Ascension Day among Western Christians (Catholics)

A holiday in honor of the ascension of Christ to heaven and the promise of the second coming The date is moving, different for each year, but the day of the week is always Thursday The reason for this is the moving cycle, that is, the countdown of 40 days from the celebration of Easter For Western Christians, the special significance of the event is that it was on this day that Jesus became one in holiness with the Father and the Holy Spirit A separate celebration of this date only became apparent in the 4th century AD, when the separation from Pentecost occurred In ancient times, it was simply a special period, without a specific date Only after the Elvira Cathedral did the holidays take shape into different ones - Ascension and Trinity Documentary evidence of a separate celebration of the Ascension can be found dating back to the 5th century The Ascension actually refers to the deification of the nature of Jesus, which took place on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem The biblical name for this area is the rise of Olives There is the Chapel of the Ascension, where there is an amazing artifact - the footprint of Christ from his foot This detail is on many icons depicting the process itself In the Catholic religion, the image of Jesus in churches has a sculptural three-dimensional display Therefore, it is often customary during the festive service to symbolically raise the statue of Christ to the top of the nave Another established tradition was the “Three Days of Forgiveness,” preceding the all-night vigil and the main liturgy They pray for God’s favor and praise him All requests for mercy are reflected in traditions that have varying degrees of distribution in specific countries where the primacy belongs to the Catholic Church In addition to solemn processions, chants, and putting out the Easter candle, a special ritual for ordinary Catholics is also associated with food They bake amazing “Christ’s little shoes”, symbolizing the path of Jesus Bird buns are usually made in countries where poultry is traditionally accepted as a holiday treat On this day, food products are blessed, people ask the Lord for good weather and high yields True Catholics cannot imagine a celebration without alms As with any other Roman Catholic holiday, many rituals are based on folk, pagan roots For example, lighting fires in the evening, believing in the healing properties of water and plants in the morning Catholics from different countries love to celebrate this holiday In many countries it is an official holiday (Austria, Germany, Colombia) Folk celebrations, fairs, and festivals take place everywhere The essence of the solemn action is to show believers that the road to heaven is open, just as Jesus walked it to his Father Therefore, for example, in Germany, it is customary to release doves into the sky, which also symbolizes the Ascension