Ascension
Please join us for our our presentation of this Ascension service.
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The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. The Latin terms used for the feast, ascensio and, occasionally, ascensa, signify that Christ was raised up by his own powers, and it is from these terms that the holy day gets its name. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared by multiple denominations) feasts of Christian churches, ranking with the feasts of the Passion and Pentecost.
The observance of this feast is of great antiquity. Eusebius seems to hint at the celebration of it in the 4th century. At the beginning of the 5th century, Augustine of Hippo says that it is of Apostolic origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was the universal observance long before his time. Frequent mention of it is made in the writings of John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, and in the Constitution of the Apostles. It may be that prior to the 5th century the event narrated in the Gospels was commemorated in conjunction with the feast of Easter or Pentecost.
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Sunday, May 21, 2023 | 9 AM
Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral | 6351 N 27th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85017
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC