Solemnity of Ascension

I conducted an informal poll of my Catholic friends, asking: do you know what the Solemnity of Ascension is? The responses were downright dismal.

One came close, saying it referred to the corporeal ascent into heaven of the Virgin Mary. That event, however—commemorated so colorfully in German as "Maria Himmelfahrt"—is known in English as the Assumption. Ascension, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary (1st ed.), is defined as "the ascent of Christ into heaven on the fortieth day after the Resurrection."

Ascension isn't what it used to be. In 2001, the Archbishop of St. Louis lamented: "The 'sad fact' is that the feast now is celebrated by a very small percentage of Catholics in the archdiocese."

The Archbishop will be heartened to know that "Solemnity of Ascension" has not been forgotten by the Parking Community of New York. All who are parked in a Monday/Thursday spot give thanks for ecumenism (and seven straight days of not having to move the car).

One member of the congregation would like to share a story. "This past Sunday, after leaving my cell phone in the car overnight—in full view, while my car was parked on Fifth Avenue, with one door UNLOCKED—I returned the next morning to find the phone right where I had left it."

Thanks be to the patron saint of parking for his/her benevolence.