Orthodox holiday of the Ascension of the Lord. The history of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. The meaning of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
The full name of the holiday is Ascension of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord was established in memory of the event associated with the ascension of Jesus Christ on the 40th day after Easter.
The Ascension of the Lord is described in the Bible (in the New Testament) and is dedicated to the ascension of Jesus Christ in the flesh to heaven and Jesus’ promises about his second coming.
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is interpreted as the deification of the human nature of Jesus, which after the Ascension became invisible to the bodily eye.
When is the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord celebrated?
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord has 1 day of pre-celebration and 8 days of post-celebration.
The date of celebration of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is moving and depends on the date of Easter.
The Ascension of the Lord is celebrated only on Thursday of the 6th week on the 40th day after Easter.
The Ascension of the Lord is described in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles.
At the direction of Jesus, on the 40th day after the Resurrection, the eleven apostles set out from Galilee to the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. There, on the Mount of Olives, the apostles last time saw Christ in the flesh. Jesus, raising His hands, gave them His blessing and began to move away from the disciples and ascend to heaven
During the ascension, a bright cloud hid the Lord from the disciples and “two men in white clothes” appeared to the apostles, who promised the disciples that Jesus would come to Earth again in the same way as he ascended to heaven.
“He was lifted up before their eyes, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And when they looked at the sky, during His ascension, suddenly two men in white clothes appeared to them and said: Men of Galilee! Why are you standing and looking at the sky? This Jesus, who has ascended from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him ascending into heaven.”
(Acts 1:9-11)
The prediction of his Ascension was given by Jesus Christ to his apostles long before his death on the cross.
The Gospel of Luke tells of the meeting of the resurrected Jesus with his disciples and their conversation:
“Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this. And I will send the promise of my Father upon you; But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed with power from on high.”
(Luke 24:46-49).
“And having gathered them together, He commanded them: Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from Me, for John baptized with water, and a few days after this you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they came together and asked Him, saying: Are you at this time, O Lord, restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said to them: It is not your business to know the times or seasons that the Father has appointed in His power, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. Having said this, He rose up before their eyes, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.”
(Acts 1:4-9).
This is how Evangelist Matthew describes this event:
“...the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus commanded, and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but others doubted. And Jesus drew near and said, “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, even to the end of the age.”
(Matt. 28:16-20).
And again Luke writes:
“... He led them out of the city as far as Bethany and, lifting up 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.”
(Luke 24:50-53).
How is the service held in Orthodoxy on the day of the Ascension of the Lord?
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is one of the Twelve Feasts. The service in honor of the Ascension of the Lord is performed according to the Colored Triodion.
On the eve of the holiday Thursday, on Wednesday evening, it is served all-night vigil, at vespers of which stichera dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord are sung. At the same time, three proverbs are read, which, according to the Orthodox Church, contain Old Testament prophecies about the Ascension of Jesus Christ.
At Matins the Gospel of Mark and two canons are read. They are compiled Saint John Damascus (8th century) and Joseph the Songsinger (9th century). According to legend, the kontakion and ikos for the holiday were composed by the Venerable Roman the Sweet Singer (5th century).
At the liturgy, festive antiphons are sung, the Apostle's first conception (Acts 1:1-12) and the Gospel of Luke, 114 conception (Luke 24:36-53) are read.
The texts of church hymns describe the ascent of Jesus to heaven and His meeting with the angels, and also tell the symbolic meaning of the event of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
Lord, the sacrament that has been hidden from time immemorial and from generation to generation, having fulfilled itself as Good, came with your disciples to the Mount of Olives, having given birth to You, the Creator of all and Maker. Even though during Your Passion you suffered more than all others as a mother, it is fitting for Your flesh to enjoy much joy. Even as we have received communion, even as Thy Lord rises into the heavens, we glorify Thy great mercy upon us.
Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and on the same day they will stand before Him on the Mount of Olives, right in Jerusalem, towards the east of the sun.
The history of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
Until the end of the 4th century, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost were celebrated on the same day and were essentially a single holiday. Later, the holiday of Pentecost began to be celebrated separately.
This was first mentioned in the texts of St. Gregory of Nyssa and in the Antioch sermons of St. John Chrysostom.
Icons of the Ascension of the Lord
Icons depicting the Ascension of the Lord have a clear iconography. These icons depicting the Ascension of the Lord should depict all twelve apostles and the Mother of God standing between them. The disciples of Christ in the icon are depicted either simply standing or standing on their knees. Christ is depicted ascending in a cloud, surrounded by angels.
