Our Lord’s Ascension
Eucharistic celebrations 7am – 8am – 11am – 5.30pm
The 8.30am celebration is suspended
- 5.30pm Chapter Eucharist
It is possible to follow the celebrations at 8am and 5.30 pm in streaming on this site (www.duomomilano.it) from the YouTube channel Duomo Milano Tv.
On the Solemnity of the Ascension (the fortieth day of Easter), during the Chapter Eucharist, at 5.30pm, the rite of the "ascension" of the Paschal Candle is performed.
While the Gospel is being proclaimed (Luke 24,36b-53), the great Paschal candle is slowly raised - as if to make the Mystery of the Ascension of the Lord visible - up to the height of the vaults and remains there until the Solemnity of Pentecost.
Documented as early as the 15th century (the period in which the artistic Gothic-Renaissance hanging candlestick dates back to), this evocative rite originally had two functions: to educate the faithful and to give an allegorical interpretation of the liturgy. On the one hand, the aim is to accompany listening to the Word with a visual input, thus encouraging participation in sharing the Mystery. On the other hand, the origin of the rite refers to a time when the allegorical interpretation of the liturgical act was considered one of the main ways to gain access to the celebrated Mystery.