The historical event of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ says that the Lord after a stay on earth ascended to heaven. First He died, then resurrected, and on the fortieth day ascended to his heavenly Father.
The time of the celebration of the ascension of Christ depends on the Dating of Easter. The resurrection is the Central day in the liturgical life of the Orthodox person. This is the beginning of the new liturgical, so some Church holidays take your report from the time of the celebration of Easter. Ascension torzhestvuyte Orthodox Church on the fortieth day. The Scriptures of the New Testament openly told the people that at this time the Lord ascended into heaven. Thirty-nine days Christ was to his disciples and apostles, but then it came time to return to God the Father.
In the Orthodox calendar the feast of Christ's ascension is on the fortieth day after Easter. The number forty has always been symbolic for the New Testament and the old. In the days of Moses and the prophets the symbolism of the number 40 indulged in a special sense. She was special and intimate. So, for forty years the Jewish people as a punishment wandered the desert for forty days, Moses stayed on the mountain before receiving the ten commandments. In the New Testament Christ fasted forty days in the desert, and in modern times, on the fortieth day marked the funeral of the deceased.
It turns out that in order to know the time of the celebration of the ascension it is necessary to count the forty days from Easter day of the Lord. Worth pointing out that commemoration of the events of the ascension of Christ to heaven always falls on a Thursday.