New Testament about the Ascension of the Lord
The events associated with the Ascension of Christ are 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).
The meaning of the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
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 or 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).
Traditions of celebrating the Ascension of the Lord
The traditions of celebrating the Ascension of the Lord contain many different church, pagan and folk rules.
On the day of the Ascension of Christ, it is customary to do charity and help others, because on this day Christ, dressed as a tramp, traveled and observed how people treated him.
What not to do on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
- on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the phrase “Christ is Risen” cannot be uttered, since on this day the Shroud is taken out of churches;
- on this day you cannot do house cleaning or any hard work;
- on this day you cannot think about bad things;
- on this day it is forbidden to spit and throw garbage on the street, since “you can get into Christ, who comes to houses under the guise of beggars.”
What can and should be done on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord
- it is better to spend this day in the home family circle and in prayer;
- on this day it is advised to remember deceased relatives and restore a spiritual connection with them;
- you can go to visit relatives and friends; in the old days this was called “going to a crossroads”;
- on the eve of the Ascension of the Lord, it is customary to bake special pancakes “for Christ’s path”, they are also called “God’s Envelopment”, “Onuchki”, “Christ’s Shoes”.
Signs on the day of the Ascension of the Lord
- if on the Ascension of the Lord good weather, then it will be like this until St. Michael’s Day (November 21).
- if on Ascension Day it's raining, expect illness and crop failure.
Fortune telling on the day of the Ascension of the Lord
- on this day, girls weave several birch branches into their braids, and if the branches do not wither ten days before Trinity, then there will be a wedding this year;
- at dawn, herbs are collected, since on this day they are considered especially healing and retain their medicinal properties before the onset of Ivan Kupala (July 7).
Films about the life of Jesus Christ
— Film “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965)
— Film “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977)
— The film “Jesus” (1979)
— Film “The Passion of the Christ” (2004)
— Film “Son of God” (2014)
— Film “Killing Jesus” (2015)
— Film “Risen” (“Resurrection of Christ”) (2016)
The Ascension of the Lord (see Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–12) is the twelfth feast, celebrated on the 40th day after, when, according to the Gospel, Jesus ascended into heaven.
Ascension (Ascension Day, Ushestie) is the twelfth holiday of the Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Lord, celebrated on the fortieth day after, on Thursday of the sixth post-Easter week. According to the Gospel, Christ spent forty days from before the Ascension on earth, appearing in different times and in different places to his students. During this time period (the number “40” is used in the Bible to determine the most complete and sufficient period), Christ told the apostles about the Kingdom of God, prepared them for the mission of universal dissemination of the Christian faith, and thus completed his earthly ministry, ascended to heaven.
This great event is described in the book “The Acts of the Holy Apostles.”
On the fortieth day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the disciples of Christ gathered in one house. Jesus Christ appeared to them and talked with them, saying: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day; and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of this. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel (the teaching of Christ) to every creature: whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; “They will take snakes, and if they drink anything deadly, they will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Then the Savior told the disciples that he would soon send the Holy Spirit upon them; and until that time he commanded them not to disperse from Jerusalem. He said, "I will send the promise of My Father upon you; but remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Talking with the disciples, the Savior led them out of the city towards Bethany, to the Mount of Olives.
The disciples, delighted by the Savior’s words, surrounded Him and began to ask: “Is it not at this time, Lord, that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
The Savior said to them: “It is not your business to know the times or seasons that the Father has appointed in His authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will preach about Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to ends of the earth."
Having said this, Jesus Christ, raising His hands, blessed His disciples; and when he blessed, he began to move away from them and ascend into heaven, and soon a cloud took Him out of their sight.
So our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ascended with His humanity into heaven and sat down at the right hand (on the right side) of God His Father, i.e. His human soul and the body received (the same) glory inseparably from His deity, and He always was and will be His deity in heaven and everywhere.
The disciples bowed to the ascended Lord and continued to stand for a long time and look at the sky after Him. Then two angels in white robes appeared before them and said: “Men of Galilee! Why do you stand and look at heaven? This Jesus, who ascended from you into heaven, will come again (to earth) in the same way (i.e. in human flesh ) as you saw Him ascend into heaven." After this, the disciples of Jesus Christ returned to Jerusalem with great joy and remained there all together, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit. They all unanimously continued in prayer, always being in the temple of God, glorifying and thanking God. With them were some wives and Mary the Most Holy Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ with Her relatives. On these days, the apostles, having prayed, chose by lot from the other disciples of Christ the twelfth apostle Matthias, to take the place of the deceased Judas the traitor.
