Pentecost: the Feast of the Holy Trinity

The Feast of Pentecost comes on Sunday, June 4. On that day, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, enabling them to speak the good news of Jesus Christ to all peoples and be understood in all languages. Since Pascha, the feast of the resurrection, we have been honoring our Lord’s rising from the grave by remaining standing in prayer, but at Kneeling Vespers of Pentecost (immediately after the Divine Liturgy that Sunday), we kneel for the first time. We will pray for the departed and for ourselves, that the Holy Spirit would give us the power to live holy lives, according to the example of the Apostles.

The week following this great feast is free from fasting.

“Now the Apostles of Christ are clothed with power from on high. The Comforter is renewed in them and renews them with newness of knowledge. They preach in foreign tongues, proclaiming mystical knowledge in lofty words. They teach us to worship the Benefactor and God of all in His simple, eternal, tri-personal nature. Enlightened by their teaching, let us bow down to worship Father, Son, and Spirit, earnestly praying for salvation for our souls!”— From the Aposticha of Vespers of Pentecost

 

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