Can it be that churches of the Ordinariate were the only ones celebrating the Ascension of Our Lord? Surely not!

You may take your pick from the following:

Thursday (EF)
Gregorian propers;
Tallis à 4 (isn't the Creed lovely?); Palestrina, O Rex gloriae;
Regina caeli.

Saturday (Divine Worship, kept as an external solemnity)
Gregorian propers;
Palestrina, Missa Viri Galilaei;
offertory hymn, Hail the day that sees Him rise, T. Llanfair;
Croft, God is gone u,p at Communion;
Regina caeli.

Sunday (OF, Parish Mass; First Communions)
Hymn sandwich (I Hail the day, O Alleluya, sing to Jesus, T. Hyfrydol - Hydrofoil, as a friend calls it; Rec Immaculate Mary);
Vidi aquam (Latin);
Hassler, Missa secunda (K, G, S, B, A); Croft, God is gone up (again, but different choir) at Communion;
Regina caeli (simple tone).

Holy Rood, Oxford.

"The OF have been told to celebrate on Sunday, sadly for them the Lord went up to Heaven on Thursday."
Not in Scotland! The Ascension is on Thursday here.

The Seventh Sunday of Easter
Being Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension
At Walsingham

Organ Voluntary - on the Agincourt Hymn - Improvisation
At the Procession - Hymn: 'At the Name of Jesus Ev'ry Knee Shall Bow' - - - King's Weston
Vidi Aquam - Chant, T. Norris
The Introit - Exaudi Domine - - - Tone VII (AUG)

Kyrie - Mass of St. Mary Magdelene - - - Healey Willan
Gloria - Mass of St. Mary Magdelene - - - Healey Willan

Psalm XXVII - Dominus illuminatio - - - Chant, Walter Ernest Smith
Alleluya and Verse - Regnavit Dominus and Exivi a Patre - - - After Palestrina

The Nicene Creed - - - Recto tono, with organ embellishments
The Universal Prayers - - - Byzantine Chant

At the Offertory -
The Antiphon - Ascendit Deus - - -Tone II (AUG)
Anthem - 'O Clap Your Hands' - - - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Sanctus - Mass of St. Mary Magdelene - - - Healey Willan
The Our Father - - - Mode VII
Agnus Dei - Mass of St. Mary Magdelene - - - Healey Willan

At the Communion -
The Antiphon - Pater cum essem - - - Tone I (AUG)
Anthem - O Rex Gloriae - - - Luca Marenzio
Hymn - 'See, the Conqu'ror Mounts in Triumph' - - - Rex Gloriae

At the Dismissal - Hymn: 'The Head that Once Was Crowned with Thorns' - - - St Magnus
Organ Voluntary - in D - - - John Stanley

Prelude on the Te Deum, Charpentier
A Hymn of Glory, LASST UNS (at Masses at which a hymn was sung)
Entrance chant (LCM) or Introit (GR)
Mass VIII
Psalm/Alleluia LCM
When Deacons are ordained: Litany of the Saints and Antiphons (MJM)
Offertory LCM
Rejoice in the Lord, Weelkes
Mass VIII
Communio (G&T)
All People Clap Your Hands, Weelkes
Wood THAXTED hymn
Trumpet tune in Bb Major, Brunner

.

As an aside - I find it slightly irritating when trads make fun of "OF people" for not celebrating Ascension Thursday when their EF parishes still celebrate the 'external solemnity' on the Sunday following. That's still cheating.

We would normally have celebrated the Sunday within the Octave, but this year,

28th May External Solemnity of St. Bede.
Vidi Aquam.
All Propers, from the Graduale Romanum 1924 (Common of Doctors)
Ordinary, Mass II
Credo I
Offertory 'motet', Optatus votis omnium (Roman melody)
Com. 'motet', Postqum hostem (former sequence for Sunday within the Octave)
Domine salvum fac (Prayer for the queen)
Marian Anthem, Regina Caeli Solemn tone.

N.B. We also had a sung Mass for St. Bede on Saturday.

If Christ emerged from the tomb sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning– classically, the temporal celebration of the Resurrection is Matins in the West– then the fortieth day recorded in Acts is Thursday.

This is What Was Done At Our Parish on Sunday

Entrance: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Kyrie: Spoken
Gloria: Mass of Renewal
Psalm: God Mounts His Throne (setting from Gather Comprehensive)
Alleluia: Mass of Renewal
Sermon: Topic was Suicide (guest priest as well, due to Pastor being gone for Diaconate Ordinations)
Offertory: (I don't remember what it was)
Sanctus: Mass of Renewal
Memorial Acclamation: Mass of Renewal
Amen: Mass of Renewal
Agnus Dei: Mass of Renewal
Communion: Taste and See (Moore)
Recessional: The King of Glory Let Us Sing (LASST UNS ERFREUEN)

Not a word was spoken about the Ascension or what it means, only the mention at the beginning of the Mass that we were celebrating the Ascension of the Lord.