Having ascended to heaven, Jesus Christ, according to His own promise, is always invisibly on earth among those who believe in Him and will again come to earth in a visible way to judge the living and the dead, who will then be resurrected. After this the life of the next century will come, i.e. another, eternal life, which for true believers and pious people will be completely blissful, and for unbelievers and sinners very painful.
People said about the event to which the holiday is dedicated: “Before the Ascension, Christ walks the earth with his disciples, but on the Ascension, Christ the Risen One flies away.” In many northern Russian provinces, peasants believed that Christ came to every window for forty days to listen to what people were saying and doing. Therefore, at this time it was forbidden to throw anything out of the windows, spit outside the window, or pour water, otherwise “you will fall into Christ”, “you will deceive Christ”; It was also forbidden to climb or even talk through the window. From Easter to Ascension, when entering someone else's house, peasants greeted each other with the words: “Christ is Risen!” Until the Ascension, the singing of Christ continued. According to popular beliefs, before the Ascension, sinners languishing in hell not only do not suffer, but can also see the righteous - “From Easter to the Ascension, the whole world has a witness - both grandfathers and grandchildren, and heaven and torment!”
In the church on Wednesday of the sixth week after Easter, on the 39th day, the rite of “giving Easter” is performed. Among the people, the Wednesday preceding the Ascension was considered the day of “sending off Easter” and was called “giving away” or “giving away Paska.” On this day it was customary to go to the liturgy and it was forbidden to work before lunch. The next 40 days, Thursday, the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated. It is marked by a solemn liturgy, during which, with the ringing of bells, two texts of the Gospel are read, telling about this event: the beginning of the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and, more solemnly, part of the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Russian peasants believed that during mass on Ascension Day, the heavens open above each church, and a staircase descends from heaven to its dome, along which archangels and angels descend and stand on both sides at its base in anticipation of Christ. And, as soon as the bell rings in the church, Christ ascends to heaven, accompanied by the heavenly army, but only pious people can see this.
IN church calendar The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord began to be celebrated in the 6th century. On this day, according to ancient custom, meals with pancakes, “ladders” and scrambled eggs were held in the fields, marking the end of spring and the beginning of summer.
The Feast of the Ascension, which ended the Easter celebrations, was also associated in the popular consciousness with the end of spring and the beginning of summer. People said: “Spring blooms until Ascension”; “Ascension Day will come, the spring will throw off the red laziness from its shoulders, in the summer it will turn around and pretend to be, and will begin to work in the field”; “The red spring has reached the Ascension, and then it comes to an end”; “Spring ascends to heaven about the Ascension, and asks for rest in the blessed paradise.”
People believed that by saying goodbye to spring and welcoming summer, all nature blossoms, and the secret becomes apparent. “By Ascension Day, all the spring flowers bloom - Christ the Father is escorted to the heavenly gardens with secret prayer.” The night of Ascension was considered the nightingale night; they believed that then nightingales sing louder and more sonorously than at other times. The peasants said that catching them that night was a great sin, and whoever caught them would have no luck in anything for the whole year. In many places, special healing powers were attributed to Ascension dew, which was collected from herbs early in the morning by knowledgeable people.
The Ascension of the Lord is considered the last spring holiday. “Spring ascends to heaven about the Ascension - it asks to rest in the blessed paradise!”
Thus, on Ascension, the Easter ritual ended (see) and the Trinity ritual began (see Semik, Trinity).
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On the 40th day after Easter Orthodox Church celebrates one of the main 12 holidays of the year (twelfth holidays - UNIAN) - the Ascension of the Lord.
The full name of the holiday is the Ascension of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
History of the holiday
The Ascension of the Lord is the day when Christ ascended into heaven and sat “at the right hand of the Father.” After his resurrection, he appeared to his disciples, talked to them and taught them, and told them to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He climbed with his disciples to the Mount of Olives, where he blessed them for the last time and ascended into heaven.
Ascension date in 2018
Traditions, signs and fortune telling:
According to Slavic folk tradition, from this day on, spring ends and the transition to summer begins, so you no longer have to be afraid of cold snaps.
