in glory, O Christ our God, / having brought joy to the disciple, / by the promise of the Holy Spirit, / by the blessing that was communicated to them, / for Thou art the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
Magnification:
We magnify You, / Life-Giving Christ, / and honor You in Heaven / with Your most pure Flesh / Divine Ascension.
Canon, creation of John the monk. Tone 5. Song 1.
Irmos: To the Savior God / who taught the people with wet feet in the sea, / and the Pharaoh and all his host who drowned, / to Him alone we will sing, / for being glorified.
Let us all sing, O people, / on the tops of the cherubim I will ascend with glory to Christ, / and to Him who has seated us at the right hand of the Father, / a song of victory, as if I have been glorified.
Having interceded with God and the man Christ, / having seen the faces of the angels, I was amazed with the flesh in the highest, / and according to the song of victory I sang, as if I had become glorified.
To God who appeared on Mount Sinai, / and who gave the law to Moses, the seer of God, / from the Mount of Olives to the ascended flesh, / To him let us all sing, for we have been glorified.
Theotokos: Most Pure Mother of God, / Incarnate of You, and from the bosom of the Father who has not retreated, God / unceasingly pray, / from every circumstance to save, even as I have created.
Another canon of Mr. Joseph, tone 4. Song 1.
Irmos: I will open my mouth, / and be filled with the Spirit, / and I will vomit the word to the Queen Mother, / and I will appear, brightly triumphant, / and I will sing, rejoicing, Those miracles.:
You rose from the dead, immortal by nature, / and you appeared to the only ten and all the disciples, / and you stood before Christ to the Father, / carried as a cloud, the Creator of all.
God-inspired David clearly cries out, / the Lord ascends to the heavenly ones, with shouting and trumpet noise, / and to the beginning of the world, the Father of armor.
Glory: O Lord, the world has grown old through many sins, / having been renewed by Your passion and Your rebellion, / You have ascended in a cloud to those above heaven, / Glory to Your glory.
And now, the Mother of God: You gave birth to the Lord of all, the all-immaculate Lady, / who received the free passion, / and ascended to Your Father, / Him you did not abandon, even if your flesh was taken.
Catavasia: Divine veil, / slow-tongued darkness, / the convoluted God-written law, / for the mud has been shaken off from the mind of the wise, / He sees, / and the Spirit learns to understand, / praising the Divine song mi.
Song 3.
Irmos :
By the power of Your Cross, O Christ, / confirm my thoughts, / to sing and glorify / Your saving ascension.
Thou hast ascended, O Life-Giver Christ, to the Father, / and thou hast exalted our race, O Lover of Mankind, / by Thy ineffable compassion.
The angels, O Savior, / have seen human nature ascending to You, / are constantly surprised by the praise of You.
I am terrified of the angelic face, O Christ, / seeing You ascended with your body, / and chanting Your holy ascension.
Human nature, O Christ, / Thou hast restored the fallen from corruption, / and Thou hast exalted with Thy sunrise, / and Thou hast glorified us with Thyself.
Theotokos: Pray unceasingly, O Pure One, / who came from Thy wombs, / to be delivered from the charms of the devil, / to those who sing of Thee, Mother of God.
In. Irmos: Thy hymns, Mother of God, / living and unenvious Source, / spiritually establish the face of your own union, / in Thy divine glory / grant crowns of glory.
Take the gates of heaven, / behold, Christ the King of creation has come, / has taken on an earthly body, / to the highest words of the greatest powers.
Having sought, O Christ, Adam, who was deceived by the charm of the serpent, / as if he were clothed in this, / you ascended and sat down at the right hand, as if you were co-throne with the Father, / an angel singing to You.
Glory: The earth celebrates and rejoices, and the sky also rejoices, / with the ascension today of the Creator of creation, / who has manifestly united what was separated by desire.
And now, the Mother of God: Death gave birth to the Destroyer, / the only immortal God, / the All-Pure Virgin Mother, / always beseeching him, / my mortifying passions, to kill and save me.
Katavasia: Opening the womb of the sorrowful bonds, / the vexation of the unbearable, blessed, / one prayer of the ancient prophetess Anna, / bearing a broken spirit, / to the Mighty One and the God of Minds.
Sedalen, tone 8. Similar to: Wisdom:
All on the clouds of heaven, / leaving the world on earth, / you ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father, / as He is Consubstantial with Him and the Spirit. / Even though you appeared in the flesh, you remained immutable, / even so you foresee the end of things, / coming to judge the whole world on earth. / O Lord, have mercy on our souls, / granting remission of sins, / for God is merciful to Thy servant.
Glory, and now: the same.
Song 4.
Irmos :
I heard the voice of the power of the Cross, / as if paradise was opened to them, / and I cried out: / glory to your power, Lord.
Thou art ascended in glory, angels unto the King, / Thou hast sent us the Comforter from the Father. / Moreover we cry: / Glory, O Christ, to Thy ascension.
As the Savior went up to the Father in the flesh, / the angelic host marveled at Him, and cried out: / glory, O Christ, to Thy ascension.
The angelic powers cry to the highest: / Take the gates, Christ our King, / Him we sing together with the Father and the Spirit.
Theotokos: The Virgin gave birth and did not know the mother, / but the Mother is, and remains a Virgin, / And we cry out in hymn, Rejoice, O Theotokos.
In. Irmos: Seated in glory / on the Throne of the Divine / in a light cloud, / the most divine Jesus came, / with an imperishable hand / and calling for salvation: / glory, O Christ, to your power.
Jesus, the Giver of Life, received whom He loved, / ascends to the Mount of Olives, / and bless these, / and carry as a cloud the Father’s bosom, / which I had never left.
The whole world celebrates, visible and invisible, / the angels rejoice in joy, / and men continually glorify the ascension, / the flesh of Him who united us with goodness.
Glory: Having destroyed the power of death, as immortal, Lord, / you have granted immortality to everyone, O Lover of Mankind, / and you have ascended in glory, / to those who see You as an honest disciple, Omnipotent Jesus.
And now, the Mother of God: Blessed is Thy womb, O All-blameless One, / for the womb of hell that most gloriously exhausted, / Thou art indescribably honored to contain, / Pray to Him to save us who sing of Thee.
Katavasia: King of kings, / Who came from Jacob, the only Word, / from the innocent Father, / Your equal-powerful Spirit, as an apostle, you truly sent, / as a Benefactor to those who sing: / sweetly to Your power, Lord.
Song 5.
Irmos :
We cry out to You in the morning: / Lord, save us, / For You are our God, / Do we know no other to You.
Having filled all kinds of joy with mercy, / you came to the heavenly powers with your flesh.
You have seen the angelic powers on earth, / the gates, cry out, take our King.
The apostles saw the Savior exalted, / with trembling cry to our King: glory to Thee.
Theotokos: Virgin at Christmas we sing Thee, Mother of God, / for you gave birth to the God of the Word in the flesh of the world.
In. Irmos: Everyone was terrified / about Your divine glory: / You, the Unmade Virgin, / had in your womb God above all / and you gave birth to the Lifeless Son, / giving peace to all who sing of You.
