Ambartsum — Ascension of the Lord in Armenia (26/05)

The Ascension of the Lord — Ambartsum — as a holiday was established in Armenia in the 4th-5th centuries and is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter.

It is based on the gospel story of how the resurrected Jesus Christ called the apostles to the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem and blessed them for a worldwide sermon: «Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age».

With these words, He began to move away, ascended and disappeared into the cloud and «vosseled at the right hand of God». While the apostles looked at heaven, two angels appeared and told about the ascension of Christ, who in due time would appear again for the Judgment of humanity and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven: «He will come in the same way as you saw Him ascending to heaven».

About the signs that will precede this phenomenon, Jesus warned the apostles: «...The sun will fade, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory... No one knows about the day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but only My Father alone».

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