When was Heaven opened?

[CatholicTimmy]

This may have been asked before, but I couldn’t find anything. I was watching one of the old Mother Angelica shows and she said that Heaven was opened when Jesus Ascended and took all of those who had died waiting, with him.
But I always thought Heaven was opened that instant when Jesus made his perfect sacrifice on the cross, and that is when those who had died were able to enter into Heaven.
I just wanted to know which is correct. And if Heaven was opened at the Ascension, why did Jesus have to die? Or was the Ascension just the completion of the sacrifice?

I don’t know if there is a particular passage that clarifies, or if there is a church teaching on this. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

 

[fred_conty]

Hi,
Heaven was opened up to us when sin was fully paid for at the moment of His death.
“This day you will be with me in paradise.” He said this to the man on the right.
The Resurrection is proof of this since never has it been known for anyone to raise
themselves back to life. The Ascension is when He left to his church to complete His
work on earth until the end of time. Pentecost is the start of the church’s mission to
evangelize the whole world.

 

[valentino]

After Jesus died on the cross.

 

[Fink]

According to the Original Catholic Encyclopaedia, Heaven was opened after our Lord`s Ascension.

 

[Joannm]

According to tradition it was between the death of Jesus and His resurrection. In the Creed we say He “decended into hell.” This was not the hell of the devils but the place where the souls of those destined for heaven were awaiting the Savior to come and free them. newadvent.org/cathen/07143d.htm.

In iconography the Resurrection is depicted as the Harrowing of Hell or the raising of Adam and Eve to heaven.

 

[Fink]

This may have been asked before, but I couldn’t find anything. I was watching one of the old Mother Angelica shows and she said that Heaven was opened when Jesus Ascended and took all of those who had died waiting, with him.

Thanks!!!

Mother Angelica was right.
This is a quote from the Original Catholic Encyclopaedia under the word “Limbo”:
In liturgical usage, the name is applied to (a) the temporary place or state of the souls of the just who, although purified from sin, were excluded from the beatific vision until Christ`s triumphant ascension into Heaven (the “limbus patrum”)…
Our Lord took the souls of all of the just with Him.

Limbus Patrum = Limbo of The Fathers. It was also called The Bosom of Abraham. This is not the same “Limbo” as the speculated state of those who die without Baptism.
In that earlier post, i should have said “at”, rather than “after”.

 

[CatholicTimmy]

Mother Angelica was right.
This is a quote from the Original Catholic Encyclopaedia under the word “Limbo”:
In liturgical usage, the name is applied to (a) the temporary place or state of the souls of the just who, although purified from sin, were excluded from the beatific vision until Christ`s triumphant ascension into Heaven (the “limbus patrum”)…
Our Lord took the souls of all of the just with Him.

Limbus Patrum = Limbo of The Fathers. It was also called The Bosom of Abraham. This is not the same “Limbo” as the speculated state of those who die without Baptism.
In that earlier post, i should have said “at”, rather than “after”.

Thanks! That makes sense, but what happened at the Jesus’ death then? I thought that was when he took all of the sin upon his shoulders and it was through dying he redeemed us, and made it possible to go to Heaven? :harp: Or was that the sacrifice, and it wasn’t really completed until he ascended? I guess what I am trying to figure out, is what was it that happened when jesus died?