The death of the death of your laugh, God, / take it, I loved it, / I used it to the malyt of the saints, / and from there he was threatened, Christ, to your birthman, wearing an obblem.
Strange is Your Christmas, strange is Your resurrection, / strange and terrible is Your Life-Giver, even from the mountain the Divine Ascension, / even depicting the four-horsed Elijah ascending, / chanting Thee, O Lover of Mankind what?
Glory: The angels beheld the apostle's vision: / men of Galilee, who marvel at the ascension of the Life-Giver Christ, / He will come again to earth / to judge the whole world, as the most righteous Judge.
And now, the Mother of God: Having preserved Thee incorruptible after the Nativity, / Christ ascends to the Father, the Mother of God, Whom He did not forsake, / even though the flesh was received from Thee, both mental and animate, / for unspeakable mercy.
Katavasia: Decisive cleansing of sins, / receive the fire-inspired dew of the Spirit, / O radiant children of the church. / Now from Zion the law went forth, / the tongue-like and fiery grace of the Spirit.
Song 6.
Irmos: The abyss has passed me by, / my grave has become a whale, / I cried out to You, O Lover of Mankind, / and Your right hand saved me, O Lord.
The apostles leaped, / seeing the height of the Creator of the earth today, / with the hope of the Spirit, / and calling with fear: glory to Thy rising.
The angels appeared, / crying out to Christ, Thy disciple: / in the image of Christ ascending in the flesh, / the Righteous Judge of all will come again.
As I saw You, our Savior, the heavenly powers, / flying up to the heights of the earth with your body, I cried out, saying: / great, O Lord, is Your love for mankind.
Theotokos: The burning bush and the mountain, / and the animated ladder, and the door of heaven / we worthily glorify, glorious Mary, praise to the Orthodox.
In. Irmos: This divine and all-honorable / celebrating, / God-wisdom, Mother of God, / come, let us clasp our hands, / from Her we glorify the God born.
Let the clouds drop eternal joy for us from above, / Christ, carried by a cloud like cherubs, / ascends to His Father today.
Having appeared in the likeness of the flesh, / before you were dispersed, you gathered into one, O Lover of mankind, / and you ascended, O Generosity, into heaven, / as your disciple who sees You.
Glory: What are the scarlet vestments of the flesh of the united foolishness? / The holy angels of Christ see things, / the honest passions of the Divine bear images.
And now, the Mother of God: We sing the Conception of the Mother of God, / we sing Your ineffable Nativity, / by which we will be delivered, Pure, from corruption and bitterness, / and from the dark seclusion of hell.
Katavasia: Purification for us, O Christ, / and salvation, O Lord, / you shone forth from the Virgin, / as a prophet / from the beast of the sea Perseus Jonah, / from aphids you snatched up all Adam, the fallen nation.
Kontakion is self-vocal, tone 6:
Having fulfilled your concern for us, / and having united us on earth with the Heavenly One, / you ascended in glory, O Christ our God, / never leaving, / but remaining persistent, / and crying out to those who love You: / I am be with you, and no one else is with you.
Ikos: Even those who have left earth upon earth, / even those who yield to ashen dust, come, let us rise up, / and let us lift up our eyes and thoughts to the heights, / let us look at the views, together with our feelings, to the gates of heaven, dare war, / we cannot bear to be in the Mount of Olives, / and look on the One who delivers on the clouds. / From there the Lord ascended into heaven, / and there He distributed gracious gifts to His apostles, / comforting me like a Father, and strengthening me, / instructing me like sons, and saying to them: I will not separate I am with you, / I am with you, and no one like you.
Song 7.
Irmos: In the furnace of fire / the hymn-speakers saved the youths, / blessed be God our father.
Ascend to the clouds of light and save the world, / blessed be God our father.
On the frame, O Savior, the lost nature of the world, ascended, / You brought it to God and the Father.
Ascended in the flesh to the bodiless Father, / blessed is God our father.
We took our nature, killed by sin, / to your proper Father, the Savior, you brought.
Theotokos: Thou art born of a virgin, even as thou didst make the Mother of God, / blessed be God our father.
In. Irmos: Having not served the creation of God’s wisdom / more than the Creator, / but having overcome the fiery rebuke manfully, / I rejoiced, singing: / revered Lord and God of the fathers, blessed art thou.
The bright Light of Thy existence, a cloud has risen, O Lord, / from the earth more than the mind is perceived / and the cathedrals of heaven have praised the apostles, saying: / God, blessed are you.
Let us all clap our hands rejoicing at the ascension of Christ, and let us exclaim: / God ascends with the sound of a trumpet, and sits at the right hand, / as he is on the throne of the Father forever.
Glory: Singing the great Moses of old, we cry: / let the angels of heaven worship the ascending Christ, as the King of all, / to whom we call: Fathers, Lord and God, blessed art thou.
And now, Mother of God: O glorious miracles! / How did you contain / the God who was inconceivable, the one who became poor in the flesh, / and ascended into heaven with much glory today, / and made men come to life?
Katavasia: Concordant loud organ song, / to honor the golden-made soulless idol: / The comforter’s luminous grace honors, / even to cry out: / One Trinity, equivalent, beginningless, blessing on you.
Song 8.
Irmos: From the Father, before the age of birth, the Son and God, / and in the last year, incarnated from the Virgin Mother, / priestess, sing, / people, exalt to all ages.
To the dual being of the Life-Giver Christ, who flew into heaven with glory, / and to the neighboring Father, / the priesthood, sing, O people, exalt to all ages.
Having delivered the creature from the work of idols, / and presenting it free to Your Father, / We sing to You, O Savior, / and we exalt You to all ages.
By your descent of the deposed adversary, / and by your ascension of the exalted people, / priests, sing, O people, exalt to all ages.
Theotokos: You, who were greater than the Cherubim, appeared, O Pure Mother of God, / Who bore the Lord in Your womb, / Whom we praise with the incorporeal, men, throughout all ages.
In. Irmos: The pious youths in the cave / The Nativity of the Theotokos saved to eat; / then what was formed, / now in action, / lifts up the whole universe to sing to You: / Sing to the Lord, O works, / and exalt Him to all the ages.
Appearing to the mind as an apostle in the ascension and the thing, / why do you stand looking and marveling? / This one ascends into heaven, / he will come again to judge those who are on earth, / He is the only judge.
Let us give greatness to God, / let us exclaim in praise, / let us sing, rejoice, and clasp our hands: / our God ascended to heaven from the earth, / as an angel, an archangel, singing of Him, / as the Lord and Creator of all.
Let us bless the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Lord.
Our nature, which had fallen away from ancient times, will be taken over by the Angel, / and will soon be seated on the throne, more Divine than meaning. / Come, let us triumph and cry: / Sing to the Lord’s deeds, and exalt them to all ages.
And now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen.
Behold, Your Son, Mother of God, / having captured death with His Cross, has risen on three days, / and He has appeared as His disciple, ascending to heaven, / with Him, worshiping You, / we will sing and praise throughout all ages.
Also, Let us praise, bless, and worship the Lord, singing and exalting ourselves forever.
