In the Christian liturgical year, it became a feast commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ (120
in all), as described in the Acts of the Apostles 2:1–31. For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes described by
some Christians today as the "Birthday of the Church".
In the Eastern church, Pentecost can also refer to the whole fifty (50)
days between Easter and
Pentecost, hence the book containing the liturgical texts for Paschaltide is called the Pentecostarion. The feast is also called White Sunday, or Whitsunday,
especially in England, where the following Monday was traditionally a public holiday. Pentecost is
celebrated fifty days (i.e. 49 days with the first day counted, seven weeks)
after Easter Sunday,
hence its name. Pentecost
falls on the tenth day after Ascension Thursday (which falls 40 days after Easter).
In the Eastern
Orthodox Church,
Pentecost is one of the Orthodox Great Feasts and is considered to be the highest ranking Great
Feast of the Lord, second in rank only to Easter/Resurrection
Sunday/Passover. The service is celebrated with an All-night Vigil on the eve of
the feast day, and the Divine Liturgy on the day of the feast itself. Orthodox
churchess are
often decorated with greenery and flowers on this feast day, and the
celebration is intentionally similar to the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which
celebrates the giving of the Mosaic Law.
The feast itself lasts three days. The first day is
known as "Trinity Sunday"; the second day is known as "Spirit Monday" (or "Monday of the Holy Spirit"); and
the third day, Tuesday, is called the "Third Day of
the Trinity."The Afterfeast of Pentecost lasts for one week, during which fasting is
not permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday. In the Orthodox Tradition, the liturgical color used at Pentecost is green, and
the clergy and faithful carry flowers and green branches in their hands during
the services.
The Orthodox icon of the feast depicts the Twelve
Apostles seated in a semicircle (sometimes the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) is shown sitting in the
center of them). At the top of the icon, the Holy Spirit, in the form of
tongues of fire, is descending upon them. At the bottom is an allegorical figure, called Kosmos, which symbolizes the world. Although Kosmos is crowned with
earthly glory he sits in the darkness caused by the ignorance of God. He is
holding a towel on which have been placed 12 scrolls, representing the teaching
of the Twelve Apostles.
Since Pentecost itself is on a
Sunday, it is automatically a public holiday in Ukraine.
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