It is believed that if the weather is good on Ascension, it will last until November 21, Michaelmas. And a rainy day, according to signs, foreshadows crop failure and illness in livestock.
If you swim in the river on Ascension, your health will be good.
If a chicken laid an egg on this day, it should be hung under the roof of the house so that it protects the residents from misfortunes.
Hearing a crow cawing on this day is a good sign.
On this day they washed themselves with dew: it was believed that on the Ascension of the Lord it became healing.
It is customary to pray for prosperity and health: on this day, before ascending to heaven, the Lord, as is commonly believed, listens to all the requests of people and fulfills them.
Also on this holiday, you should ask for forgiveness from everyone with whom you are in a quarrel.
On Ascension, there is a custom of “going to the crossroads” - to visit relatives and friends and giving them “ladders” baked from wheat dough with honey and with sugar patterns, symbolizing the path to heaven.
On Ascension, it is customary to set the table and prepare symbolic pastries - bread in the shape of a “ladder” / photo angelvalentina.livejournal.com
To find out the fate of a sick person, birch branches were woven on Ascension, several of which were braided. It is believed that if the branches do not wither 10 days before Trinity, the mysterious person will recover. In the same way, girls told fortunes about their future marriage.
If within 40 days (from Easter to Ascension) you help the disadvantaged and feed the poor, the year will be successful in all respects.
What not to do on Ascension:
Swear, use foul language;
Engage in gluttony and have fun;
Take out the trash;
Don't care about the earth (Jesus continues his earthly journey along the roads on the holiday);
Refuse strangers;
Have sex;
On this day there is no funeral service for the dead;
Doing heavy housework (it is believed that this distracts from thinking about the Lord);
You cannot say the words “Christ is Risen,” because on this day the shroud is taken out of churches.
After completing his earthly journey, Jesus Christ did not die the way people die. If we remember the events of the Resurrection of the Lord, He still remained with His disciples for some time. And it remained in the physical sense, because one could put fingers into the wounds of the Savior, which is what Christ’s disciple Thomas did. Jesus did not die, but ascended into His kingdom Heavenly Father. The Ascension of the Lord is the day on which we celebrate, in essence, separation from God. Why do we rejoice on this day? What meaning does the Ascension of the Lord reveal for Christians?
We are still experiencing the Resurrection of Christ
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
You and I, my beloved friends, are still experiencing greatest event glorious Resurrection of Christ.
Only yesterday, for the last time this year, we heard and uttered with our lips the words of solemn Easter chants. And today we are already celebrating a solemn event that has great importance for our Christian Church, for the entire human race. Today the Church reminds us of our Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven.
“Having ascended into heaven from thence and came down…”– the Holy Church sings today, emphasizing the greatness of our Savior and Lord.
He was in heaven from the beginning and came down to earth to save the perishing human race.
He came down to earth out of love for us. And, having completed His great earthly ministry, He returns again to His Father - to where He had been before.
“From there you came down...” The purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God was to proclaim the Divine truth to the world, to direct people on the path of repentance and salvation. To grant people deliverance from eternal death.
And so, having completed the work of saving the human race, reconciling God with people, the Lord ascends to heaven...
The joy of separation
The Feast of the Ascension combines the joy of meeting and the joy of separation.
After the Teacher’s redemptive suffering, death separated the apostles from Him. They were in sorrow. But, as we know, after His glorious Resurrection, the Lord appeared to them many times over the course of forty days (from Easter to the Ascension), talked with them, and instructed them. Each such meeting of the disciples with their Divine Teacher was undoubtedly a joy for them.
But then came the last meeting. The last conversation of the Teacher with the students. And she was followed by a long separation, for a long time. Until His second coming to earth.
One should be sad... But the apostles and closest disciples of Christ, the still small Church that has already been created on earth, are in joy...
Evangelist Luke tells us that after the Ascension, the apostles joyfully returned to Jerusalem (Luke 24:52). They were prepared for this joy by the Lord Himself.
We know that the Savior’s closest disciples were inseparable from Him all the days of His earthly life. Enjoyed talking with Him. They listened to His teachings. We saw the miracles He performed...
True, at that time they did not yet fully and correctly understand everything, since they were not yet enlightened by the Holy Spirit. But they were happy to see their Divine Teacher and to fulfill His commands. And therefore, when He told them at the Last Supper that He must suffer, and die, and rise on the third day, and then completely leave them, He, of course, noticed that they were saddened.