Katavasia: Loosens the bonds, / and waters the flame, / the three-bright Image of God, / the youths sing, / and bless the One Savior and All-Giver, / as the Benefactor, / all created creatures.
Magnify my soul, / who ascended from earth to heaven, / Christ the Giver of Life.
Song 9.
Irmos: You, more than intellect and words, Mother of God, / in the flightless summer who ineffably gave birth, / to the faithful, we magnify with one mind.
To you, the Savior of the world, Christ God, / the apostles, seeing divinely exalted, / playing with greatness with fear.
Your deified flesh / is seen, Christ, on high angels, / to each other the verb: / Truly this is our God.
To you the incorporeal ranks, Christ God, / seeing the clouds on the earth, crying out: / glory to the King, take the gates.
You who descended even to the last of the earth, / and saved man, / and exalted him by Your ascension, we magnify this.
Theotokos: Rejoice, Mother of God, Mother of Christ God, / whom you gave birth to, / today you are lifted up from the earth / from the apostles who saw, you magnified.
Second chorus: Angels ascending the Lords, seeing, terrified, / how they will be taken with glory from earth to heaven.
In. Irmos: Let every earth-born / leap, enlightened by the Spirit, / let the nature of the disembodied Minds triumph, / honoring the sacred triumph of the Mother of God, / and let him cry out: / Rejoice, O All-Blessed One, / to the Mother of God, pure Ever-Virgin.
O gifts greater than comprehension! / O terrible mysteries! / For I rule over all, departing from earth to heaven, / as a disciple of the messenger of the Holy Spirit, / who enlightened these meanings, / and created fiery things with grace.
Poles of learning, the Lord has spoken, you sit in Jerusalem, / and I will send down to you another Comforter, / co-equal with the Father and equal in honor with me, / whom you see we take and carry as a bright cloud.
Glory: Splendor will rise above the heavens, the flesh of the poor, / and our fallen nature will be honored by the presence of the Father, / we will triumph and let us all exclaim in agreement, / and let us clasp our hands in rejoicing.
And now, the Mother of God: Light from the Light, All-Immaculate, has arisen from You, / and destroy all the blackness of godlessness, / and enlighten those who sleep in the night. / For this reason, we will please You forever and ever.
Katavasia: Rejoice, Queen, / Mother-maiden glory, / because every kindly, benevolent mouth / cannot soar, / It is worthy for you to sing, / but every mind is dumb, to understand Your Christmas. / Moreover, we glorify Thee in agreement.
The exapostilary is self-agreement:
As a disciple who sees Thee, / You have ascended, O Christ, to your neighbor the Father, / the angels are calling before you: / take the gates, take them, / the King has ascended to the initial Light of glory. [Thrice.]
Worship on this day
On the eve and on the day of the holy holiday, festive services are held in churches. Christians sing hymns dedicated to the Ascension, and also read the Holy Scriptures, which contain Old Testament prophecies about the ascension of Christ into heaven. The holiday begins with the All-Night Vigil, and in the morning the Liturgy is celebrated.
Troparion
In the tropar dedicated to the Ascension, the troparion is sung about Christ God ascended in glory, who promised his disciples the appearance of the Holy Spirit. Before ascending to heaven, the Savior blessed the apostles. His blessing confirmed the disciples in the belief that Jesus is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world.
Voice 4
Thou art exalted in glory, O Christ our God, having brought joy as a disciple, by the promise of the Holy Spirit, by the former blessing communicated to them, for Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
Kontakion
The festive kontakion sings about the great plan fulfilled by Christ. The Son of God ascended in glory to heaven, uniting earth-born with the inhabitants of heaven. The Savior did not abandon the believers; as long as he is with Christians, no one will defeat them.
Voice 6
Having fulfilled your concern for us, and having united us on earth with Heaven, you ascended in glory, Christ our God, in no way departing, but remaining persistent, and crying out to those who love You: I am with you, and no one is against you.
Greatness
In festive majesty they glorify Christ as the founder of life. The Savior is revered for the ascension of his most pure flesh to heaven.
“We magnify You, / Life-giving Christ, / and honor you in Heaven / with Your most pure Flesh / / Divine Ascension.”
Zadostoynik
Voice 5
Magnify, my soul, // Christ the Life-Giver who ascended from earth to heaven. You, more than intelligence and words, the Mother of God, / who gave birth inexpressibly in the yearless summer, / with faith, we magnify with one and the same wisdom.
Prayer
The prayer in honor of the Ascension of the Savior into heaven says that on this day the earth celebrates and rejoices, the sky rejoices, and people glorify the Son of God. Believers ask the Lord to revive human conscience, to free them from the captivity of sinful flesh, to give them the wisdom to please the Lord and to rise spiritually.
“Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who descended from the heavenly heights of our salvation for the sake of and nourished us with spiritual joy on the holy and bright days of Your Resurrection, and again, after the completion of Your earthly ministry, ascended from us into heaven with glory and is seated at the right hand of God and the Father! On this clear and all-bright day of Your Divine ascension into heaven, the earth celebrates and rejoices, and the sky also rejoices at the Ascension of the Creator of creation today, people glorify incessantly, seeing their lost and fallen nature on Your frame, the Savior, earthly and ascended to heaven, the Angels rejoice, saying: He who came in glory is mighty in battle. Is this truly the King of Glory?! Grant us the power also to the weak, earthly ones who are still philosophic and carnal, to create unceasingly, Thy awesome rise into heaven, thinking and celebrating, putting aside carnal and worldly cares and from Thy Apostles now looking to heaven with all our hearts and with all our thoughts, remembering how it is there in heaven woe is our residence, but here on earth we are just strangers and strangers, having departed from the house of the Father to the faraway land of sin. For this reason, we earnestly ask Thee, by Thy glorious Ascension, O Lord, revive our conscience, even though there is nothing more necessary in the world, lead us out of the captivity of this sinful flesh and world and make us wise on a mountain, and not earthly, so that we will not please anyone and live, but we will serve You, the Lord and Our God, and we will work, until we have renounced the bonds of the flesh and gone through unrestrained airy ordeals, we will reach Your heavenly abodes, where, standing at the right hand of Your Majesty, with the Archangels and Angels and with all the saints, we will glorify Your All-Holy Name with the Beginning Your Father and the Most Holy and Consubstantial and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.”
THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
Troparion (Tone 4)
Thou art exalted in glory, Christ our God, who brought joy to the disciple, by the promise of the Holy Spirit, by the former blessing communicated to them: for Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
Kontakion (tone 6)
Having fulfilled your concern for us, and having united us on earth with the heavenly, you ascended in glory, Christ our God, in no way departing, but remaining persistent, and crying out to those who love You: I am with you and no one is against you.
Greatness
We magnify You, Life-Giving Christ, and honor the Divine Ascension into heaven with Your Most Pure flesh.
