At first the church commemorated the Ascension (from the Latin ascensio, “ascent”) of Christ into heaven, after his Resurrection (Luke 24:50–51; Acts 1:1–11), as part of the total victory of Christ celebrated from Easter to Pentecost. A special feast of the Ascension is not mentioned before the 4th century. The Spanish Council of Elvira (c. 300) appears to have rejected it as an unwarranted innovation. But by the end of the 4th century the feast had become universal in the church, on the 40th day after Easter. The old English popular name for the feast is Holy Thursday, but there ...(100 of 7998 words)
