Ascension of the Lord. Ascension of the Lord About the holiday of the Ascension of the Lord

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 of Easter.

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 into heaven. They worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy...”

The Feast of the Ascension is a holiday of Heaven, the opening of Heaven to man 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 care for us, / and having united us on earth with the heavenly, / you ascended in glory, 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 with His Blood into the heavenly sanctuary (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!