Pentecost

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Pentecost
Holy Communion, litany
Date50 days after Easter
2023 date
  • May 28 (Western)
  • June 4 (Eastern)
2024 date
  • May 19 (Western)
  • June 23 (Eastern)
2025 date
  • June 8 (Western)
  • June 8 (Eastern)
2026 date
  • May 24 (Western)
  • May 31 (Eastern)
Related toJesus Day, Shavuot, Rosalia, Green Week, Pinkster, Whit Monday, Whit Tuesday, Whit Friday, Trinity Sunday

Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or

Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).[2] While the Catholic Church believes the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary, this is not recorded in the New Testament
.

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

Koinē Greek: πεντηκοστή, romanized: pentēkostē, lit.'fiftieth'. One of the meanings of "Pentecost" in the Septuagint, the Jewish Koine Greek 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,[b] and Exodus 34:22,[3] where it is referred to as the "Festival of Weeks" (Koinē Greek: ἑορτὴν ἑβδομάδων, romanized: heortēn hebdomádōn).[4][5] [6] The Septuagint uses the term Pentēkostē in the Book of Tobit and 2 Maccabees, which are in the Catholic Bible, but for Protestants are deuterocanonical books.[clarification needed][7][8][9]

The translators of the Septuagint also used the word in two other senses: to signify the year of

Philo of Alexandria and Josephus to refer to Shavuot.[6]

Background

In

Babylonian Talmud, tractate Arakhin[20] The actual mention of fifty days comes from Leviticus 23:16.[4][21]

The Festival of Weeks is also known as the Feast of Harvest in Exodus 23:16 and the Day of First Fruits in Numbers 28:26.[18] In Exodus 34:22, it is called the "first fruits of the wheat harvest."[19]

Sometime during the Hellenistic period, the ancient harvest festival also became a day of renewing the

Noahic covenant, described in Genesis 9:17, which is established between God and "all flesh that is upon the earth".[5] After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, offerings could no longer be brought to the Temple in Jerusalem and the focus of the festival shifted from agriculture to the Israelites receiving the Torah.[22]

By this time, some Jews were already living in the

pilgrims during Pentecost.[23]

New Testament

The Cenacle in Jerusalem is claimed to be the location of the Last Supper and Pentecost.[24]

The narrative in

biblical Mount Sinai when the Ten Commandments were presented to Moses.[5] Theologian Stephen Wilson has described the narrative as "exceptionally obscure" and various points of disagreement persist among bible scholars.[25]

Some biblical commentators have sought to establish that the οἶκος ("house") given as the location of the events in Acts 2:2 was one of the thirty halls of the Temple where St Johns school is now placed (called οἶκοι), but the text itself is lacking in specific details. Richard C. H. Lenski and other scholars contend that the author of Acts could have chosen the word ἱερόν (sanctuary or temple) if this meaning were intended, rather than "house".[23][26] Some semantic details suggest that the "house" could be the "upper room" (ὑπερῷον) mentioned in Acts 1:12-26, but there is no literary evidence to confirm the location with certainty and it remains a subject of dispute amongst scholars.[5][23]

Pentecost by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
This 1472 map of Jerusalem notes the place of the Pentecost, Ubi apostoli acceperunt spiritum sanctum, at the location of the Cenacle.

The events of Acts Chapter 2 are set against the backdrop of the celebration of Pentecost in Jerusalem. There are several major features to the Pentecost narrative presented in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. The author begins by noting that the disciples of Jesus "were all together in one place" on the "day of Pentecost" (ἡμέρα τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς).[27] The verb used in Acts 2:1 to indicate the arrival of the day of Pentecost carries a connotation of fulfillment.[26][28][29]

There is a "mighty rushing wind" (wind is a common symbol for the Holy Spirit)[29][30] and "tongues as of fire" appear.[31] The gathered disciples were "filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance".[32] Some scholars have interpreted the passage as a reference to the multitude of languages spoken by the gathered disciples,[33] while others have taken the reference to "tongues" (γλῶσσαι) to signify ecstatic speech.[25][34]

In Christian tradition, this event represents fulfillment of the promise that Christ will

Matthew and Luke.[36][37]

The narrative in Acts evokes the symbolism of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, and the start of his ministry, by explicitly connecting the earlier prophecy of John the Baptist to the baptism of the disciples with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.[23][38] The timing of the narrative during the law giving festival of Pentecost symbolizes both continuity with the giving of the law, but also the central role of the Holy Spirit for the early church. The central role of Christ in Christian faith signified a fundamental theological separation from the traditional Jewish faith, which was grounded in the Torah and Mosaic Law.[23]

Peter's sermon in

Judas' replacement) (Acts 1:13, 26), Jesus' mother Mary, other female disciples and his brothers (Acts 1:14). While those on whom the Spirit had descended were speaking in many languages, the Apostle Peter stood up with the eleven and proclaimed to the crowd that this event was the fulfillment of the prophecy.[39]

In

Acts 2:41 then reports: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."[40]

Critical scholars believe some features of the narrative are theological constructions. Scholars believe that even if the Pentecost narrative is not literally true, it does signify an important event in the history of the early church which enabled the rapid spread of Christianity. Within a few decades important congregations had been established in all major cities of the Roman Empire.[8]

Biblical commentator Richard C. H. Lenski has noted that the use of the term "Pentecost" in Acts is a reference to the Jewish festival. He writes that a well-defined, distinct Christian celebration did not exist until later years, when Christians kept the name of "Pentecost" but began to calculate the date of the feast based on Easter rather than Passover.[26]

Peter stated that this event was the beginning of a continual outpouring that would be available to all believers from that point on, Jews and Gentiles alike.[41]

Liturgical celebration

Eastern churches