The establishment of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord undoubtedly dates back to ancient times. Thus, the Apostolic Constitutions already prescribe that it should be performed on the fortieth day after Easter (Book 5, Chapter 19). The testimonies of St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Augustine are especially important in this regard. John Chrysostom calls this holiday the most important and great and attributes it to the holidays that, like Easter and Pentecost, were established by the apostles. Blessed Augustine, mentioning the widespread celebration of the holiday according to tradition, directly attributes to it an apostolic institution. The canons for the Ascension were written by Saints John of Damascus and Joseph the Songwriter. Kontakion and Ikos belong to Roman the Sweet Singer.
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated on the fortieth day after the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ - on the day on which the Lord ascended into heaven (Acts 1, 1-12; Mark 16, 9-20; Luke 24, 36-53). This day always falls on Thursday of the 6th week after Easter. Christ, having risen by the power of the Divine, through the Ascension, honored our deified and spiritualized587 human nature with the greatest honor and glory - “mercifully exalted” it. Thus, “our fallen nature is honored by sitting with the Father.”588
Through the Ascension, fallen human nature is raised by Christ, the Head of our salvation, from earth, corruption and death to endless life - to heaven. “The nature of Adam, which had descended to the lowest lands of the earth, having renewed in Yourself, O God, Thou hast today elevated it above all beginning and power; for having loved you, you have made me sit with you; as if you had mercy, you united them in yourself; as if you united, you suffered with him; as if you suffered without passion, you glorified Him”589.
According to the gospel narrative and liturgical hymns, the Lord ascended into heaven and “sat at the right hand of God the Father.” The apostles saw the ascension of the Lord. The Savior was lifted up into the clouds and then hidden from their eyes by the clouds. Thus, the apostles were given to understand that after His Ascension Christ would no longer be visible on earth in His bodily form, as was the case before and after His resurrection, because with the Ascension He became even closer in His humanity, in His body and soul. to the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ assumed that place according to humanity and received the glory that He always had according to Divinity, that is, a place equal to God the Father in dignity and power, which is expressed by the words: “sat at the right hand of the Father.”
After His ascension into heaven, Christ the Savior did not leave, did not leave the earth with His presence. He ascended from us, He is no longer visible among those who believe in Him with bodily eyes, but, according to the words of the kontakion of the holiday, He remains “as if separated” from us. He promises those who believe in Him and love Him: “I am with you, and no one is against you.” With His Ascension, the Lord became even closer to humanity, to those who believe in Him, for He is now on earth not only as His Divinity, but also as the Glorified Body in the great sacrament of the Eucharist, in which all believers partake of His Body and Blood.
The Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory with the flesh evokes reverent surprise of the entire spiritual, angelic world: “O Lord of the Angels, O Savior, having seen human nature ascending with Thee, we are astonished to continually sing praises to Thee.”590 The glorious Ascension of the Savior into heaven in the flesh was the continuation and completion of His glorification over humanity (and the glorification of humanity itself), which began in the Resurrection, and the basis of which was the Cross of Christ591. Here the mystery of the economy of our salvation, which Christ performed while remaining in the flesh on earth, is completed. “Having completed the sacrament”592, the Lord ascends to heaven, “having fulfilled <...> Fatherly favor”593. And all this “great and wonderful” was done by the Lord “for the salvation of our souls”594. “Thou art born as thou didst will; You appeared as You yourself willed; You suffered in the flesh, our God; You rose from the dead, trampling death. You ascended in glory, fulfilling all things, and you sent us the Divine Spirit to sing and glorify Your Divinity.”595
The Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, being the glorification of Himself according to humanity, is at the same time the opening for all believers of a free path to heaven, just as His death and Resurrection is a victory over sin and death for all humanity. Christ ascended into heaven as the Firstborn from the dead, representing the firstfruits of the human nature redeemed and restored by Him. He “ascended in glory” to His Father, the Chief of Light, “having pacified all things”596, delivering humanity from condemnation597, destroying the mediastinum of hostility through the cross and His passion598. “The earth mysteriously rejoices, and heavenly joy is fulfilled at the ascension of Christ, who of old was separated by grace and destroyed the barrier of Eve”599.
Everything is now fulfilled through Christ of Fatherly goodwill and “peace”600, and everything is brought to unity - both heavenly and earthly - by the Author of salvation, the Lord and Savior601. And now we are called “to heavenly life” by the power of the intercession of Christ the Lord, “exhausted even to the sight of a servant,” who exalted and glorified us602. In fact, all this has not yet been completely accomplished, but it will undoubtedly happen. Where the Head is, there must also be members of the one Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:27). The head is in heaven, in glory, where at the end of time all who believe in Him will be with Him. And all this will happen when the world is finally “completed” through the revelation of good and evil in it and Christ appears again on earth. According to the Angels during the ascension, the Judge of the living and the dead “will come in the same way you see Him going to heaven”603, “to judge the whole world”604. Therefore, in the hope of the general resurrection, Christians expect “the consummation of the end” (the end of everything),605 according to the Lord’s promise: “I am going to prepare a place for you.”
The meaning and symbol of the Orthodox holiday
With the ascension into heaven, a new, divine stage in the life of Jesus Christ began. The Savior entered the heavenly kingdom in human form. Jesus did not escape death, he conquered it. Christ ascended into heaven to his Almighty Father, took a place at his right hand and began to rule the world. Thanks to this event, all Christians believed in the power of faith.
Jesus became the almighty God who saves sinners from destruction. After his miraculous ascension, Christ did not leave people. He sent them the Holy Spirit to strengthen their faith and give them strength to withstand all the trials of life. Every Christian believes that on the day of the Second Coming of Christ he will also be resurrected and ascended into heaven if he lives according to the commandments of the Lord.
Folk traditions and signs for the celebration
The religious holiday of the most wonderful Ascension coincides with the end of spring and the beginning of summer. In the old days they believed that on this day there was no longer any fear of the return of night frosts. From Ascension Thursday until the first Sunday, it is customary to see off spring with all honors. The night before the holiday is called the nightingale. It is before the Ascension that birds loudly welcome the onset of summer.
In the old days, people always monitored what the weather would be like on this holiday. After all, if it rained on Ascension, then the bad weather would last for a long time - for another six weeks. If the sun was shining on Thursday, then in the next month and a half the weather promised to be sunny. Ancestors believed that rain or sun were harbingers of the future harvest. Of course, a rainy day did not bode well.
On Holiday Thursday, it is customary to remember deceased relatives and go to the cemetery. Loud feasts are not allowed on this day. True, a beggar who knocks on a house must be treated. There is a belief that it is on Ascension Thursday that Christ himself may knock on the door under the guise of a wanderer.
Ascension of the Lord. Folk traditions
Ascension Day is the last spring holiday in Rus'. “Spring-Red reached Ascension Day, listened for the last time to how “Christ is Risen” was sung - then the end came for her!” - people say. “Spring ascends to heaven from the Ascension - it asks to rest in the blessed paradise!” - can be heard in Volga villages. “It’s not forever for a girl to be married: why is spring so beautiful, and even on the Ascension of Christ she marries the summer!”, “And spring in Rus' would be glad to last forever, but when Ascension Day comes, it will crow like a cuckoo, fill itself with a nightingale, and by summer it will be in your bosom will be cleared up!”, “Spring will bloom - until Ascension!”, “Ascension Day will come, Spring-Red laziness will be thrown off his shoulders, in the summer he will turn around and pretend to be - he will get to work in the field!” - Russian proverbs are chasing one after another. And spring, indeed, from the day of the Ascension of the Lord, gives way to hot summer with his work on the soil watered with the sweat of the Russian plowman.
