The Orthodox Church celebrates the Ascension of the Lord
Icon of the Ascension of the Lord. Photo: tsavanyc.org
On May 29, 2025 – forty days after Pascha – Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, one of the major events recorded in the Gospel.
The Ascension is one of the Twelve Great Feasts, and its date is always tied to Pascha, being celebrated on the fortieth day after the Resurrection of Christ.
The event is described in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Holy Apostles. According to these accounts, after His Resurrection from the dead, the Savior repeatedly appeared to His disciples, confirming the truth of His bodily Resurrection, strengthening their faith, and preparing them to receive the promised Holy Spirit.
During the final of these appearances, the Lord Jesus Christ led His disciples out of the city to Bethany, to the Mount of Olives, and lifting His hands, He gave them a blessing. Then He began to withdraw from them and ascend into heaven.
The Acts of the Apostles recount that as Christ was ascending, He was taken up by a cloud, and then “two men in white robes” appeared, announcing His Second Coming. The disciples worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, where a few days later the Holy Spirit descended upon them.
In the Nicene Creed, Christians confess belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, “who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.” His sitting at the right hand signifies equal honor with the Father. Yet Christ, as the Son of God, was always equal to the Father – therefore, through the Ascension, equal glory was granted also to His human nature.
This teaching of the Church has real spiritual meaning for the life of every Christian. The Ascension of the Lord is a powerful symbol of the deification awaiting every believer in Christ.
St. Gregory Palamas emphasized that the Lord’s Resurrection concerns all humanity – for all will rise again at His Second Coming – but only those who have “crucified sin through repentance and a life according to the Gospel” will ascend to God.
Earlier, the UOJ explained what occurred between the Resurrection and the Ascension of the Lord.
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