Pentecost
/ˈpɛntɪkɒst
/noun
1The Christian festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension, held on the seventh Sunday after Easter.As the church prepares to celebrate the ascension and Pentecost, readings are focused on the life of the disciples after Jesus....
- First, assorted passages from Revelation made up the second reading for six of the seven Sundays between Easter and Pentecost.
- Of course, these stern warnings only make sense in light of what was announced and celebrated on Pentecost and Trinity Sundays.
1.1The day on which the festival of Pentecost is held; Whit Sunday.As we look at the account of the first Pentecost, it clearly was not just another day....
- As we look at the Church from the Day of Pentecost to today, we see four very clear eras.
- At another level, one has to make a conscious choice to move beyond denial and answer the question: How much do we let the spirit of the day of Pentecost become part of our spirituality and vocations of training, pastoral care and counseling?
2The Jewish festival of Shavuoth.The account in Acts 2 presupposes the Jewish festival of Pentecost which commemorates the giving of the Torah....
- The Christian festival of Pentecost also comes from Shavuot.
- The Feast of the Pentecost was a Pilgrimage Feast, a Jewish Thanksgiving that drew all ‘nations’ together.
Origin
Old English pentecosten, via ecclesiastical Latin from Greek pentēkostē (hēmera) 'fiftieth (day)' (because the Jewish festival is held on the fiftieth day after the second day of Passover).