Ascension of the Lord

The Ascension of the Lord marks the fortieth day of Easter. The Acts of the Apostles places the event on that day: the risen Jesus charges the apostles to be his witnesses and is taken from their sight. A cloud receives him, and they are told he will return in the same way. The Church does not treat this as Christ abandoning the world. It is his entry into glory, from which he sends the Spirit and remains present in the sacraments.

On the universal calendar the solemnity falls on Thursday. In many dioceses of the United States, and in other countries, the bishops have transferred it to the following Sunday so that more of the faithful can keep it. Some ecclesiastical provinces still keep the Thursday. The right date for a parish is the one in the local ordo, not a date copied from another diocese.

Where Ascension is kept on Thursday, that Thursday is a holy day of obligation in the dioceses that have not transferred it. Where it is transferred, the Thursday of that week is an ordinary Easter weekday, and the Sunday carries the obligation that every Sunday already has. The liturgy uses white vestments. The Paschal candle, which has stood by the ambo since the Vigil, remains until Pentecost.

The days between Ascension and Pentecost are a novena in the oldest sense: the apostles and Mary waited in prayer for the Spirit. Many parishes pray a Pentecost novena through these nine days.