Ascension Day Recipes

Want to celebrate the feast of the Ascension with a feast for your family? These Ascension Day recipes will inspire you. 

Jesus ascended into Heaven on the Mount of Olives. On Ascension Day, families would traditionally pack up a picnic lunch or dinner and head out for a hike to a nearby hill or mountain field. This tradition has been lost in modern times. But now is the time for you to pick it up and commemorate the Ascension with a hike and a family picnic. 

As a reminder that Jesus took flight into Heaven, you can enjoy some bird-themed foods and desserts for Ascension Day. From The Easter Book by Fr. Francis X Weiser: “It was a widespread custom in many parts of Europe during the Middle Ages to eat a bird on Ascension Day, because Christ ‘flew’ to heaven. Pigeons, pheasants, partridges, and even crows, graced the dinner tables. In western Germany, bakers and innkeepers gave their customers pieces of pastry made in the shapes of various birds.”

Now, don’t worry. You don’t have to go out and hunt for a crow to eat on Ascension Day. Chicken will do nicely! If you’re adventurous, you might try to find quail, Cornish hens, or duck.