The Feast of Eternal Life - Ascension of Our Lord

The Ascension of the Lord is one of the most revered holidays established by the Orthodox Church. It is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter and, in its symbolic meaning, approaches the most holy Resurrection.

Throughout his stay among the living Christ had to prove time and again the wonderful essence of the events of Holy Week. And then, as now, people were inclined to doubt the truthfulness of the events later revealed in the New Testament Gospels. No one knew Jesus better than his mother and disciples. He spent a lot of time to communicate with them, understanding their human nature. The purpose of joint meals and conversations was to convince them that it was him, and no one else, executed, resurrected and incarnated.

However, after the resurrection, the Son of God has ceased to be an ordinary earthly man, he came to his close people only for a while, to explain to them how to preach the word of truth, having instructed them for the time being in Jerusalem forever. Christ understood that his earthly days were numbered, and hastened to explain the whole essence of the Christian teaching, so that the apostles correctly communicated it, preaching to the people.

The Ascension of the Lord took place on the Mount of Olives, that on the way from Jerusalem to Bethany. As the questions asked by the students showed, they were in part misled about the great mission of their teacher sent to earth to save all of humanity. The apostles inquired about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, that is, a sufficiently local task, while the holy teaching of Christ should reign throughout the world. This is said in the answer of Jesus: he called them to testify of him in Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea and in all countries and lands.

Then the Ascension of the Lord took place. He raised his hands and ascended to heaven, sitting at the right, that is, to the right of the Heavenly Father. More doubts about the divine origin of the Son of God were not. But Christ did not depart from us living on earth, but showed the way to the Kingdom of Heaven-paradise-for all people living on sinful earth. The Ascension of the Lord became a kind of bridge connecting the earthly and heavenly life, and proved the immortality of the soul, its infinite existence. Jesus himself did everything in his earthly life to convince the mankind he loved in the correctness of his sermons. He sacrificed everything for this, that only man who lives on earth can put on the altar of faith.

The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord bears all believers the hope of salvation and comfort to all the mourners who have lost their loved ones. As Christ said that he is preparing a place for his disciples next to each other, so every Orthodox Christian knows that his separation from the beloved is temporary, and in heavenly life he is waiting for unity with them. As Jesus keeps all the professors of his teaching, the righteous become the representatives of every person before the Creator.

In 2013, this twelve-day holiday took place on June 13. The Ascension of the Lord is celebrated according to astronomical dimensions, and its date is tied to the day of the Holy Resurrection. On this day, the church service is beautiful and solemn, read troparion, kontakion and majesty, and people pray for the strength needed to overcome sin and achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.