The Feast of the Ascension in Jerusalem
In the Holy Land, almost every major moment in the life of Christ is commemorated with a basilica, church, shrine, or convent on or nearby the place where it occurred. There is the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and all the churches and monasteries commemorating the many miracles of the life and Passion of Christ in and around the Galilee and Jerusalem, to save a few.
Yet where is the church for one of the most important moments in the Christian faith, the Ascension of Christ, as recalled in Mark 16:19: After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God, and why isn’t it better known?
The answer is complicated.
First, there is, in fact, a major church on the Mount of Olives, the place of the Ascension. The Russian Orthodox Convent of the Ascension on the northern side of the Mount of Olives, famous for its spiraling bell tower, is dedicated to this feast, but it is rarely visited by pilgrims who are not Orthodox, and services by other faiths within the church are forbidden as per Orthodox canon law.
While a beautiful and inspiring convent that also holds a small chapel built over the place where the head of Saint John the Baptist was discovered during the Byzantine Christian era, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension is less than two hundred years old. Another lesser-known monastery belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church exists further down the Mount of Olives is also dedicated to the Ascension, but does not contain any churches or features of interest to pilgrims.
The historical and most authentic site dedicated to the Ascension of Christ is a short distance from the Russian Orthodox convent and is no longer a Church, but a mosque. Founded in the late 4th Century AD, the original church was built over the site that pilgrims had long considered the place of the Ascension, and was constructed in the Byzantine Christian era. At the center of the church were two stone slabs believed to have an imprint of the feet of Christ before he ascended into heaven; a stone which survives until this day. Throughout the centuries, the structure was destroyed, rebuilt, repurposed and modified until it permanently passed into the hands of the Ottoman Turkish rulers of Jerusalem, who chose to keep it as a mosque.
Today, a small conical stone structure around the stone slab with the right footprint of Christ remains, with visitors of all faiths being allowed to enter during visiting hours. Through an ancient arrangement with the Muslim Waqf, the semi-governmental religious body which oversees all the Muslim places of worship, pilgrimage and endowments in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, the churches under the Status Quo arrangement (the Roman Catholic Church, under the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land, the Armenian Apostolic Church of Jerusalem, which also oversees the Syriac, Coptic and Ethiopian churches, and then the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, responsible for all Orthodox churches in the world) are allowed to hold services to commemorate the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast of the Ascension occurs in Christian calendars on the 40th day of the Easter season in both church calendars, and so is therefore celebrated either once or twice on the Mount of Olives under the standing agreement between the Churches, the Waqf, and the civil authorities.
Following the Feast of Pentecost which follows shortly after Ascension, the Churches of Jerusalem enter into something of a ”low period” in their liturgical calendars, with few major feast days until the Feast of the Prophet Elijah in late July, early August (depending on the calendar of each church), followed by the Feast of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in early or mid-August. Modest in scope, often celebrated under the glaring late spring or early summer sun, the Feast of Ascension nonetheless attracts Christian pilgrims each year who take a moment to step inside the humble stone edicule and look on the stone that remains a physical reminder of the fulfilled promise of Christ that He would be resurrected, that he would rejoin His heavenly Father, and that He will return.
Be Not Afraid!
Good Shepherd Travel offers pilgrimages to the Mount of Olives as part of their Holy Land tours. Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Ireland, and many other destinations are among our most popular programs. For more information on how to begin preparing for a pilgrimage in late 2020 or in 2021, contact Tony AbuAita at Tony@goodshepherdtravel.com. We will return to pilgrimage – and we hope to see you with us!