According to an old legend, on the eve of the Ascension of the Lord, nightingales sing more loudly than at all other times. They also seem to know that this is the last night of the risen Christ’s stay on earth. Therefore, it is impossible to lie in wait and catch the nightingale, a song bird, on this day. Whoever catches it will not have any spores in it for a whole year, until the new Ascension Day.
According to popular legend, the Savior walks on earth for forty days, from Sunday to Ascension: “By Ascension Day, all the spring flowers bloom - Christ the Father is escorted to the heavenly gardens with secret prayer.”
Associated with the holiday of the Ascension of the Lord is an ancient legend about the Kalikas of the people passing by. According to popular belief, from the Holy Resurrection of Christ until the Ascension, it is a grave sin to refuse all possible alms to a beggar, a wretched stranger; it is a sin not to share with the one asking in the name of Christ if there is something to share.
“The heavens rejoice, And the earth rejoices, Together with people, Always and forever, All the angels, archangels, Heavenly powers, Apostles, prophets With the martyrs and saints, With the saints with everyone, Pleasers of the Lord!” —
sing the poor people of God sitting at church porches on the day of the Ascension of the Lord with cups in their hands.
“Ascend to heaven, O God! Who can speak Your mercy? The lips of Your faithful cannot speak about the immortals. Oh miracles in heaven and sea! The earth is full of Your glory, the mountains, the hills are triumphant, they rejoice, they behold the glory of the Lord. The Mount of Olives rejoices as the Lord ascends into the sky...
On the Ascension holiday, villages baked pies with green onions, and the main special dish was bread “ladders”. Such stairs were always made with seven rungs, like steps, according to the number of the seven heavens of the apocalypse. Previously, these pies and ladders were blessed in the church, taken to the bell tower and thrown down to the ground. At the same time, of course, they wondered which of the seven heavens the fortuneteller was destined to go to. When all seven steps remained intact, this indicated to the fortuneteller the direct path to heaven, and vice versa: if the ladder was broken into small pieces, it thereby revealed a terrible sinner who was not fit for any of heaven.
In many places there was a custom of going to Ascension to visit relatives and friends. In the old days, this was called “walking at a crossroads,” and guests brought the hosts as a gift ladders baked from wheat dough with honey and with a sugar pattern. On this day in old Moscow there was a cheerful spring festivities - in the squares, around the churches.
Iconography
In honor of such a significant event for Christians as the Ascension, many icons were painted. In the center of the exhibition there is always Christ ascending to heaven. Below, the Mother of God and her faithful apostles follow him with her gaze. Angels carry the Savior to heaven. The holiest persons are depicted against the backdrop of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus once ascended to heaven. Some images even depict the footprint of the Savior, that is, the last imprint of his foot before ascending to heaven. In the old days, the dome or walls of the temple were decorated with drawings of the Ascension of Christ.
Do's and Don'ts
There are many popular beliefs and signs associated with the Ascension holiday. Over the course of many centuries, people have been convinced more than once of the veracity of ancient predictions.
What to do with garbage
On holiday Thursday you cannot litter or sweep dirty linen out of the hut. You can clean the house on Wednesday or after the holiday. On Ascension, it is better to go to church in the morning. It is forbidden to spit on the ground and offend the poor on this day. After all, there is a belief that on Feast Thursday the Savior himself can put on the clothes of a poor wanderer.
Is it possible to go to the cemetery?
On holiday, you need to go to the cemetery, visit deceased relatives, and take care of their graves. On Ascension itself there is no special service for the dead in the church. You can remember your loved ones during home prayer.
Work in the garden
You cannot work in the garden on holidays. But you can bake pastries and pies with thin transverse crossbars on the surface in the form of a ladder - a symbol by which Christ climbed to heaven. This bread can be brought to church and blessed.
Sewing
Sewing is not allowed on Holiday Thursday. It’s better to go to church in the morning, repent of your sins and pray. After lunch, you can visit deceased relatives at the cemetery.
Washing head
On this day, healing water pours from the sky. After all, the Savior himself looks at the Ascension from heaven to earth and blesses people. If it rains on Eid Thursday, you can collect water in a basin and wash your hair with it. This procedure will protect you from headaches and make your hair silky.
Marriage
On Ascension, marriage ceremonies are not performed in churches. After all, according to church rules, weddings are prohibited during a major holiday. The lovers will be able to get married after the Ascension, because they still have two weeks before the first summer Lent.
Operation
It is better not to undergo surgery on Ascension. After all, this day, although festive, is at the same time tragic. On Thursday, Christ entered the heavenly kingdom, saying goodbye forever to earthly life.
The name of the holiday reflects the essence of the event - this is the Ascension of Jesus Christ to Heaven, the completion of His earthly ministry. This holiday is always celebrated on the 40th day after Easter, on Thursday of the 6th week after Easter (see Calendar of Orthodox holidays and days of remembrance). The number 40 is not random. Throughout Sacred history, this was the time of the end of great feats. According to the law of Moses, on the 40th day, babies were to be brought by their parents to the temple, to the Lord. And now, on the fortieth day after the Resurrection, as if after a new birth, Jesus Christ was to enter the heavenly temple of His Father as the Savior of mankind.
Icon “Ascension” On the last fortieth day, Jesus appeared for the last time in Jerusalem before the apostles, gathered them, led them to the Mount of Olives - and ascended; “a cloud took him out of their sight,” the Gospel explains. When the apostles looked at the ascending Christ, two men in white robes appeared to them and announced the upcoming second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the world. The icon painters revealed the Gospel narrative “in the faces”, they painted Christ ascending in radiant glory, on the sides at the foot of the hills (the Mount of Olives) - the apostles and angels pointing to the ascending Christ, as well as the Mother of God. She is not mentioned in the text of the Gospel; placed in the center among the apostles, Mary symbolized the Christian church.
Having conquered death, this terrible consequence of sin, and thereby given the opportunity to resurrect in glory, the Lord exalted human nature, including the human body, in His Person.
Thus, the Lord opened up the opportunity for every person, after the General Resurrection, to ascend to the highest abode of light to the very Throne of the Most High. The evangelists Mark and Luke tell us about the event of the Ascension; you can read about this in particular detail in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles in chapter 1. Having given the disciples the last instructions, the Lord “led them out of the city to Bethany and, raising his hands, blessed them. And when he blessed them, he began to move away from them and ascend to heaven. They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy...” The Feast of the Ascension is a holiday of Heaven, the opening to man of Heaven as a new and eternal Home, Heaven as a true Motherland
. Sin separated earth from heaven and made us earthly and living on one earth. We are not talking about extraplanetary space and not about outer space. We are talking about Heaven, returned to us by Christ, about Heaven, which we lost in earthly sciences, ideologies and which Christ revealed and returned to us. HEAVEN is the Kingdom of God, this is the kingdom of eternal life, the kingdom of truth, goodness and beauty. All this was revealed, Christ gives us all this.