Liturgical time has some meaning, whether or not it reproduces historical time or not.

If someone could find me a primary source on the liturgy from the first century AD, I would love to read it.

That celebration of Ascension on the following Sunday happened so long ago in my diocese, that I don't remember when it started.

As to what happened in our church, it was too dire to list. As part of an effort to get our Philipino community to engage liturgically, we had a guitar led (Philipino) group from a neighbouring parish. The musical focus was on Mary (inc. Fatima). I should perhaps mention that at least half our First Holy Communions come from this section of the parish.

As an aside - I find it slightly irritating when trads make fun of "OF people" for not celebrating Ascension Thursday when their EF parishes still celebrate the 'external solemnity' on the Sunday following.

Nope.

We celebrated the Sunday after Ascension.
Gregorian Propers, Mass I, Credo I,
Pergolesi "Surrexit Christus" as an offertory motet
Simple Tone Regina Caeli antiphon, with Charpentier "Regina Caeli" duet as recessional.
Children's schola sang 2 tunes as Communion "motets"

Holy Week times from 1939, here

The Imperial Archive in Rome, (that may still be buried in the ruins) would have had the census records of Augustus (inferred in a Sermon by St. John Chrysostom on the correct date of Christmas), it would also have had a record of the trial and Crucifixion. It should be noted that many of the accounts of the early martyrs, mention the judge commenting on Jesus being a "common criminal" or having been crucified.

St. Michael the Archangel, Leawood, Kansas

Introit: Viri galilaei (Gregorian)
Hymn: A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing (Lasst uns erfreuen)
Gloria: Mass in Honor of St. Michael (Vogt)
Psalm: Psalm 47 (Guimont)
Alleluia: Mode VI Chant / Mass in Honor of St. Paul (Vogt)
Offertory: All People, Clap Your Hands (Weelkes)
Hymn: Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise (Llanfair)
Sanctus: Mass in Honor of St. Michael (Vogt)
Agnus Dei: Mass in Honor of St. Michael (Vogt)
Communio: Data est mihi omnis potestas (Gregorian)
Hymn: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol)
Hymn: Go Make of All Disciples (Ellacombe)
Marian Antiphon: Regina caeli (Gregorian)

Dionysius Exiguus, or Dennis the Little, who created the Christian calendar in the 6th century, may have had records modern scholars would die for. But if they existed, they have been lost and are not available today to substantiate his conclusions. Current thinking is that the calendar is off and that Christ may have been born around 6 B.C. Some scholars have indicated - wish I could remember who - that the descriptions of the birth in scripture are more aligned with a September birth, rather than December. At this late date, how could anyone prove either?

Liam–those which mention the Christ. Tomjaw also mentions the census of Augustus.

The trouble is that the tradition has kept one feast in March and the other nine months later. We simply cannot speculate either way about anything specific before 300 (or at least the time of St. Cyprian–the records aren’t clear enough) but it’s clear that the date of Christmas became unified after the legalization of Christianity.

It is surprising that Matins and Lauds of Easter were anticipated in 1939. Compline was always supposed to be normal, and the Resurrection is the moment which resets the disorder of time brought in by the fall, represented spiritually by the anticipation of the Lenten offices from 1st Vespers of the 1st Sunday of Lent. Thus temporally celebrating the Resurrection at Matins during the night is appropriate. Also, while it is no longer Lent, Holy Saturday’s celebration is somewhat tempered traditionally, and the traditional prayer for the meal is not the full prayers beginning with “Haec dies,” but it instead uses “Vespere autem.”

Remember that the Mass of the Paschal Vigil itself had a Tract, and to this day there are no lights. The Resurrection was a process, that is to say that it happened at a specific time unknown to us but it took much time for the fact to be discovered, announced, and believed. This is different from the clear evidence that after forty days, Christ ascended, and the disciples saw it at once. Christ became flesh and worked the redemption in a specific time and place, so we should do our best to mark that and all sanctifications of time, such as thanksgiving for a victory through some mystery of faith, e.g. both feasts of the Cross, the BVM of the Rosary, and the Precious Blood, in our worship. The one hole in my argument is that the Paschal octave ends on Saturday because it started on Saturday…

The Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater - Vancouver, WA

St. James Collegium Musicum and String Orchestra

Prelude: Church Sontata in B-flat K221, Mozart
Introit: Viri Galilaei, Plainsong
Hymn: Hail the day that sees in rise LLANFAIR
Kyrie and Gloria: Missa Brevis in B-flat, No. 7, Haydn
Responsorial: LCM
Alleluia: Dominus in sina, Plainsong
Offertory: Ascendens Deus, Plainsong
Motet: God is gone up with a merry noise, Croft
Sanctus and Agnus Dei: Missa Brevis in B-flat, No. 7, Haydn
Communion: Data est mihi, Plainsong
Motet: Rejoice in the Lord Alway, Purcell
Recessional: Church Sonata in D Major K69, Mozart