Pentecost - WikiHQ

Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday that takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles of Jesus, Mary, and other followers of Christ, while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).

Pentecost is one of the Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a Solemnity in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, a Festival in the Lutheran Churches, and a Principal Feast in the Anglican Communion. Many Christian denominations provide a special liturgy for this holy celebration. Since its date depends on the date of Easter, Pentecost is a "moveable feast". The Monday after Pentecost is a legal holiday in many European, African and Caribbean countries.

Etymology

The term Pentecost comes from . One of the meanings of "Pentecost" in the Septuagint, the Koine translation of the Hebrew Bible, refers to the festival of Shavuot, one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, which is celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover according to Deuteronomy 16:10, and Exodus 34:22, where it is referred to as the "Festival of Weeks" (). The Septuagint uses the term in this context in the Book of Tobit and 2 Maccabees.

The translators of the Septuagint also used the word in two other senses: to signify the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10) an event that occurs every 50th year, and in several passages of chronology as an ordinal number.

The Catholic and the Orthodox Churches accord the Mother of God a special form of veneration called hyperdulia. It corresponds to the special power of intercessory prayers dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary over those of all saints. Popes have stated that Mary prayed to God and her intercession was capable to persuade God to send the Holy Spirit as a permanent gift to the Twelve and their successors, thus forming the Apostolic Church.

In a similar way, Pope John Paul II, in the general audience held in Vatican on May 28, 1997, affirmed:

The Marian intercessory prayer is dated to the day before Pentecost; while it is not explicitly stated that she was with the Apostles, it is in consideration of the fact she was called “full of grace” by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation.

Mary's special relationship with the Holy Spirit and her presence at Pentecost gave way to one of her devotional titles being “Mother of the Church”. In 2018 Pope Francis designated the Monday after Pentecost each year as the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church.

Music

Several hymns were written and composed for Pentecost, the earliest in use today being Veni Creator Spiritus in (Come, Creator Spirit), attributed to the 9th-century Rabanus Maurus, and translated throughout the centuries into different languages.

This one and some more are suitable also for other occasions imploring the Holy Spirit, such as ordinations and coronations, as well as the beginning of school years.

Classical compositions

The Lutheran church of the Baroque observed three days of Pentecost. Some composers wrote sacred cantatas to be performed in the church services of these days. Johann Sebastian Bach composed several cantatas for Pentecost, including Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172, in 1714 and Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68, in 1725. Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel wrote cantatas such as Werdet voll Geistes (Get full of spirit) in 1737. Mozart composed an antiphon Veni Sancte Spiritus in 1768.

Gustav Mahler composed a setting of Maurus' hymn "Veni, Creator Spiritus" as the first part of his Symphony No. 8, premiered in 1910.

Olivier Messiaen composed an organ mass Messe de la Pentecôte in 1949/50. In 1964 Fritz Werner wrote an oratorio for Pentecost Veni, sancte spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) on the sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus, and Jani Christou wrote Tongues of Fire, a Pentecost oratorio. Richard Hillert wrote a Motet for the Day of Pentecost for choir, vibraphone, and prepared electronic tape in 1969. Violeta Dinescu composed Pfingstoratorium, an oratorio for Pentecost for five soloists, mixed chorus and small orchestra in 1993. Daniel Elder's 21st century piece, "Factus est Repente", for a cappella choir, was premiered in 2013.

Regional customs and traditions

thumb|285x285px|Pentecost in [[Tavna Monastery, Bijeljina]]

thumb|The celebration of [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass on Pentecost at Storvreta Evangelical-Lutheran Church, which is part of the Archdiocese of Uppsala of the Church of Sweden (2024)]]

In Italy it was customary to scatter rose petals from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues; hence in Sicily and elsewhere in Italy, the feast is called Pasqua rosatum. The Italian name Pasqua rossa comes from the red colours of the vestments used on Whitsunday.

In France it was customary to blow trumpets during Mass, to recall the sound of the mighty wind which accompanied the Descent of the Holy Spirit. Typically, the parades contain brass bands and choirs; girls attending are dressed in white. Traditionally, Whit Fairs (sometimes called Whitsun Ales) took place. Other customs such as morris dancing and cheese rolling are also associated with Whitsun.

In Hungary the day (called Pünkösd in Hungarian) is surrounded by many unique rites, which probably have their origins in ancient Hungarian customs. The girls dressed in festive costumes choose a Little Queen (Kiskirályné not to be confused with the Pünkösdi Királyné), who is raised high. Then a figure dressed as an animal appears and dies, and is brought back to life by his attendant chanting a joke incantation.

In Finland there is a saying known virtually by everyone which translates as "if one has no sweetheart until Pentecost, he/she will not have it during the whole summer."

In Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, people originating from Pentecost Island usually celebrate their island's name-day with a special church service followed by cultural events such as dancing.

In (Catholic) southern Germany (and to a lesser part in Lower Saxony) very young birch trees are cut and these and leaved birch stems surround churches and other holy places, having evolved from planting birch tees to evade evil spirits (Pfingstbaumpflanzen).

