THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD LITURGICALLY CELEBRATED IN THE CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS

The hierarchal vicar of Kotor-Tivat, parish priest of Kotor, archpriest – strofor Nemanja Krivokapić served the Holy Liturgy today on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord in the Church of St. Nicholas, with the concelebration of the clergy of the Parish and the participation of the faithful.

The celebration of the Ascension of the Lord in Kotor began yesterday, on the eve of the feast, with Solemn Vespers.

The troparion that is sung on today's feast: You have ascended in glory, O Christ our God, creating joy in your disciples, promising the Holy Spirit, announcing to them that you are blessed, how great are you, the Son of God, the Redeemer of peace.

After being crucified on the Cross and buried in the tomb, after three days our Lord, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples, the eleven holy apostles. He spent 40 days with them here on earth, teaching them how to spread his faith and Christian teachings. When those 40 days were over, he took them all with him to the Mount of Olives and said to them: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of all these things. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And behold, I will send the promise of my Father upon you; but you remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”

With these words He ended His conversation with them, blessed them, and began to ascend into heaven, leaving them to await the descent of the Holy Spirit. The apostles stood and looked at Him in silence until He had completely disappeared. At that time, the Angels of God addressed them with the words: “Why do you stand and look? As you saw the Lord go into heaven, so He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and then His kingdom will have no end.”
In memory of this event, our Church celebrates SALVATION DAY, i.e. the Day of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.