Ascension

The mystery of the footprint of the Son of God

The holy stone with the footprint of Jesus(Bild: Adrian Solumsmo)

Ascension Day is celebrated on the 40th day of Easter. Today, a chapel stands on the spot on the Mount of Olives from which Jesus ascended into heaven: it contains a sacred stone.

It is said to be the last footprint of Jesus Christ on earth: At the heart of the Chapel of the Ascension on the highest point of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, pilgrims have for many centuries worshipped a rock from which, according to tradition, God's Son ascended into heaven. There is a tomb-like enclosure in the floor of the simple, small church.

It provides a view of a natural stone on which the imprint of the right foot of the risen Christ has survived the ages. This is what many Catholics believe. And even the early Christians commemorated the elevation of Christ in a cave on the Mount of Olives in the Holy Land; in the 4th century, a pious Roman woman donated an octagonal church building there. After its destruction by Persian troops, crusaders erected the foundation walls of today's chapel around 1150.

Medieval illuminators depicted the Ascension
The Ascension scene, in which the Nazarene is lifted up before the astonished eyes of the apostles and taken up in a cloud, was depicted again and again by medieval illuminators, impressively and colorfully. Such as in the Vorau Folk Bible from the year of our Lord 1467, where Jesus' footprints on the holy ground are also at the center.

For me, Ascension Day is an encouragement that I too will go to heaven, just like every believer in Christ. The feast is also the encouragement that when I am there, I will see the one I have believed in all my life.

Pfarrer Markus Plöbst

"A picture is worth a thousand words", according to this motto, priests also liked to place large paintings in front of the altars in their Austrian churches, showing the Savior returning home to his heavenly Father. "These were so-called changing pictures, which were presented to churchgoers so that they could understand the content of a special day like Ascension Day as quickly as possible," explains Heimo Kaindl, Director of the Diocesan Museum in Graz.

What many people didn't know or have forgotten is that we are still in the Easter period and the "Ascension of the Lord" is being celebrated today, the 40th day since it began. 40 is the sacred number in the Bible - that is how long Lent lasts, and that is how long Jesus remained on earth after his resurrection.

Ascension picture in the parish church of Irdning (Styria)(Bild: [e-mail])

Pastor: "I will see Jesus Christ in heaven"
"For me, Ascension Day is an encouragement that I too will go to heaven, just like every believer in Christ. For me, the festival is also an encouragement that when I get there, I will see the one I have believed in all my life," says Markus Plöbst, the parish priest of Leoben. A message of comfort and confidence on today's holiday.