It’s interesting for me to look at the world around me as we approach the Great Feasts and note how so few people I know observe these Feasts of the Christian faith (save Christmas and, for some, Easter). Growing up, I had never really heard of the Feast of Pentecost as a Christian celebration, it was a foreign concept to me after I joined the Church and now it serves as one of my favorite feasts of the year. Of course, I had read about Pentecost; growing up Charismatic, Acts 2 was a favorite read, but I didn’t really know that it was celebrated throughout the Christian world much as Christmas had been, and the Jewish feasts of the Old Testament. I grew up Charismatic, so Pentecost was a defense for speaking in tongues (not an issue I’m going to delve into, suffice to say, my interpretation of this is dramatically different now), but its place as an actual feast recognized every year 50 days after Pascha (Easter) was not there, so I thought I’d share a little on the traditional understanding of the Feast of Pentecost.

The History of Pentecost

From the Old Testament, Pentecost, which means 50th day, was an agricultural feast that occurred 50 days after Pascha (Passover) and is known by the Jewish faithful as the Feast of the First Fruits, or Shavuot. While an agricultural feast (the end of the harvest season), it is also associated with God giving Moses the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai. For Christians, Pentecost is the beginning of the ministry of the Apostles. In the upper room, the Apostles (and Mary) sat faithfully waiting as Christ had commanded the arrival of the Holy Spirit. This time, when God meets humanity, instead of bringing stone tablets written with fire, the fire rested upon the heads of the Holy Apostles, and they preached Christ to all who were present. Mount Sinai and the tablets given to Moses foreshadowed the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles.

Why Do We Need Pentecost

We as Christians also see this as a reversal of the Tower of Babel. People decided that they were not content to rule over the earth, but pride led them to want to acquire heaven by force. They built a tower to reach God and, in turn, God confused the tongues of man. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit unites humanity together again by the gift of tongues. The hymnography of the Church clearly illustrates this:

“Of old there was confusion of tongues because of the boldness of the tower-builders. But those tongues have not uttered wisdom for the glory of divine knowledge. There God condemned the infidels to punishment, and here with the Spirit Christ illuminated the fishermen. At that time, the confusion of tongues was designed for vengeance, and now the unison of tongues hath been renewed for the salvation of our souls.” – the Doxasticon of Pentecost

“When the High One descended, confusing tongues, He divided the nations. And when He distributed the fiery tongues He called all to one unity. Wherefore, in unison we glorify the most Holy Spirit.” – the Kontakion of Pentecost.

As Archbishop +DMITRI (memory eternal) wrote in his article on Pentecost:

“What happened on that fiftieth day after our Lord’s resurrection was the filling of the disciples with the Holy Spirit, their transformation into the Church. Pentecost is the day of the Church’s founding. From this point in time the disciples were empowered to do what our Lord told them: ‘As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.’” (John 20:21).

And at Orthros we sing:

“The spring of the Spirit hath come to those on earth, dividing noetically into fire-bearing rivers, moistening the Apostles and illuminating them. The fire hath become to them a dewy cloud, lighting, and raining flames upon them, from whom we received grace by the fire and the water. Verily the fire of the Comforter hath come and lighted the world. In the Orthodox Church, we switch all of the liturgical colors (vestments, altar cloths, candles, etc) from the joyous white of Pascha, to a green, clearly connecting to the Jewish celebration of Pentecost, as its fulfillment.“

Pentecost in the Life of the Church

Pentecost is the third of the “Big Three” feasts if you will: on Christmas, God becomes incarnate, humbles Himself takes on humanity with the intent of redeeming creation; on Pascha, God defeats the ultimate enemy of death for us, defeating death by death and restoring humanity to its original state through His glorious resurrection; on Pentecost, the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit descends and gives us what we as followers of Christ need to become perfect. Fr. Anthony Coniaris quotes St. Seraphim of Sarov in his article How To Celebrate Pentecost at Home by saying :

“Prayer, fasting, vigils and all other Christian acts, however good they may be in themselves, certainly do not constitute the aim of our Christian life; they are but the indispensable means of attaining that aim. For the true aim of the Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. As for fasts, vigils, prayer and almsgiving, and other good works done in the name of Christ, they are only the means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God.”

So,

“Let us, O believers, celebrate with joy the last Feast, which is also the last of the Feast—Pentecost—which is the end and fulfillment of the preordained promise; for then did come down the fire of the Comforter upon the earth in the likeness of tongues, lighting the Disciples and revealing them plainly as initiates of heavenly things. Verily, the light of the Comforter hath come and lighted the world” – Kathismata from Orthros. With that in mind, let us begin again to pray: O heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art in all places, and fillest all things, Treasury of good things, and Giver of life, come, and dwell in us, and cleanse us from every stain; and save our souls, O good One.”

Further Readings on Pentecost

Learn, Listen & Share Pentecost Series from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

Pentecost & Creation a great article by Fr. Stephen Freeman

Pentecost - The Birthday of the Church: A Theological Reading into the icon of Pentecost By Fr. Ayman Kfouf