The word ascension, as in Ascension Thursday (next Thursday) which marks the ascent of Christ into heaven on the 40th day after the Resurrection, comes from the Latin "ascensionem" which means "a rising". Also from "ascendere" meaning "to mount, go up".
The Feast of the Ascension, also known as Ascension Day, also as Holy Thursday by some Christian denominations (not to be confused with the Thursday of Holy Week), is celebrated by all churches. As with feasts of the Passion, of Easter, and Pentecost, it is therefore one of the most ecumenical feast days in Christianity.
Traditionally it is celebrated on a Thursday, the 40th day of Easter and following an account given in the Acts of the Apostles (1:3).
It is also one of the oldest feast days celebrated in Christianity. Tradition holds that it existed before the fifth century. St Augustine claimed it originated with the apostles themselves. Some feel it was celebrated from earliest Christianity in conjunction with Easter and/or Pentecost.
The Latin words used for the feast, “ascensio” and, sometimes “ascensa”, suggest that Christ was raised by his own powers. And therein lies the difference between “ascension” and “assumption”, as in the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, celebrated by Catholics on August 15th every year. Believers hold that Mary was assumed to heaven by God and not by her own powers.
The Anglican Book of Common Prayer uses "Holy Thursday" as an alternative name for Ascension Day.
The three days before Ascension Thursday are sometimes referred to as the Rogation days and the previous Sunday, the Sixth Sunday of Easter (or the Fifth Sunday after Easter), as Rogation Sunday.
During those days processions may be held from Monday through to the Wednesday preceding Ascension Thursday. The word “Rogation” comes from the Latin verb “rogare”, meaning “to ask”, for God’s protection.
The beginnings of that tradition can be traced to the Roman holiday of Robigalia, where a goat was sacrificed and crops were blessed in the name of the God Robigus. The practitioners asked the God for protection of their crops from mildew.
In Western Christianity the earliest possible date for Ascension Thursday is April 30th with the latest possible date being June 3rd
Belief in ascension is not peculiar to New Testament Christianity. In the Old Testament it is said that Enoch, ancestor of Noah, ascended to heaven, and Islam teaches that its founder Muhammad did also.
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