Ascension 2022: what is the origin of this Christian holiday?

ASCENT. This Thursday, May 26, 2022 will be the opportunity to bridge the gap to treat yourself to a long 4-day weekend. Do you know where this holiday comes from? Linternaute.com offers you a reminder shot.

[Mis à jour le 19 mai 2022 à 18h06] For Christians, Ascension Thursday has a very specific meaning. It is indeed a question of celebrating the elevation of Jesus to heaven 40 days after his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Why did the Church set this number at IV^and century? This is a reference to the book of Acts of the Apostles where it is written by Luke that “for forty days, [Jésus] appeared to the apostles and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1, 3).

Linternaute.com invites you to discover in this special file Ascension the origins of this holiday, but also of the holiday Thursday, which is an opportunity to bridge the gap for many French people.

In 2022, Ascension Thursday “falls” on May 26. You should know that May 26 is not the date of Ascension every year. This day is mobile in the Gregorian calendar. It moves between April 30 and June 3 depending on the year. But no matter what, Ascension always happens 40 days after Easter Sunday. This is why Ascension always falls on a Thursday.

The date of Ascension changes every year but always coincides with a Thursday, since the Christian holiday always “falls” 40 days after Easter. The date of Easter is fixed according to the Ecclesiastical Computing, that is to say a set of calculations used by the Christian Churches to fix the day of certain celebrations. Since the Council of Nicaea which was held in the year 325, Easter takes place on the Sunday following the first full moon which follows March 21, that is to say between March 22 and April 25. Since Easter always takes place on a Sunday, the fortieth day after Easter is always a Thursday. The celebration of the Ascension therefore always takes place on a Thursday between April 30 and June 3.

For Christians, Ascension Thursday has a very specific meaning. It corresponds to the Ascension of Christ, that is to say the moment when Jesus rises to heaven. This event marks the end of his earthly life, 40 days after Easter, that is to say his resurrection (passage from death to life following the crucifixion). This episode is described at the end of the Gospel according to Luke: Jesus takes his apostles to Bethany, a village in Judea where he liked to retire to flee the persecutions of Jerusalem. There he blesses them. “And it came to pass, as he was blessing them, that he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. For them, having worshiped him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were constantly in the Temple praising God”.

Another account of the Ascension opens the Acts of the Apostles. Also written by Luke, it specifies: “You are going to receive, says Jesus, a force, that of the Holy Spirit who will descend on you. You will then be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. After having pronounced this speech, Jesus would have risen towards the sky before disappearing in a cloud. An angel would then have asked the apostles not to wait to hear the word of the son of God. For Christians, this episode of Jesus’ departure from earthly life is not considered negatively: on the other hand, it is the beginning of the Church and the “mission” of propagation of the Catholic faith by the apostles.

The period of 40 days following Easter corresponds, according to the Bible, to the period when the risen Jesus has not yet ascended to heaven and remains on Earth. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Christ “for forty days appeared to the apostles and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God” says Luke. It is a key period, since he thus demonstrates, according to Christian believers, his resurrection. References to a 40-day periodicity are numerous in the Bible. The motif appears in the duration of Noah’s flood or in Christ’s retirement in the desert, corresponding to the Lent. The Ascension itself precedes the Pentecost.

Ascension Thursday is a holiday in France. The explanation is simple: under the Old Regime, Christian festivals punctuated the life of cities and countryside. The Ascension, like Easter, Christmas or the patronal feasts were non-working in a country that was still mainly rural. The French Revolution tried – unsuccessfully – to replace them with new secular celebrations. The Concordat signed in 1801 by Napoleon Bonaparte with Pope Pius VII, restores four Christian holidays in the calendar: Christmasthe Ascension of Christ, the Assumption of Mary (August 15) and the Toussaint.

We then speak of “obligation parties“. Despite the separation of Church and State in 1905, these four dates remain non-working throughout France (Alsace and Moselle also celebrate it, while Saint-Etienne on December 26 and Good Friday is only a holiday in the three eastern departments of France. In addition, this day is a public holiday in many countries such as Germany, Belgium or Switzerland (but not Italy, Spain or the UK).

Supermarkets such as Monoprix, Carrefour, Auchan are exceptionally open throughout France. Attention, for Leclerc brands, the opening is done on a case-by-case basis depending on the city (find out beforehand on the site of the nearby brand).

What are the most popular destinations in France? According to a study by the PAP Vacances site carried out last year, thehe coast came out a big winner with in the top 5 destinations for Ascension: Le Var, Morbihan, Charente-Maritime, Vendée then Calvados.

Many French people take advantage of the systematic presence of this holiday Thursday, between April and June each year, to start their weekend two days earlier and thus extend it: it is the Ascension Bridge. It involves taking time off on Fridays which is supposed to stay worked. Many other holidays can be bridged when the date (and the employer) permits. But the “Ascension Bridge” seems to be gradually becoming institutionalized. The majority of French administrative services close on Fridays. A closure presented as “exceptional” in most cases, but which has an almost general character.

To find out in particular the list of closed prefectures and sub-prefectures, the State has set up an interactive map of services (which can be consulted here) specifying the closing conditions. In town halls, many municipal services will also be unavailable, as will tax centers and CAF services… For all French schoolchildren, including those attending schools where there is usually class on Saturday morning, it should become a ritual inscribed in the school calendar!

Until now, National Education gave academies the choice of interrupting classes on the Friday and Saturday following the public holiday. In April 2015, the ministry clarified that from the spring of 2016, all schools in France would be closed the two days following Ascension Thursday. The 4-day weekend was therefore expected to become widespread from this date. It was a request made for a long time by teachers, parents, but also elected officials and employers during meetings with the Ministry of Education to build school calendars. Pupils from schools, colleges and high schools in zones A, B and C will therefore be on vacation on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at the end of classes..

With this bridge as with the others, classes have for several years now tended to empty out, with many parents “exceptionally” withdrawing their offspring from school to be able to go away for the weekend. The measure is particularly supported by the tourism sector, which sees in the great weekend of Ascension the opportunity to make the figure. For parents’ representatives as well as for teachers, blowing up the Friday following the Ascension Bridge is also a way to lighten a very busy school calendar in the last quarter, certain areas, depending on the dates of the Easter holidays and the dates exams, which can take up to 10 weeks of lessons before the main school holidays. The sanctuary of the bridge for the students is therefore good news for many… except for the employees who work despite everything on Fridays and who have to find a mode of care.

Here is the calendar of Ascension dates in the years following the “next edition”: