Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit, because it is celebrated every year on a different day

After Easter, the celebrations of Pentecost Sunday represent a fundamental moment for the Christian liturgical calendar

ROME – Sunday May 19, 2024 will celebrate Pentecost. After Easter, the celebrations of Pentecost Sunday represent a fundamental moment for the Christian liturgical calendar because we remember the day on which the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the Apostles gathered together in the Cenacle in Jerusalem took place , and the consequent birth of the Christian Church. The Holy Spirit, in fact, represented by tongues of fire, gives the Apostles the task of preaching the coming of Christ and gives them the ability to express themselves in every language.

«As the day of Pentecost was about to end, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a roar came from the sky, like a strong wind, and it filled the whole house where they were. Tongues as of fire appeared to them, dividing them and resting on each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them the power to express themselves.”

(At 2, 1-4)

PENTECOST: WHEN WE CELEBRATE

Why is Pentecost celebrated on a different day every year? The Christians with the term Pentecost meant the period of fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (from ancient Greek the literal translation is precisely ‘ fifty days’): this is why every year it falls on a different Sunday, Easter being a ‘movable’ holiday, consequently Pentecost is also one. In ancient times, in this period of celebration which lasted many days, Baptism was conferred to those who had not been able to receive it during Easter.

The Jewish Pentecost, however, initially linked to the first fruits of the harvest is today called ‘Shavuot’, or feast of weeks and is celebrated seven weeks after the Jewish Passover, starting from the second day of Easter: celebrates God’s revelation on Mount Sinai where he gave the Jewish people the Torah.

THE PENTECOST MASS CELEBRATED BY THE POPE AND THE TRADITIONS

In Italythe Pope celebrates the Pentecost Mass and the priests’ vestments are red, symbolizing the Holy Spirit who descended in the form of tongues of fire. In Rome it is still customary to throw rose petals at the faithful, a tradition in use until 1800 and which is now revived in the celebrations at the Pantheon.