This Thursday, May 9, a public holiday for the French, Christians celebrate the Ascension of Christ. Sometimes confused with the Assumption, it is one of the greatest liturgical feasts.
Who still knows precisely the origin of the“Ascension” ? This feast is often confused with that of the Assumption. Their phonetic proximity can be confusing. The Ascension, the date of which changes depending on Easter, and the Assumption, registered in the liturgical calendar on August 15, respectively mark the ascent into Heaven of Jesus and his mother Mary. But it is not the same miracle. The etymology of these two words indicates the particularity of each. Do you know her?
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The term “ascension” comes from the Latin word “assuncio”. It means that we “ride yourself”. That of “Assumption” comes from Latin “assume”which means “assume, take with oneself”. The Virgin Mary does not in fact ascend to heaven by her own power, but thanks to the power of God. The Gospels remain silent about his last moments. In the 4th century Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis wrote that “Scripture has kept complete silence because of the greatness of the miracle”. But many theologians, very early on, said that the mother of Jesus could not have known the degradation of the body and must necessarily have ascended to Heaven with, not only her soul like other men, but also her body. The Assumption as a “dogma”that is to say an infallible point of Christian Revelation, was proclaimed late, in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
Sending on mission
On the contrary, the Ascension of Christ is recounted several times in the Gospels. The scene takes place forty days after his Resurrection. During the time following Easter, Jesus regularly appeared to the eleven disciples, Judas having betrayed him, and sent them “proclaim the gospel to all creation”promising “signs which will accompany those who become believers”. The Gospel according to Saint Mark continues thus: “The Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God”. Same version in Saint Luke: “While he was blessing them, he separated himself from them and was taken up to heaven. »
The Acts of the Apostles, a book of the Bible which recounts the beginnings of the Church and the transmission of the Christian faith in the Greco-Roman world, opens with this miracle by giving more precision: it is written that it is ” a cloud “ which hides Jesus from the eyes of the disciples, and that shortly after his disappearance, two men in white clothes address them as follows: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. » The few words of Jesus before his Ascension announce Pentecost, celebrated this year on Sunday May 19: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. »
The catechism of the Catholic Church therefore defines the feast of the Ascension of Christ as follows: “It marks the definitive entry of the humanity of Jesus into the celestial domain of God from which he will return”. (n°665) The “Creed”Or ” I believe in god “recited during Mass and which summarizes the Christian faith, is very clear about the incontestable truth of this miracle for Christians, saying about Christ: “And he ascended to Heaven”. The symbolism of this celebration is therefore very great: a reminder of the dignity of the human body, but also “of the spiritual dimension of man”. As the abbot of Tanoüarn explained in the columns of Figaro this celebration perhaps takes on even more importance today due to the context of dechristianization, which “at a time when humans spontaneously conceived of themselves as spiritual animals”.
