History of Ascension Day

This year, Thursday, May 29th, marks Ascension Day – also known as the Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, Ascension Thursday, or Holy Thursday – on the 40th day of Easter (inclusively). Churches worldwide celebrate it, though some denominations, particularly in the US, move the observance to the subsequent Sunday, calling it Ascension Sunday.

The New Testament Book of Acts 1:3 describes Jesus being with his Disciples for forty days after Easter. Acts 1:9-11 relates how Jesus physically ascended into heaven 39 days after his Resurrection on Easter Morning.

The Apostle John refers to Jesus’ ascension in his Gospel:

While the date varies each year with Easter’s changing date, the feast day is always celebrated on a Thursday because Easter always falls on a Sunday. Ascension Day was initiated by Pope Leo I the Great and has been celebrated since the 4th century as a separate feast from Pentecost.

One notable characteristic of the feast’s liturgy in Western churches is the extinguishing of the Paschal candle, which was initially lit on Easter after the Gospel lesson had been read, as a symbolic representation of Christ’s ascension.

While it is a worldwide Christian holiday, it is not universally a public holiday; in the US, it is not a federal holiday. However, it is a public holiday in countries across Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa.

Examples of countries that get the day off with schools and most businesses closed are: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

Particularly in the US, Ascension Day is often overshadowed by the Feast of Pentecost, which comes ten days later. Those ten days between the two holidays are called Ascensiontide. On Pentecost (Greek for fifty, meaning fifty days after Jesus’ Resurrection in the Christian calendar), as Jesus promised, he poured out his Holy Spirit upon his Disciples.

Some countries celebrate the holiday between Thursday and Sunday.

Ascension Day preparation at a school in Zürich, Switzerland. Image: Wikimedia

Here in Switzerland, where I am writing this article, Ascension Day is celebrated throughout all 26 cantons in the country. It is called the Feast or Solemnity of the Ascension, or Auffahrt. It is a day off work and is classed as a “Feiertag” across the country. Consequently, public transportation services will revert to Sunday schedules, and supermarkets and stores outside train stations and airports will cease operations. Many museums are open, and some tea rooms and restaurants.

The Swiss celebration has its roots in the conversion of the Helvetian tribes to Christianity between the fourth and seventh centuries. Historically, churches across Switzerland marked this as a time of eating “flying meat” to signify Jesus’ ascension into the sky. This meant serving chicken, quail, pigeon, and pheasant.

Many will take an extra day of paid leave to create a long weekend to go on excursions or travel to visit family. In several towns, the traditional Auffahrtsumritt procession is practiced. It roughly means “boundary walks” when crowds march across meadows and fields, tracing the border of each village. They wear traditional clothes and may be joined by fife and drum bands.

At points, the pilgrims will pray, talk with others, and stop to listen to speeches and sermons. Going back to the 15th century, in Beromünster in the Lucerne Canton, a thousand people will participate, starting at 5:30 am and walking or riding horseback along a centuries-old path for 11 miles until 3:00 pm, when they’ll be met by up to 4,000 more well-wishers at the town for a party at the end of the celebration.