ASCENSION

in Christian belief, the ascent of Jesus Christ into heaven on the 40th day after his Resurrection (Easter being reckoned as the first day). According to the first chapter of The Acts of the Apostles, after appearing to the Apostles on various occasions during a period of 40 days, Jesus was taken up in their presence and was then hidden from them by a cloud, a frequent biblical image signifying the presence of God. Although belief in the Ascension is apparent in other books of the New Testament, the emphasis and the imagery differ. In The Gospel According to John, the glorification described by the Ascension story seems to have taken place immediately after the Resurrection. The imagery of the account in The Gospel According to Luke is similar to that of Acts, but there is no mention of a period of 40 days. The meaning of the Ascension for Christians is derived from their belief in the glorification and exaltation of Jesus following his death and Resurrection, as well as from the theme of his return to the Father. Thus, The Gospel According to John uses both the sayings of Jesus and his post-Resurrection appearances to indicate a new relationship between Jesus and his Father and between him and his followers, rather than a simple physical relocation from earth to heaven. The Ascension of Jesus is mentioned in the Apostles' Creed, a profession of faith used for baptism in the early church. The feast of the Ascension ranks with Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost in the universality of its observance among Christians. The feast has been celebrated 40 days after Easter in both Eastern and Western Christianity since the 4th century. Prior to that time, the Ascension was commemorated as a part of the celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. A distinctive feature of the feast's liturgy in the Western churches is the extinguishing of the Paschal candle, first lit on Easter, after the Gospel has been read, as a symbol of Christ's leaving the earth. Despite the idea of separation indicated in this act, which might be expected to set a note of sadness, the whole liturgy of Ascensiontide, through the 10 days to Pentecost, is marked by joy in the final triumph of the risen Lord. One of the central themes of the feast is the kingship of Christ, and the theological implication is that the Ascension was the final redemptive act conferring participation in the divine life on all who are members of Christ. In other words, Christ was lifted up into heaven so that he might make us partakers of his Godhead. In the European Middle Ages the people's delight in the visual and dramatic found an outlet in various ritual practices that came to be associated with the feast. Popular customs included a procession in imitation of Christ's journey with his Apostles to the Mount of Olives, as well as the raising of a crucifix or a statue of the risen Christ through an opening in the church roof. In Christian art the Ascension is an old theme, appearing since the 5th century. The earliest version of the Ascension, which persisted in the West until the 11th century, shows Christ from the side, climbing to the top of the hill and grasping the hand of God, which emerges from a cloud above to pull him into heaven. The Apostles, assembled below, watch the event. In the 6th century a different version of the Ascension was developed in Syria and was later adopted in Byzantine art. This version emphasizes Christ's divinity, showing him frontally, standing immobile in a mandorla, or almond-shaped aureole, elevated above the earth and supported by angels. He holds a scroll and makes a gesture of benediction. A curious detail of this version is the regular inclusion of the Virgin Mary, who is not mentioned in the biblical account of the event, and St. Paul, who, on historical grounds, was not present. The inclusion of these figures has not been adequately explained, but they may represent, with the figure of St. Peter, an allegory of the church that Christ leaves behind. This type of Ascension, which follows the Roman tradition of representing the apotheosis of an emperor, often figured prominently in the monumental decoration of Byzantine churches as the emblem of one of the principal church feast days. By the 11th century, the West had also adopted a frontal representation. In the Western version, however, the humanity of Christ is emphasized: he extends his hands on either side, showing his wounds. He is usually in a mandorla but is not always supported or even surrounded by angels; thus, he is no longer carried to heaven but ascends by his own power. In the 12th century this version of the Ascension had an especially prominent place in French Romanesque church decoration. The Ascension remained important as a devotional subject in the art of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, both of which retained the iconography of Christ displaying his wounds. British island in the South Atlantic Ocean, with an area of 34 square miles (88 square km). It is a dependency of the colony of St. Helena, 700 miles (1,100 km) to the southeast. Except on the heights of Green Mountain (2,817 feet ), where fruit, vegetables, and livestock are raised, the island is mostly a desert of extinct volcanic craters and extensive lava flows. There are no surface streams. Nineteenth-century catchment basins on Green Mountain yield some fresh water, but desalinization plants produce the bulk of the supply. Unprotected by coral reefs, the sandy beaches are vulnerable to heavy oceanic swells but are critical nesting sites for the globally endangered green sea turtles, which come ashore to lay eggs between January and April. Sooty terns also breed in abundance, but other birds have suffered major depredations by feral cats. Although discovered by the Portuguese navigator Joo da Nova Castella in 1501 (on Ascension Day), Ascension remained uninhabited until 1815, when British marines were stationed there to discourage Napoleon's escape from St. Helena. An administrator, under the governor of St. Helena, has represented the British crown since 1922, but the economy depends on communications facilities operated by Cable and Wireless PLC, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Air Force, the Royal Air Force, and British and American intelligence organizations. About half the population are St. Helenian contract labourers, about 200 are Americans, and the remainder are metropolitan British. There are no permanent residents on the island. Wideawake Airfield, built by American engineers during World War II, was critical to British success during the Falkland Islands war of 1982, when a tent city of British marines and soldiers sprung up overnight. Royal Air Force flights between the United Kingdom and the Falklands refuel at Ascension, the midpoint of their journey. U.S. flights travel from Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, via the Caribbean island of Antigua. Access to Ascension is limited, although private yachts may remain for three days, at the discretion of the administrator. Pop. (1987 est.) 1,400.