The Ascension of Christ, Salvador Dali, oil, 1958

Please join us for the Feast of the Ascension with Mass at 12:05 and 7PM.*

At 6:45, just prior to the service, the Gentlemen of the Choir will sing the Ascension Carol from the roof of the Cathedral Offices.

The Feast of Ascension is the commemoration of our Lord’s bodily ascension into heaven. Formerly called Holy Thursday in the Church of England, as in William Blake’s poem, it is a joyous feast because it reminds us that this too is our future. Jesus assumed our human nature not only to redeem it but also to bring us, body and soul, into the presence of the Father. Join us and the choir “when like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song” and celebrate our Forerunner’s glorious ascension and entry home.

"We are told in an Old Testament tale, how an angel of God having appeared to man disappeared again by going up in the flame from the altar.  And in the same way Elijah, when he could no more be found, was believed to have gone up on the crests of flaming horses.  The flame which carried Christ to heaven was the flame of his own sacrifice.  Flame tends always upwards.  All his life long Christ's love burnt towards the heart of heaven in a bright fire, until he was wholly consumed in it, and went up in that fire to God.  The fire is kindled on our altars, here Christ ascends in fire; the fire is kindled in the Christian heart, and we ascend.  He says to us, Lift up your hearts; and we reply, We lift them up unto the Lord."

from The Crown of the Year by Austin Farrer