The Ascension of the Lord

And, lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world

After the resurrection the Lord Jesus Christ remained on earth for forty days and appeared to His disciples ten times. On the last day of His visible presence in this world He commanded the apostles and disciples not to depart from Jerusalem. He led them to the Mount of Olives, taught them there and promised them the sending of a wondrous power: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” On the Mount of Olives He laid His hands on them all, blessed them, and before their eyes ascended into heaven. The All-holy Theotokos too was there at the Ascension. The Church sings of this wondrous event thus:

“When Thou hadst fulfilled the dispensation for our sake and united things on earth with things in heaven, Thou didst ascend in glory, O Christ our God, not departing in any wise, O Saviour, but remaining inseparable, and crying to those who love Thee: I am with you, and no one can be against you.”

On the Mount of Olives, when the Theotokos saw the Ascension of her Son and God, she rejoiced at the accomplishment of the work of mankind’s redemption. The crucified Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. He ascended in order to send the Spirit, the Comforter; He Himself had told the apostles to wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit. In connection with the Ascension of the Lord the Church has appointed a feast, which it keeps every year on the Thursday of the sixth week after Pascha. In ancient prophecy it is said:

“And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.”