About Ascension Day
Ascension Day commemorates the ascension of Jesus into heaven forty days after his resurrection, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. Because Easter Sunday is itself counted as the first day, Ascension always falls on a Thursday — the fortieth day after Easter inclusive. The day has been observed since at least the fourth century. In the Western church it remains a day of obligation, and it is a public holiday in much of continental Europe: Germany, Austria, much of Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and several countries in central Africa. Many countries with Ascension Day as a public holiday also treat the following Friday as a popular bridge day.
In Catholic and Lutheran Europe Ascension is marked by morning mass with the Paschal candle extinguished at the moment of reading the ascension narrative, symbolising Christ's bodily departure from the world. The day is otherwise quiet and contemplative, with families taking advantage of the spring weather for excursions, hiking, biking and the start of the open-air season. In Germany the day coincides with Father's Day (Vatertag) since the early twentieth century, marked by groups of men setting out on rural walks with handcarts of beer — a tradition with mixed reviews. In the Netherlands and Sweden many leave the city for the countryside. In France the day kicks off a four-day weekend with the pont du jeudi. Shops, banks and offices close across the countries where the day is observed.