24 Facts About Pentecost

Pentecost is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day after Easter Sunday.

The Monday after Pentecost is a legal holiday in many European countries.

Since its date depends on the date of Easter, Pentecost is a "moveable feast".

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.

The term Pentecost appears in the Septuagint as one of the names for the Festival of Weeks.

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Narrative in Acts 2 of the Pentecost includes numerous references to earlier biblical narratives like the Tower of Babel, and the flood and creation narratives from the Book of Genesis.

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.

Lenski has noted that the use of the term "Pentecost" in Acts is a reference to the Jewish festival.

Pentecost 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.

Pentecost denounces Manichean doctrine on the Holy Spirit, which taught that the Holy Spirit was present in Mani.

Pentecost describes the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples on Pentecost as the fulfillment of a "long-awaited promise".

Pentecost is holding a towel on which have been placed 12 scrolls, representing the teaching of the Twelve Apostles.

Nevertheless, Pentecost Monday remains an official festival in many Protestant churches, such as the Church of Sweden, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and others.

However, in the modern Roman Rite, Pentecost ends after Evening Prayer on the feast day itself, with Ordinary Time resuming the next day.

Across denominational lines Pentecost has been an opportunity for Christians to honor the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and celebrate the birth of the Christian Church in an ecumenical context.

Some traditional hymns of Pentecost make reference not only to themes relating to the Holy Spirit or the church, but to folk customs connected to the holiday as well, such as the decorating with green branches.

Some Protestants, the nine days between Ascension Day, and Pentecost are set aside as a time of fasting and universal prayer in honour of the disciples' time of prayer and unity awaiting the Holy Spirit.

The Pentecost Novena is considered the first novena, all other novenas prayed in preparation of various feasts deriving their practice from those original nine days of prayer observed by the disciples of Christ.

Pentecost is one of the occasions specially appointed for the Lutheran Litany to be sung.

In Northern Europe Pentecost was preferred even over Easter for this rite, as the temperatures in late spring might be supposed to be more conducive to outdoor immersion as was then the practice.

Above all, Pentecost is a day to hold Confirmation celebrations for youth.

The day of Pentecost is seven weeks after Easter Sunday: that is to say, the fiftieth day after Easter inclusive of Easter Sunday.

Since Pentecost itself is on a Sunday, it is automatically considered to be a public holiday in countries with large Christian denominations.

Pentecost Monday is a public holiday in many countries including Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Senegal, Switzerland, Togo and Ukraine.