Troparion to the Ascension of the Lord
voice 4 Thou art exalted in glory, O Christ our God, / having brought joy to the disciple / by the promise of the Holy Spirit, / by the former blessing announced to them, / for Thou art the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.
Kontakion of the Ascension of the Lord
voice 6 Having fulfilled your watch over us, / and having united us on earth with heaven, / you ascended in glory, O Christ our God, / never departing, / but remaining persistent, / and crying out to those who love You: I am with you and no one is against you .
Glorification of the Ascension of the Lord
We magnify You, / Life-Giving Christ, / and honor You in heaven, / with Your most pure flesh, / Divine Ascension.
Prayer to the Ascension of the Lord
Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who descended from the Heavenly heights of our salvation for the sake of and nourished us with spiritual joy on the holy and bright days of Your Resurrection, and again, after the completion of Your earthly ministry, ascended from us into heaven with glory and is seated at the right hand
THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD
Based on the materials of the article by A. A. Tkachenko, A. A. Lukashevich, N. V. Kvlividze, “Orthodox Encyclopedia”. v.9. The ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven is one of the main events of Sacred history. After the Ascension, the visible earthly presence of Christ gives way to His invisible presence in the Church. In church tradition, a separate holiday is dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord.
New Testament about the Ascension of the Lord
The event of the Ascension is described in detail in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 24.50-51) and the Acts of St. apostles (Acts 1.9-11). A brief summary of this event is given at the end of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:19). According to these narratives, after His Resurrection from the dead, the Savior repeatedly appeared to the disciples, confirming to them the truth of His bodily Resurrection, strengthening their faith and preparing them to receive the promised Holy Spirit (cf. John 16:7). Finally, having commanded not to leave Jerusalem and to wait for what was promised from the Father (Luke 24.49; Acts 1.4), the Lord Jesus Christ led the disciples out of the city to Bethany, to Mount Olivet (Acts 1.12), and, raising His hands, He gave them a blessing, and then began to move away from them and ascend to heaven. In the Acts of St. The apostles describe that, having begun to ascend, Christ was hidden by a cloud, and then “two men in white clothes” appeared who announced His Second Coming. The disciples worshiped Him and joyfully returned to Jerusalem (Luke 24:52), where after a few. days the Holy Spirit descended on them (Acts 2:1-4). Some differences in the story of the Ascension. In the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of St. the apostles are explained by the fact that in the first case all attention is focused on the end of the earthly ministry of the Savior, while in the second - on the beginning of the apostolic sermon. Selected elements of the story of the Ascension in the Acts of St. the apostles indicate a connection with the following story about the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles (for example, according to Old Testament prophecies, from the Mount of Olives, which is spoken of in Acts 1.12, the coming of the Day of the Lord should begin - Zech 14.4). In Acts 1.3, the period of appearances of the Risen Christ (and, therefore, the period from the Resurrection to the Ascension) is defined as 40 days, which correlates with other important 40-day periods in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ - from His Nativity to the day when He was brought to the Jerusalem Temple and dedicated to God (Luke 2.22-38), and after the Baptism in the Jordan, when He withdrew into the desert before going out to preach (Matt 4.1-2; Mark 1.12-13; Luke 4. 1-2). Other places in the New Testament speak of Christ’s appearances to the disciples after the Resurrection “for many days” (Acts 2. 32–36; 3. 15–16; 4. 10; 5. 30–32; 10. 40–43; 13 31; 1 Cor 15. 5-8). In the Gospel of John, Christ Himself indicates the time interval between His Resurrection and Ascension, saying, turning to Mary Magdalene, that He “has not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17).
The Ascension of the Lord as the glorification of the Son of God
The Ascension of the Lord, as one of the mysteries of the economy of salvation, surpasses sensory experience and is not limited only to the event of the departure of the risen Christ to heaven. In the New Testament there are a number of references to the glorification of the risen Jesus Christ or His exalted position in heaven (at the right hand of God), which is closely related to or a consequence of His Resurrection and Ascension (the “entry into glory” is spoken of in Luke 24:26; Acts 5. 31; Eph 4.8–10; Phil 2.6–11; 1 Tim 3.16; Heb 1.3.5; 2.9; 5.5; 12.2; Rev. 3.21; 12.5; about “glorification” after the Resurrection – in 1 Peter 1:21; about “sitting at the right hand of God” – in Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; 2:5-6; Col 3:1). Often these instructions are direct quotations from the Old Testament or allusions to Old Testament types. Thus, the Savior Himself, even before the Passion on the Cross, interpreting Ps 109, speaks of His “seating at the right hand of God” (Mk 12.35–37; 14.62). In Rev. 3.21, Christ's co-seating with the Father is presented as the result of His victory, and in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Ascension, entry into the heavenly sanctuary and sitting at the right hand of God are included in the High Priestly ministry of Christ (Heb. 4.14; 6.20; 7.26 ; 8. 1; 9. 11–12, 24; 10. 12). Predictions about the coming or return from heaven of the Son of Man (Mt 16.27; 24.30; 26.64; Mk 8.38; 13.26; Lk 21.27) imply a previous ascension or ascension into heaven. In the Gospel of John, the return of Christ to the Heavenly Father (John 3. 13; 13. 1–3; 16. 5, 28) appears in the closest unity with His coming into the world (John 3. 17, 31; 6. 38; 8. 23; 13. 3; 16. 28). The descent and ascension of Christ are spoken of in Eph 4.8–10 and 1 Peter 3.18–22 (cf. Ps 67.19 and 138.8).
Theology of the Ascension
Already in the most ancient religious formulas of the 1st–2nd centuries. the Ascension of the Lord is spoken of as one of the main events of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 3.16; Barnaba. Ep. 15.9; Iust. Martyr. 1 Apol 1.21.1; 1.31.7; 1.42 4; 1. 46. 5; Dial. 63. 1; 85. 2; 126. 1; 132. 1). In most ancient Creeds, the Ascension is mentioned after the Resurrection (for example, in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed). The importance of the Ascension event is also emphasized in most ancient Eucharistic prayers (anaphoras). After His Ascension, Christ did not leave the world, but abides in it in the Holy Spirit, whom He sent from the Father. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, His invisible presence is preserved in the sacraments of the Church (the Eucharistic aspect of the Ascension of the Lord is already visible in the conversation about the “bread of heaven” (John 6. 22-71)). The redemptive significance of the Ascension is spoken of in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 1.3; 9.12). The Atonement was completed after the Crucified and Risen Christ, having ascended, entered the heavenly sanctuary with His Blood (Heb. 9.12, 24-26). The main consequence of the Ascension of the Lord was that from that moment human nature received full participation in the Divine life and eternal bliss. The vision of the first martyr Stephen of Jesus standing at the right hand of God as the Son of Man (Acts 7:55-56) suggests that the human nature of Christ was not dissolved and was not absorbed by the Divine. Having taken upon Himself human flesh, the Lord Jesus did not escape death, but conquered it and made human nature equal in honor and co-throne with the Divine. He remains the God-man forever and will come to earth a second time “in the same way” in which he ascended into heaven (cf. Acts 1:11), but this time “with power and great glory” (Matt 24:30; Luke 21:27 ). The Ascension of the Lord has special significance as an image of the deification of every believer in Christ. As St. noted. Gregory Palamas, the Ascension of the Lord belongs to all people - everyone will be resurrected on the day of His Second Coming, however, only those who have “crucified sin through repentance and living according to Gospel" (Greg. Pal. Hom. 22 // PG. 151. Col. 296).
