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 Feast of the Ascension Triptych Scott 931 (1993) The Feast of the Ascension celebrates the event when Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. This feast day is one of the ecumenical feasts of the Christian Church, including the Passion, Easter Sunday, Ascension Day and Pentecost. Traditionally, Ascension Day is observed on a Thursday (the fortieth day after Easter). However, in recent years, the Solemnity of the Ascension has been celebrated in many US archdioceses on the Sunday following Ascension Day, or the seventh Sunday following Easter. As told in the Gospels of Luke and Mark, as well as in the Acts of the Apostles, forty days following his resurrection on Easter, Jesus ascended into heaven: "Therefore, when they [the disciples and the risen Christ] had come together, they asked Him saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth'. Now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight." (Acts 1:6-9)  "Ascension of Christ", by Benvenuto Tisi (circa 1515) From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain The painting above by Benvenuto Tisi shows the image of the Ascension as we typically envision it: Christ rising into the clouds to Heaven. The Vatican City stamps issued in 1993 offer a different representation of the Feast of the Ascension. The stamps illustrated at the top of the article show illustrations from the bas-relief from the front of the sarcophagus known as “Traditio Legis” (“The Transmission of the Law”), dating to the fourth century. The center stamp of the triptych (750 L) depicts the scene of the “Traditio Legis” where Jesus hands over to Peter and Paul the symbols of authority of the New Law, his feet resting on a cloud in the heavens. A Vatican Notes article from 2020 by Greg Pirozzi (1950 Holy Year: Ascension Thursday) shows a postcard from Rome written on May 19,1950 with a hand-written note Ascension. The background image is one we commonly associate with Ascension Day. Another traditional image of the Ascension is included with the reference from Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Church. The images can be viewed by clicking on the reference links below. REFERENCES: |
