Also called ‘The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ’, ‘Ascension Day’, ‘Ascension Thursday’ and ‘Holy Thursday’. This day, which occurs on the fortieth day of Easter, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. Because the Eastern Orthodox Church method to calculate the date of Easter differs from the Catholic and Protestant Churches, its Ascension Day falls on a separate day. In some Eastern European countries this day is a public holiday.