Establishment of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. A.A. Tkachenko, A.A. Lukashevich
(From the article “The Ascension of the Lord”, Volume IX of the “Orthodox Encyclopedia”) Until the end. IV century the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost were not separated. At the same time, Pentecost was understood as a special period of the church year, and not a holiday (for example, Tertullian calls it “laetissimum spatium” (the most joyful period) - Tertull. De orat. 23). In the 4th century. Pentecost finally took shape not only as a special period after Easter (cf.: 20th rights of the First Ecumenical), but also as a holiday (for example, 43rd rights of the Council of Elvira (300)). Following Pentecost, the Ascension of the Lord also became a special holiday.
In the East
Despite the fact that already through the efforts of St. imp. Helena on Mount Olivet a church was built in Syria and Palestine until the end. IV century The Ascension of the Lord and the Coming of the Holy Spirit were probably still celebrated together on the 50th day after Easter (Euseb. Vita Const. 4.64). One of the last, apparently, to write about this practice is Zap. pilgrim Egeria, reporting that on the evening of Pentecost, all Christians of Jerusalem gather on Mount Olivet, “in the place from which the Lord ascended into heaven,” called Imvomon, and a service is performed with the reading of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, telling about the Ascension of the Lord. (Eger. Itiner. 43.5). However, Egeria also celebrates the celebration of the festive service in Bethlehem on the 40th day after Easter (Eger. Itiner. 42); according to researchers, in this case we are not talking about the Feast of the Ascension, but about the Jerusalem Feast of the Bethlehem Infants on May 18 (if this assumption is correct, the pilgrimage of Egeria should be dated back to 383, when this date fell on the 40th day after Easter - Devos . 1968). According to J. Danielou, the separation of the 2 holidays occurred after the condemnation of the Macedonian heresy at the Second Ecumenical Council (381) and was intended to emphasize the special role of the Holy Spirit in the economy of salvation. Indications of a separate celebration of the Ascension of the Lord are found in St. Gregory of Nyssa (Greg. Nyss. In Ascen. // PG. 46. Col. 689-693) and in the Antioch sermons of St. John Chrysostom (Ioan. Chrysost. De st. Pent. I, II // PG. 50. Col. 456, 463; In Ascen. // PG. 50. Col. 441–452; De beatato Philogonio. 6 // PG 50. Col. 751-753). The celebration of the 40th day after Easter as the Ascension of the Lord is directly mentioned in the “Apostolic Constitutions” (c. 380) (Const. Ap. V 19). Suggestions have been made that have not received full confirmation that under the “fourties” (tessarakost), which is discussed in the 5th, rights. The First Ecumenical Council should be understood as the Feast of the Ascension. Sources of the 5th and subsequent centuries already clearly identify the Ascension of the Lord as a separate holiday on the 40th day after Easter.
In the West
The first information about the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord is found in the sermons of Bishop. Chromatius of Aquileia (388-407) (CCSL. 9A. P. 32-37) and in the “Book of Various Heresies” by Bishop. Philastry of Brescian (383-391) (CCSL. 9. P. 304, 312), where among the great lordly holidays Christmas, Epiphany, Easter and the “day of the Ascension” are named, on which “He ascended into heaven around Pentecost,” which may indicate on the inseparability of 2 holidays (Ascension and Pentecost). In another place he says that the Ascension of the Lord takes place precisely on the 40th day, and it is preceded and followed by fasting. Apparently, the appearance of a new milestone in the Easter period (the Ascension, celebrated on the 40th day) caused confusion regarding the time of the beginning of fasting - before or after Pentecost; to the 6th century it was considered correct to begin fasting only after Pentecost, although symbolically the 40-day period of joy was contrasted with the 40 days of Lent (Ioan. Cassian. Collat. 21. 19–20; Leo Magn. Serm. 77. 3). By the 5th century the practice of celebrating the Ascension of the Lord has finally become established in the West - for example, Bl. Augustine calls the “Fentate Day of the Ascension” (Quadragesima Ascensionis) a holiday “the most ancient and universal” (Aug. Ep. 54; c. 400).
Patristic Sermons on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
Several are known. tens; they were written by sschmch. Methodius of Olympus (CPG, N 1829), St. Athanasius of Alexandria (CPG, N 2280), Gregory of Nyssa (CPG, N 3178), Epiphanius of Cyprus (CPG, N 3770), John Chrysostom (CPG, N 4342, 4531–4535, 4642, 4737, 4739, 4908, 4949, 4988 , 5028, 5060, 5065, 5175. 18, 5180. 21), Proclus of Constantinople (CPG, N 5820, 5836), Cyril of Alexandria (CPG, N 5281), Sophronius of Jerusalem (CPG, N 7663), St. Gregory Palamas (PG. 151. Col. 275-286); other ancient church authors (CPG, N 2636, 4178, 5733, 6078. 3–5, 6107, 7037, etc.), St. John of Damascus (CPG, N 8091) (perhaps the composition of these sermons is attributed to the above-listed Church Fathers). Some of these sermons have entered the liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church and are given in the patristic Lectionaries or Solemnities - collections of patristic words arranged according to the principle of the liturgical year. Most of them are inscribed with the name of St. John Chrysostom, St. Athanasius the Great or Archbishop. Basil of Seleucia. Some Typicons (for example, Messinian), along with others, prescribe the reading of the word imp. Leo the Wise. In the Slavic manuscripts of the Triumphant there are also works of Slavic church writers - St. Cyril of Turov and St. John, Exarch of Bulgaria.