The disciples of Christ were ready for separation
Comforting them, the Savior said to them: “If you really loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to My Father. It is better for you that I go to the Father. Because I will prepare a place for you, so that you too may be where I am. I will send you from the Father the Comforter Spirit, who will guide you into all truth.”(cf. John 14:28).
As you can see, Christ’s disciples were prepared for the upcoming separation, and therefore they rejoice.
They rejoice for their Lord and Teacher, because they know that He is returning to the glory that belongs to Him. They rejoice both for themselves and for the entire human race.
What does the Ascension of the Lord mean to us?
What does the Ascension of the Lord mean for you and me, my beloved friends?
The Lord ascended to heaven in order to prepare it to receive all His true followers.
“I am going to prepare a place for you,” He said to the apostles, and in their person, to all of us, “and if I prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself: that where I am, you also will be.”(John 14:2-3).
Isn't this a joy for the students?
Think carefully about these words of the Savior! How much love and caring care they have for people!..
He left His Divine teaching on earth, showing the path along which we can achieve eternal blissful life in the ineffable Kingdom of God. To atone for our sins, he took on human flesh. Sanctified her with His Divine power and with this transformed flesh he ascended to heaven. To that highest heaven, where God especially dwells, where neither sin nor death penetrates, where only holiness and truth abide, where God reveals His glory in unapproachable splendor. And there, in this place of the constant presence of God, our Lord Savior went to prepare a place for all His true followers. By His Ascension into heaven, the Lord clearly testified that He was truly the Son of God and true God. After all, He ascended to heaven Himself, His own strength, showing His Divine greatness.
Saint Gregory the Theologian says: “The Savior did not need a chariot, nor did he need the help of Angels, for the Creator ascended to Heaven with His Divine power. He returned to where he had been for centuries...”
The Greatness of the Savior
And Saint John Chrysostom speaks of the same greatness of the Savior, of His Divine power: “The Lord did not ascend into heaven with the help of anyone leading Him, but He Himself walked this way.”
The sky into which the Lord ascended is, of course, not the starry sky that you and I see above us. And not the infinite world space, but the highest heaven - the place of eternal residence of the Eternal God.
Having ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, the Lord Savior thereby showed that, as the Son of God, He had previously had the same power with the Father. But now he also received it as the God-man, for He ascended in the very body in which He suffered and rose from the dead.
As God, He was always in heaven and in every place. But now He elevated His human nature, which He received from the Virgin Mary, to the Heavenly Throne of God.
Isn’t this a reason to rejoice, despite the fact that this requires parting with the Divine Teacher?
The joy of the disciples and apostles is even greater than ours.
They realized the greatness of Him with whom they were in close fellowship as friends. “You are my friends...”- this is what the Lord called His disciples (John 15:14).
But there is great joy for us who live on earth. The Lord ascended, with His flesh entered into the glory of the Father - and now we, as St. John Chrysostom says, look with horror and surprise and see that in the very depths of the mystery of the Holy Trinity there is a man! Man Jesus Christ!
Yes, He is the Son of God, but He is also dear to us - Man...
We said at the beginning that the Ascension is a holiday of separation... But 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 what man is now! And now we understand the joy of the apostles.
They now had everything: there was heaven on earth, there was eternity in themselves and they were in eternity.
So we, beloved ones, must strive to have the same consciousness.
The Ascension of the Lord into heaven is closely related to our salvation, to the personal salvation of each of us.
In separation from the Lord during His ascension, we see a manifestation of God’s love for people, showing us our human vocation.
As the Apostle Paul teaches: “... seek the things on high, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God: be wise on things above, and not on things on earth.”(Col. 3, 1-2).
To fulfill this high calling faithful assistant the Lord Himself to us. Leaving the earthly world with his body, He does not relinquish His care for His Church. He promised the apostles: “And lo I am with you... always, even to the end of the age...”(Matt. 28:20).
All our great holidays are, my friends, not only a memory of this or that gospel event or event in church history.
But these are lights that show us the right path to eternal life, ways to improve our souls.
The Lord did everything for our salvation. By His Ascension into heaven, the Son of God opened the way for us to the heavenly abodes. But whether we follow the indicated path or stop somewhere halfway is up to us.
As has already been said, after the Ascension of the Lord into heaven, now at the right hand of God the Father is the Son of Man, clothed with our human flesh. And He did not put on it short time, and forever, thereby revealing the wondrous power and wondrous properties of the world He created. Namely: everything created by Him is capable of being spiritual and God-bearing.
