I was doing some research online and came across www.timeanddate.com. It was interesting to not only find this website, but the following entry in the Holidays section:
Ascension Day is observed in the United States on the 40th day of Easter. It commemorates Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven, according to the New Testament of the Bible.
I found that surprising, being as, if this is celebrated in North America, I’d have to say, I know few folks these days that have any awareness of it as a Holiday. It was this next section that gave me some new insight.
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What do people do?
Some churches in the United States join forces to celebrate a combined Day of Prayer and Ascension Day service, which may include a time for reflection. A few churches also organize a “church crawl”, where people travel from one church to another and experience the different prayer events.
Other churches may feature combined cathedral choirs that offer a special solemn Eucharist written especially for Ascension Day. A social time usually follows the service. Some Lutheran churches hold a special ceremony where the Paschal candle is extinguished and removed after the reading of the gospel on Ascension Day.
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Now, I have heard of a Pub Crawl, and you probably have too, but a church crawl was new to me. All that said, here’s where this whole thing started. Enjoy!
Acts 1:9-11 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”