The joy of separation
The word of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, pronounced on May 29, 1968 at the all-night vigil on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord in the Church of Sts. mchch. Adriana and Natalia in Babushkino (Moscow)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord left us joy, He bequeathed joy to us, and today we celebrate the holiday of mysterious joy - the joy of separation. And today we also rejoice at our meeting on earth. The Lord gave us to meet today. Meeting does not mean just being somewhere in the same place, face to face. You can rejoice at a meeting only when you meet and look into the other’s eyes and soul, when you go with the gaze of your soul into the depths of a person: then the meeting is complete. Otherwise we just bumped into each other and passed by. And in church, when we pray, when our hearts are directed together, towards the same goal, with the same feeling - how easy it is to meet. But there is joy in separation. Remember the words of the Savior at the Last Supper. Speaking about the fact that He had to die, and rise again, and leave His disciples, He saw that they became sorrowful, and said to them: If you really loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father... And today we remember this day when, having completed the work of our salvation through labor, feat, and blood, the Lord rested from His labors on the great, blessed Saturday, rose again on the glorious day of the Resurrection, and now returns to the glory of the Father, to the glory that He had from the beginning the world and before the world became. But He still leaves us joy. And joy is not only about the fact that He is now in the glory that belongs to Him, that there is no longer the way of the cross before Him, there is no earthly sorrow, but there is eternal glorification - not only about this joy is given to us. We are given joy in the fact that now, in the totality of everything that has happened, we understand the path of salvation, and we see what our land means to God, how dear it is to Him, and what incomprehensible possibilities there are in it. We rarely think about what it means for creation, for the very earth on which we live, for everything that surrounds us, and for the people who surround us, the incarnation of the Lord. God became man. Now among human names is the Name of the Eternal God. Isn't this wonderful? Don’t we marvel and rejoice when in our clan and in our family we can read a name worthy of love, honor, and reverence? And so in our human family one Name is inscribed, the Name of God, Who loved us so much that He became related to us, became one of us, and not for a while, but forever, forever and ever. Because the risen Lord was resurrected by human flesh, and the ascending Lord was ascended by His human flesh. And not only can we rejoice over this, but the whole creation rejoices. After all, think about what a simple human body is. It contains, one might say, everything that the universe consists of. We find all the materials not only of earth, but also of heaven in this human body, and the Lord has united with all this. In His body everything that was visible and invisible was inseparably and forever united with the Divine. Isn't that enough to rejoice? We can think with joy that the Lord God not only took our human destiny upon Himself, not only became related to us in such a way that He is one of us, a man among us, but that all creation, everything became related through the incarnation with the Living God. Our land on which we live is no longer the same land as it was before the incarnation, a land that seemed to stand face to face before God - in sin, in trembling, in struggle, in faith, in seeking the Lord. No, the present earth is the one that the Lord has mysteriously united to Himself, it is permeated by His presence, it is called upon to become completely God-receiving: just as bread and wine are made God-receiving, which are sanctified by the Holy Spirit at the Liturgy and become the Body and Blood of Christ, just as the Lord became incarnate. Isn't this joy? So what is next? Christ lived, Christ taught, He bore all the restrictions of the earth, He took upon Himself all human hatred, He was rejected - and for what? Because He disappointed people. People hoped that He would come to establish a temporary kingdom, the victory of His people over other nations. But the Lord did not come for this. He came in order to call His own people, together with Him and like Him, to be ready to live and die for the sake of others. They hoped for victory, but they were told: I am sending you like sheep among wolves, go, preach the word of the Lord, the good news of the love of the Lord to all creation. As the Father sent Me, so I send you,” said the Lord. This is scary; to love like that is scary for us. People were disappointed: they wanted land, - the Lord offered heaven on earth and a cross. He called us to love, and in a way that no one on earth can love; to love as He loves, with His love; to love without seeking reciprocity, to love without seeking reward; to love not for oneself, but for another. After all, we often love each other and hold each other captive to our love. How often do people want to be freed from the oppressive love with which we enslave them. No, the Lord did not leave us this love. He told us to love as the Heavenly Father loves: the evil and the good alike. Not the same, but equal; not equally, because for some you rejoice, but for others your heart breaks; but you love it the same way. You rejoice because one is kind and bright, and you cry because the other is not like that; but you love equally. And this love must go very, very far. The Lord gave us an example (He says it Himself) for us to follow: to love in such a way as to give life and give death to people, to the one who wants to take them; but at the same time, having given, do not waver in love. This is why so many reject the Lord and cannot accept Him: because to love like this means agreeing to die. Everyone who loves dies to some extent. He who loves no longer lives for himself, but for his dear, beloved, dear one. The one who loves completely forgets himself completely, and lives only in the one he loves, for the one he loves. They were afraid of such love then, and they are afraid now: scary!.. And at the same time, this is one of the wondrous joys that the Lord left us: the confidence that we can love so much, that a person is so great that he can even do this capable. And also the joy that the Lord - today we remember this event - ascended to heaven. On the one hand, it would seem, grief, separation... No! Not grief, not separation - something else. The Lord ascended in His flesh, entered into the glory of the Father, sat down at the right hand of God and the Father, and now we look with horror and surprise, as St. John Chrysostom says, and see that at the core, in the very depths of the mystery of the Holy Trinity, there is man. The man Jesus Christ. Yes, the Son of God, but also our dear one – man. Our humanity now rests in the bosom of the Lord. Can't we rejoice about this? What about on earth? The Lord promised us on earth not to leave us orphans, but to send the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Who is this Holy Spirit? What will He bring to us, is He bringing, has He already brought and given? This is the Spirit of sonship. Through Him we partake of the spirit of Christ. Whoever opens his heart to Him shares in everything that Christ lived; this faith without limits, this all-conquering hope, this wondrous and unshakable love. This spirit makes us, together with Christ, children of God, gives us the opportunity to say to the Heavenly Father, our God: Father! Don’t call Him “Almighty” anymore, but call Him with your native word: Father, and treat Him that way, treat Him that way. The same Spirit teaches us that every person is our brother, dear, for whom we must be ready - no, “must” is a bad word, it means duty, but we are talking about joy - for whom we are truly ready to give our lives so that as soon as he came to life, so that his soul would rejoice, so that he too would enter the Lord’s bright eternity. A holiday of separation... What a separation! The Lord ascends to Heaven and brings with Him the whole mystery of man into the mystery of Divine life. This is the measure of our calling, this is what a person is. But then it is clear why the apostles could go out to preach, rejoicing and rejoicing, without fear of persecution, persecution, torment, death, exile - nothing. They walked with joy, because they already had everything: there was Heaven on earth, there was eternity in themselves, and they were in eternity. This is where we need to grow. By faith and aspiration, we may be together with them, but in reality we need to grow to their measure, to become what they really were: loving with all our hearts, with all our minds, resourceful, sober, creative mind, with all our will - tempered , with a strong, selfless will, with our whole life, and if necessary, with all our death, and not only out of love for God, but also out of love for our neighbor, for every person. Our neighbor is the one who needs us. Let us show this love to each individual person who is close to us, and we ourselves will grow into the measure of true church joy. Amen!
Calendar of Orthodox holidays and days of remembrance.
Orthodox Nativity of Jesus Christ. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday. Good Friday. Holy Resurrection of Christ - Easter. Bright Week Radonitsa. Parents' Day Trinity Day. Pentecostal Knights Templar. The first Christians. Orthodox Saints and Apostles.
Temples in honor of the Ascension
The very first Temple at the site of the Ascension of the Savior into heaven was built approximately in 330-378 by the Roman woman Pimenia on the holy Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Several centuries later, the building of Imvomon was destroyed by the Persians, and then rebuilt by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Modest.
The most ancient temple did not have a roof so that Christians could look at the sky where the Savior ascended. Now on this site is the Chapel of the Ascension, built during the Crusader era. On the floor of this structure lies a stone on which the imprint of Christ’s left foot is visible.
In all countries where the Christian religion was preached, for many centuries churches were constantly built in honor of the Ascension. Architectural monuments and still operating churches in honor of the Ascension of the Savior are in Kolomenskoye, in Vilnius, on the territory of the Moscow Ascension Convent.