And here the greatness of man and the high destiny that God has prepared for man become obvious.
It's hard for us to comprehend ordinary people. It is difficult to rise to the heights of theology. But we believe! And faith is higher than knowledge, because it is omnipotent, and precisely where knowledge is powerless.
We have gained the opportunity to be with God always
We believe that it is on this day, the day of the Ascension of the Lord, that man gains the opportunity to always be with God. And the path to this is shown to us by Christ the Savior.
The path by which we can reach the heights of holy glory is the same path by which our Lord ascended into glory, that is, the path of the cross, the path of purification, self-sacrifice, the path of external and internal suffering.
Let us check ourselves, my beloved friends, are we going to heaven the way of Christ? The path of the Lord must be the path of one and all. Our Lord suffered equally for all of us. The sky is equally open to everyone!.. True Christian in all circumstances of life, on all occasions, he remembers that he is an heir of heaven, a joint heir with Christ, and acts in accordance with his destiny.
But let each of us honestly say whether there is much unearthly, heavenly, Christ in him?
Remember, when the Lord ascended, the apostles, out of love for their Teacher, stood for a long time, looking at the sky that received their Lord and Teacher. And for this the Angels, appearing, said to them: “Why are you standing looking at heaven?”
But since we are mostly inclined towards the earthly and temporary, we must hear a reproach from the Angels: sons of men, why do you stand looking not at heaven, but at earth? Turn your eyes to heaven, look at your Savior, who has been looking at you for a long time. Take the path to heaven that has long been lying before you...
When Christ tells us: “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me”, - He not only says that during our temporary stay we must renounce earthly attachments and take upon ourselves the entire burden of earthly life in following Him.
He tells us something more - that we are called to follow Him and, according to His own word, to be where He is, in the glory of eternal Divine life (John 12:26; 17:24).
But you need to prepare yourself decent life to be partakers of this glory.
The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Thessalonians says that on the last day of the Lord’s coming, those who believe in Him will be caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air.
This means that something similar to the Ascension of Christ the Savior Himself should happen to the true followers of Christ.
This is what the Lord has done for us!
Our earthly path is clear to us
Comforting his apostles, the Savior promised them to send the Holy Spirit, who would instruct them without Him. And, as we know, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. But not only on the apostles, but on all believers. And since then he has continually remained and will remain until the end of time in the Church of Christ, preparing people for the abodes of the Heavenly Father. Rejoicing in what the Lord has done for us, let us also edify ourselves. Let us direct our spirit to heaven for the ascended Lord. In our spiritual improvement, we will rise above our passions and vices, we will rise to the heights of virtues and purity. Let not the narrow and thorny path to the Heavenly Fatherland. This path is no longer new! Our Lord and Savior Himself passed through them.
So, my beloved friends, in the light of the Ascension of Christ, our earthly path and our destiny are clear to us - to be partakers of the glory of God. Let us turn our gaze to heaven, to where Christ ascended. The Holy Church always calls us, and especially on this day reminds us that where the Lord entered are the eternal abodes of the righteous. There is the joy of constantly seeing God! There is eternal life!
As was said at the beginning, on the day of the Ascension the Lord separated from His disciples for a long time - until His second coming. But, having ascended to heaven, the Lord left His precious spiritual heritage to the Church - His blessing. The Lord, ascending, blessed the disciples and did not stop blessing until the cloud hid Him. This all-affirming and all-sanctifying blessing of God was forever imprinted in the memory of the disciples. It was carried throughout the world by the holy apostles and preachers of Christianity. You and I feel it too. And we, dear ones, need to know and remember that it is always alive and active, always filled with grace-filled power, always carries God’s gifts with it, lifts our souls and hearts to God. This blessing is our joy and source of strength. Amen.
"The Ascension of the Lord." Painting by Benvenuto Tisi / Photo from open sources
On the 40th day after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is, 40 days after, the Orthodox celebrate another great holiday- Ascension of the Lord.
The rector of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, Vladyka Pavel, told readers of Glavred about the holiday.
When is Ascension in 2018?
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is the twelfth and is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter. The celebration falls on Thursday every year. The events of this great holiday are described in more detail in the Gospel of Luke, and more summary in the Gospel of Mark, which we offer for reading.
