Ascension of the Lord
Eucharistic celebrations at 7 a.m. – 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.
The 8.30 a.m. celebration in the Crypt is suspended
– 5.30 p.m. Chapter Eucharist
You can follow the 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. celebrations in streaming on this Site (www.duomomilano.it) from the YouTube channel Duomo Milano Tv
On the Solemnity of the Ascension (assigned to the fortieth day of Easter), during the Chapter celebration at 5:30 p.m., the rite of the ‘ascension’ of the Paschal Candle is celebrated.
While the Gospel is proclaimed (Luke 24: 36b-53), the great Paschal Candle is slowly raised – as if to make visible the Mystery of the Lord’s Ascension – to the height of the vaults and remains there until the Solemnity of Pentecost.
Documented as early as the 15th century (the period to which the artistic Gothic-Renaissance hanging candlestick dates), this evocative rite originates both from a didactic-formative intent towards the faithful and from an allegorical interpretation of the liturgy. On the one hand, the intention is to accompany the listening of the Word with the vision, encouraging a participation that is a sharing of the Mystery. On the other hand, the origin of the rite goes back to a time when the allegorical interpretation of the liturgical action was considered one of the main ways of accessing the Mystery celebrated.