Pentecost

Origin and history

Pentecost comes from the Greek for 'fiftieth'. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible it named the Jewish Festival of Weeks, Shavuot, held fifty days after Passover. The Acts of the Apostles tells that the followers of Jesus were gathered in Jerusalem for this festival when there came a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and 'tongues as of fire' rested on each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, and Peter preached to the crowd. For this reason Pentecost is called the birthday of the Church. It ends the fifty-day Easter season.

Customs

• Special services; in Christian art the Holy Spirit is shown as a dove or as flames of fire.
• In England it is also called Whit Sunday or Whitsun; until 1970 the next day, Whit Monday, was a public holiday in the United Kingdom, and it remains a holiday in many European countries.
• In southern Germany young birch trees are set up around churches.

How traditions differ

Pentecost is a Great Feast in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a solemnity for Catholics, a festival for Lutherans and a principal feast for Anglicans. Because it depends on Easter, Orthodox and Western Pentecost often fall on different dates. In the Eastern churches the day of Pentecost is also the feast of the Holy Trinity.

In the library

Works: The Bible

More in Eastertide

Easter · How the date of Easter is set · St George's Day · Ascension Day