Mk., 71 credits, 16, 9-20
Ascension of the Lord 2018
“Having risen early on the first day of the week, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who were with Him, weeping and weeping; but when they heard that He was alive and she had seen Him, they did not believe. Afterwards This one appeared in a different form to two of them on the road, when they were going to the village. And they, returning, told the others, but they did not believe them either. Finally, he appeared to the eleven themselves, who were reclining at the supper, and reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. Those who saw Him risen did not believe. And He said to them: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow them who believe: in My name they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; and they will recover. And so the Lord, after speaking with them, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. and they preached everywhere, with the Lord’s assistance and strengthening the word with subsequent signs,” said Metropolitan Pavel.
On the eve of the Feast of the Ascension, the service of the Lord's Easter is celebrated, the monastery's mentor recalled.
“But, despite farewell to the holiday of Easter, the joy of the Resurrection of Christ continues and will remain with us until the end of the century. The Lord ascends into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father and enter into His glory. And already on Pentecost (the holiday of the Trinity) on the apostles the Holy Spirit will come to strengthen and sanctify faithful children Church of Christ,” noted Metropolitan Pavel.
He explained that, reading that the Lord reproaches His disciples “for unbelief and hardness of heart,” He wants us to learn to reproach ourselves for such thoughts.
“The Lord shows you and me that there is no need to despair, to fall into despondency. It is necessary to find Easter joy in yourself, to be healed from spiritual death. After all, whoever believes with all his heart in our Lord Jesus Christ awaits a meeting with God and eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven, in which there is neither grief nor sadness, but only joy,” explained Bishop Pavel.
Sermon on Ascension
The Lord, turning to the apostles, says: “Go and preach the Gospel...”
"That is, we must not only have an understanding of the Resurrection of Christ, we must proclaim this event to all people so that they can accept or reject the salvation that Jesus Christ has given us. He who preaches the word of God expresses his unshakable faith and understanding that all humanity called through the Church to become a participant in the Lord's glory and the power of the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, the Lord took on human flesh, came down to earth, endured betrayal, torment and suffering, death on the Cross in order to take upon Himself the sins of the world and each person individually, with His Blood He atoned for sins. the human race. And with His glorious Resurrection, I conquered hell, and from now on, through our repentance, the road to the Kingdom of Heaven is given to us, even to those who perish in despair,” the Metropolitan emphasized.
What kind of holiday is Ascension?
The Gospel says little about the Ascension itself, but I would like to note the fact that the Ascension of the Lord took place in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. It was there that the garden was located in which His torment and suffering on the Cross began, where His prayer to God the Father was until he sweated blood. This is where the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem began.
Bethany means house of sorrow. And those who want to follow the Lord should not be afraid of sorrows and sorrows.
Blessing the apostles, leaving them His Divine love, the Lord ascends to heaven.
Ascension of the Lord. Icon / Photo from open sources
Moving away from them, he shows you and me the way. And on this day we celebrate the holiday of joy - the joy of separation. It is worth remembering the words of the Savior at the Last Supper, where He said that He must die and rise again... And, seeing that His disciples became sad, He said: “If you really loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father...”
"Having risen, the Lord returned to the glory that he had from the beginning of the world. And he gave us joy and understanding of the path of salvation. God, having become one of us, rose again and ascended in human flesh. God united with man forever. Isn’t this great joy? The Lord He gave us an example of great Divine love and commanded us to love both the evil and the good. Loving with love oh Lord, dies to a certain extent. That is, he does not live for himself, he sacrifices his time, his affections - for another person. He lives not by his own problems, but by the needs of others. Such love is perfect and many people are afraid of it - scary! But the Lord reveals to us our great possibilities and makes it clear that we are capable of this, if only we want to,” noted the rector of the monastery.
Having ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, as John Chrysostom says, we look and see that at the core, in the very depths of the Holy Trinity, there is man. The man Jesus Christ. Son of God, but also a man. And in order to strengthen and support His creation - man, the Lord sends the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost (Trinity). And through the Holy Spirit we partake of the spirit of Christ.
“And it becomes clear why the apostles went to preach the Word of Christ with jubilation and joy and were not afraid of torment, suffering and death, because they already had Heaven on earth and eternity. Let us strive to show our love not only for the Lord, but also for Let us find the joy of Easter in our hearts. And on the great holiday of the Ascension, we will turn our gaze to where the Lord has ascended, and we will seek the heavenly, leaving everything earthly. Happy holiday! – said Vladyka Pavel.