The Church commemorates the Divine Ascension of our Lord into heaven.
During the first Christian centuries, the most sacred feast of the Ascension of our Lord was celebrated on the Feast of Pentecost, since, according to the Bible, Jesus foretold His departure from Earth into the presence of God promising to send His disciples the Holy Spirit, which will lead them to the full revelation of the Truth. It is considered a Despotic feast day because it refers to Jesus Christ the Despot.
The Ascension of our Lord signifies the completion of the plan of the divine economy (i.e. the love and charity of God for man), which aims to the restoration of man to Paradise from where he fell, and the glory of the Risen Christ He who ascended into heaven after having defeated death is the Son of Man. He is the one who ascended His human and divine nature, united in one hypostasis, and gave the opportunity to every person who freely believes the ability to follow Him.
The traditional site of the miraculous ascension is Mount of Olives. Jesus is taken up from the disciples in their sight, a cloud hides him from view. Then, two angels appeared and assured them that “Jesus who has ascended into heaven will come again in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
The departure of Jesus from the earth brought sorrow to His disciples because they would not see Him again. But this sorrow turned into joy, after having blessed them and promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit. After ten days, the coming of the Holy Spirit confirmed that Christ did not abandon them, but was constantly with them within our Holy Church.
The Lord ascended in glory, as the apolytikion says, and this glory is what God has promised for every man who imitates Christ in his life. When we recite the Nicene Creed, we declare faith in Christ, who “ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father,” and expressing our hope and expectation that “[…] He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.” We actually celebrate the Ascension event.
Source: Churches of Cyprus
