Date of Ascension

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Beachcomber

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If this has been posted and answered somewhere else, I apologize; but can some one tell me why the Feast of the Ascension is now different? Wasn’t it always on a Thursday and now it’s on a Sunday?

I haven’t been too regular attending Church and this has caught me by surprise.
 
Traditionally the Ascension was celebrated 40 days after Easter (a Thursday). In most dioceses of the US it has been moved to the following Sunday. Jimmy Akin explains it here.
 
Beachcomber said:
If this has been posted and answered somewhere else, I apologize; but can some one tell me why the Feast of the Ascension is now different? Wasn’t it always on a Thursday and now it’s on a Sunday?

I haven’t been too regular attending Church and this has caught me by surprise.
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Ascension Thursday masses weren’t that heavily attended in the United States. It was not and is not a legal holiday in this country, and most people had to work.

Considering all of the circumstances, many of the bishops decided to move the holy day to the following Sunday.
 
Beachcomber said:
If this has been posted and answered somewhere else, I apologize; but can some one tell me why the Feast of the Ascension is now different? Wasn’t it always on a Thursday and now it’s on a Sunday?

I haven’t been too regular attending Church and this has caught me by surprise.
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not different in the feast, different in the day it is observed. most dioceses are evidently full of lazier than your average Catholics who cannot make it to Mass on a weekday even for one of the major feasts of the Church, so the observance has been moved to the 7th Sunday of Easter.
 
Beachcomber said:
If this has been posted and answered somewhere else, I apologize; but can some one tell me why the Feast of the Ascension is now different? Wasn’t it always on a Thursday and now it’s on a Sunday?

I haven’t been too regular attending Church and this has caught me by surprise.
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Of course Ascension Thurday is celebrated on Sunday, makes perfect sense. People are just too busy to attend Mass on an extra day of the week.
 
The decision is left to the local ordinary. The Archdiocese of Newark still celebrates it on Thursday.

Isn’t it amazing that Catholics managed to get to Mass on Holy Days of Obligation during the week in the past? And people still worked.
 
FTR, the celebration is named the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (Sollemnitas Ascensionis Domini). It is only in common parlance that many of us have learned to refer to it as “Ascension Thursday”.

tee
 
Thank you, everyone, for your informative answers. It does make sense to move it to Sunday, but I’ll always think of it as Ascension Thursday!
 
Unfortunately the change destroys the numerical symbolism.
  1. Jesus was with the apostles 40 days from Easter to Ascension Thursday. Forty in the Bible signifies a period of preparation; Forty-three signifies nothing.
  2. The nine days from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost were spent in the Upper Room praying the first novena. We are now left with six days, and six, being one less than seven the symbol of created perfection, signifies imperfection.
Like some of the more recent Bible translations, simplification destroys a lot of overtones.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
Of course Ascension Thurday is celebrated on Sunday, makes perfect sense. People are just too busy to attend Mass on an extra day of the week.
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Following that logic then maybe all Holy Days of Obligation should be transferred to Sunday. Heck, let’s make things really convenient for people and move Christmas to the Sunday nearest December 25th.

I always found a way to make it to Mass on Holy Days even when I was working 70-80 hours a week at 2 jobs, was in school at least 3 days a week, and spent 10+ hours a week doing volunteer work.

If people have a problem making it to Mass on a Holy Day then they should do a couple of things:
  1. Examine their priorities. For some people it is possible to actually rearrange their schedule for one day to make it to Mass. Understandably not everyone can.
  2. Talk to their pastor. Does he not have the authority to dispense with the obligation to attend Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day? Work is necessary for most people. It would seem to be a just reason to dispense with the obligation when necessary.
I don’t think that transferring the Holy Day is necessarily the best option. It is the laziest option but not the best option.

James
 
James0235 said:
Following that logic then maybe all Holy Days of Obligation should be transferred to Sunday. Heck, let’s make things really convenient for people and move Christmas to the Sunday nearest December 25th.
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Please don’t give the beaurocratic “them” any ideas . . 😦 .
 
Our Oratory always celebrates the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday - twice! Low Mass in the morning and a High Mass in the evening- so most can attend. :heaven:
 
James0235 said:
I always found a way to make it to Mass on Holy Days even when I was working 70-80 hours a week at 2 jobs, was in school at least 3 days a week, and spent 10+ hours a week doing volunteer work.

If people have a problem making it to Mass on a Holy Day then they should do a couple of things:
  1. Examine their priorities. For some people it is possible to actually rearrange their schedule for one day to make it to Mass. Understandably not everyone can.
I don’t think that transferring the Holy Day is necessarily the best option. It is the laziest option but not the best option.
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Word. Here’s my 2 cents on this:
Why pick Ascension as one of the movable feast days? I think it’s a mistake. People can make it to mass on a Thursday if they want to. If they make it a priority, it can be planned in advance and will get done. The feast days commemorating the Marian dogmas (IC, Assumption, Mother of God) are not moveable.

But then we have the Ascension, which is an actual event in Our Lord’s life when He Ascended into Heaven 40 days after his Resurrection, and before Pentacost. (See how well that all fits together?) Since the Ascension fits into the timeline of the liturgical year, it’s correct placement in the year is more important, I’d argue, than some of the other non-moveable feasts.
 
James0235 said:
Following that logic then maybe all Holy Days of Obligation should be transferred to Sunday. Heck, let’s make things really convenient for people and move Christmas to the Sunday nearest December 25th.

I always found a way to make it to Mass on Holy Days even when I was working 70-80 hours a week at 2 jobs, was in school at least 3 days a week, and spent 10+ hours a week doing volunteer work.

If people have a problem making it to Mass on a Holy Day then they should do a couple of things:
  1. Examine their priorities. For some people it is possible to actually rearrange their schedule for one day to make it to Mass. Understandably not everyone can.
  2. Talk to their pastor. Does he not have the authority to dispense with the obligation to attend Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day? Work is necessary for most people. It would seem to be a just reason to dispense with the obligation when necessary.
I don’t think that transferring the Holy Day is necessarily the best option. It is the laziest option but not the best option.

James
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Even better, lets just make Christmas and Easter obligations and forget about Sundays. You do know I’m being, what’s the word??? I see no reason to move or eliminate any Holy days.
 
Here in the East it is still celbrated on Thursday. FYI the diocese of Rome has transferred it to Sunday
 
ac_claire said:
The feast days commemorating the Marian dogmas (IC, Assumption, Mother of God) are not moveable.
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They are moveable, they just are not moved by the USCCB*. In the UK, I believe, these feasts are translated to Sunday on those years when they would otherwise fall on Saturday or Monday.

(* In most of the US, however, Assumption and Mother of God do have their obligations lifted when they fall on Saturday or Monday)

:twocents:
tee
 
tee_eff_em said:
They are moveable, they just are not moved by the USCCB*. In the UK, I believe, these feasts are translated to Sunday on those years when they would otherwise fall on Saturday or Monday.

(* In most of the US, however, Assumption and Mother of God do have their obligations lifted when they fall on Saturday or Monday)

:twocents:
tee
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The Immaculate Conception isn’t moved in the US because it’s our patronal feast. The others are moved and – in my diocese at least – Mary, the Mother of God is simply dispensed.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
The Immaculate Conception isn’t moved in the US because it’s our patronal feast. The others are moved and – in my diocese at least – Mary, the Mother of God is simply dispensed.
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Maybe it’s because they didn’t fall on Sat. or Mon., but the just past Assumption and Mother of God were both mid-week Holy Days in my neck o’ the woods. IC was not moveable and on a Saturday…Since that’s my normal day to go to mass, and confession, I literally spent almost the entire day at church. It felt a lot like a retreat, come to think of it.
 
ac_claire said:
Maybe it’s because they didn’t fall on Sat. or Mon., but the just past Assumption and Mother of God were both mid-week Holy Days in my neck o’ the woods. IC was not moveable and on a Saturday…Since that’s my normal day to go to mass, and confession, I literally spent almost the entire day at church. It felt a lot like a retreat, come to think of it.
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Even if the Immaculate COnception fell on a Saturday or MOnday it would still be a day of obligation because it is the patronal feast for the United States. The only other feast where the obligation in not abrogated is Christmas. This year All Saints falls on a Saturday so it will not be a day of obligation. The folllowing day, All Souls Day, will be celebrated in place of the regaular Sunday Mass.
 
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