In Ukraine the springtime feast day of Zeleni Sviata became associated with the Pentecost. (The exact origin of the relationship is not known). The customs for the festival were performed in the following order: first, home and hearth would be cleaned; second, foods were prepared for the festival; finally, homes and churches were decorated with wildflowers and various types of green herbs and plants. A seven course meal may have been served as the Pentecost feast which may have included traditional dishes such as cereal with honey (kolyvo), rice or millet grains with milk, sauerkraut soup (kapusniak), chicken broth with handmade noodles (yushka z zaterkoiu), cheese turnovers (pyrizhky z syrom), roast pork, buckwheat pancakes served with eggs and cheese (mlyntsi), and baked kasha.

Date and public holiday

In the Gregorian Calendar the earliest possible date is May 10 (as in 1818 and 2285), or May 11 in some centuries (such as the 20th, 21st, and 22nd centuries). The latest possible date is June 13 (as in 1943 and 2038). The day of Pentecost is seven weeks after Easter Sunday: that is to say, the fiftieth day after Easter inclusive of Easter Sunday. Pentecost may also refer to the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost Sunday inclusive of both. Because Easter itself has no fixed date, this makes Pentecost a moveable feast. In the United Kingdom, traditionally the next day, Whit Monday, was until 1970 a public holiday. Since 1971, by statute, the last Monday in May has been a Bank Holiday.

While Eastern Christianity treats Pentecost as the last day of Easter in its liturgies, in the Roman liturgy it is usually a separate feast.

Since Pentecost itself is on a Sunday, it is automatically considered to be a public holiday in countries with large Christian denominations. However, in Hungary, it is distinguished from a regular Sunday due to the stricter trading laws, forcing most businesses to close on even if they are normally open on Sundays (the same restrictions apply to the following Monday).

Pentecost Monday is a public holiday in many countries including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania (since 2008), Senegal, (most parts of) Switzerland, Togo and Ukraine. It is also a public holiday in Catalonia, where it is known as la Segona Pasqua (Second Easter).

In Sweden it was also a public holiday, but Pentecost Monday (Annandag Pingst) was replaced by Swedish National Day on June 6, by a government decision on December 15, 2004. In Italy and Malta, it is no longer a public holiday. It was a public holiday in Ireland until 1973, when it was replaced by Early Summer Holiday on the first Monday in June. In the United Kingdom the day is known as Whit Monday, and was a bank holiday until 1967 when it was replaced by the Spring Bank Holiday on the last Monday in May. In France, following reactions to the implementation of the Journée de solidarité envers les personnes âgées, Pentecost Monday has been reestablished as a regular (not as a working) holiday on May 3, 2005.

Literary allusions

According to legend, King Arthur always gathered all his knights at the round table for a feast and a quest on Pentecost:

So ever the king had a custom that at the feast of Pentecost in especial, afore other feasts in the year, he would not go that day to meat until he had heard or seen of a great marvel.

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German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe declared Pentecost "das liebliche Fest" – the lovely feast, in a selection by the same name in his Reineke Fuchs.

:Pfingsten, das liebliche Fest, war gekommen;

:es grünten und blühten Feld und Wald;

:auf Hügeln und Höhn, in Büschen und Hecken

:Übten ein fröhliches Lied die neuermunterten Vögel;

:Jede Wiese sprosste von Blumen in duftenden Gründen,

:Festlich heiter glänzte der Himmel und farbig die Erde.

"Pfingsten, das liebliche Fest", speaks of Pentecost as a time of greening and blooming in fields, woods, hills, mountains, bushes and hedges, of birds singing new songs, meadows sprouting fragrant flowers, and of festive sunshine gleaming from the skies and coloring the earth – iconic lines idealizing the Pentecost holidays in the German-speaking lands.

Further, Goethe records an old peasant proverb relating to Pentecost in his "Sankt-Rochus-Fest zu Bingen"

– Ripe strawberries at Pentecost mean a good wine crop.

Alexandre Dumas, père mentions of Pentecost in Twenty Years After (French: Vingt ans après), the sequel to The Three Musketeers. A meal is planned for the holiday, to which La Ramée, second in command of the prison, is invited, and by which contrivance, the Duke is able to escape. He speaks sarcastically of the festival to his jailor, foreshadowing his escape: "Now, what has Pentecost to do with me? Do you fear, say, that the Holy Ghost may come down in the form of fiery tongues and open the gates of my prison?"

William Shakespeare mentions Pentecost in a line from Romeo and Juliet Act 1, Scene V. At the ball at his home, Capulet speaks in refuting an overestimate of the time elapsed since he last danced: "What, man? 'Tis not so much, 'tis not so much! 'Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio, Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, Some five-and-twenty years, and then we mask'd." Note here the allusion to the tradition of mumming, Morris dancing and wedding celebrations at Pentecost.

"The Whitsun Weddings" is one of Philip Larkin's most famous poems, describing a train journey made through England on a Whitsun weekend.

Notes

References

External links

Pentecost on RE:Quest
A collection of 22 prayers for Pentecost
"Pentecost" article from the Catholic Encyclopedia
"Pentecost" article from the Jewish Encyclopedia
Feast of Pentecost Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
Explanation of the Feast from the Handbook for Church Servers (Nastolnaya Kniga) by Sergei V. Bulgakov
The Main Event: The Church Takes Center Stage from Mcdonough | Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia.