Russian
Orthodox Church of Three Saints
Patriarchal Parish
in the USA
PENTECOST
TROITSA
 On
the tenth day after the Ascension of Jesus Christ during the Jewish feast
of Pentecost, at the third hour, but according to our reckoning at nine
o'clock in the morning, when people usually go to the temple both for offering
up a sacrifice and prayer [1] all the disciples
were assembled in Jerusalem, in the upper room (Acts 1:13), which was "on
Mount Zion", "and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind," (as though from an unusually strong wind)." Actually there
was no wind rustling, but the noise was similar as if it were from the
strength of a wind, but without the wind." This noise "filled the whole
house where they were sitting", - not only of the apostles, but, according
to the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, even other believers in Christ
(Acts 1:16). In that instant in the middle of the house in the air appeared
many tongues as of fire, being carried above the heads of the disciples,
dropped down and rested on them. They were not really fiery tongues, but
were "as if of fire", i.e. it only had the appearance of fire; they shone
only, but did not burn. Directly behind these, or even together with these
external appearances, the event followed the internal, completing in the
souls of the believers: "all were filled with the Holy Spirit" [2].
As fast as the Divine Fire flared
up in the souls of the believers, they were filled with holy ecstasy and
in reply to the gift of Heaven have lifted up to Heaven a word of praise
and thanksgiving to the Great God for the benefactions to the human race.
And they all "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance": each of these gifted ones began to speak in whatever language
even if the other language was unknown to him, in the language of a country
where he never lived or a language which he never studied; the knowledge
of this language for him was exclusively a gift of the Holy Spirit; and
the power of the Holy Spirit first of all was found out by their ability
in languages, because this ability first of all was necessary for the apostles,
so that they could preach the Gospel message all over the world.
Meanwhile the stormy noise of the
breath from Heaven attracted many Jews to the apostolic quarters. Seeing
the people gathering for them, believers with praises and hymns on their
lips they went on the flat roof of a house where they were; for it is natural
to assume that they were filled with holy joy, the desire and zeal to announce
the glory of God revealed in them to other people. They spoke about "wonderful
wor>
Transfer interrupted!
ened for them in all the fullness and
light; they praised the omnipotence, mercy and wisdom of God, they magnified
the Lord Jesus, they confessed that He is the Christ announced by the ancient
prophets, the Redeemer of our sins, that He is risen and, ascended with
glory into Heaven to the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit, who teaches
all wisdom, and finally, they thanked God for everything that they have
received through grace from Christ. Hearing these words of praise and thanksgiving,
all those gathered in the apostolic quarters were amazed by the new unexpected
and not clear to them revelation: the disciples of Christ, whom the greater
part were Galileans by birth, people who were not learned, were uneducated,
from whom they could not expect any knowledge of any foreign languages,
except their Galilean speech, - each of these people spoke some kind of
dialect, so, as the gathered crowd spoke various languages according their
origin, each, however, heard something which glorified God in the language
of his country from any one among those who spoke about the great works
of God. Surprise turned into fear: for all saw the unusual, heard the wonderful,
and no one could explain what they saw and heard: "they were all amazed
and perplexed, saying to one another, whatever could this mean" (Acts 2:12)?
But the impious were also found,
who began to swear at the God-inspired preachers [3].
Then the Holy Apostle Peter raised his voice and delivered his first sermon,
in which he pointed out the glorious events accomplished in this day, the
fulfillment of ancient prophesies and the completion of the great work
of salvation of the people, which was fulfilled on earth by the crucified
and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. This first Christian sermon was simple
and brief, but since the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of the Holy
Apostle Peter, his words penetrated the hearts of the hearers and won over
their obstinacy. "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what
shall we do?' (Acts 2:37). "Repent", the Holy Apostle Peter answered them,
"and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ" and
you will not only be forgiven; but you shall also "receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit". For the promise of the Holy Spirit is given not only
to us, but also even "to you and to your children, and to all who are afar
off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:38-39).
"Then those who gladly received his
word" that is of the Apostle Peter immediately repented, believed, and
were baptized (Acts 2:41), and the new Church has grown from 120 (Acts
1:15) to 3000 men. Thus ended the events, now celebrated, have ended in
the complete celebration of the Holy Spirit over the unbelievers. In memory
of this wonderful and glorious event we refer to this day as the day of
the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles [4].
This feast is still called Trinity Day; because the appearance of the Holy
Spirit has revealed to the people in a very clear light, how necessary
the mystery of the Holy Trinity was for them; and therefore even for the
Holy Church, teaching us "in an Orthodox way" and piously to confess the
All-holy Trinity, for in its prayers and hymns for this day it honors and
praises all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, who participated in the
descent of the Holy Spirit: God the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit, God
the Son Jesus Christ, who entreats the Father to send the Holy Spirit,
and God the Holy Spirit, who descended appearing as fiery tongues.
This feast was named Pentecost because
commemorated on this day was an event in the Old Testament called the feast
of Pentecost, and also because this feast necessarily comes 50 days after
the Christian Pascha. Especially important is the concurrence of the time
of the descent of the Holy Spirit with the time of the Old Testament feast
of Pentecost. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the believers in Christ
was the crowning of the redemption and salvation of man by God. During
the time of Pentecost the disciples of the Lord have blossomed and have
grown spiritually; then the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit of God
descended on them, and they became the first fruits of the redemptive work
of Christ. Together with these revelations, the Church of Christ began
on earth [5].
The day of Pentecost was the day,
when the Old Testament theocracy which began on Sinai and ruled the people
through the written law, the law of slavery and of death, was replaced
by the New Testament law, where the people are led by the Spirit of God,
the spirit of adoption and freedom (Rom. 8). Thus, as the Pascha of Christ
abolished the Old Testament Pascha, the New Testament Pentecost replaces
the Old Testament one, from which life under the law began.
In the hymns of the church for the
day of Pentecost the event, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles,
and the beneficial fruits of this great event are praised. "Today", - sings
the Holy Church, - wondrous things were done before the face of all peoples
"in the city of David, when the Holy Spirit came down as fiery tongues",
upon the disciples of Christ; now "The Spirit of salvation, purifying the
hearts of the apostles"; now, "the apostles clothed with the power from
on high by Christ: for the Comforter revives them"; now, the Holy Spirit
"revealed the unlettered to be orators", the fishermen, "bridling the mouths
of sophists in abundance with a word, and raising from the deep night unnumbered
people"; "they know in three persons One unerring, unapproachable, timeless
Essence; for light has shone, the grace of the Spirit "; "When the power
of the divine Spirit came down, it divinely united in one harmony the voice
divided of old (i.e. the language of the people) of those who had wickedly
agreed together, as to believers it gave understanding of knowledge of
the Trinity, in which we have been established." [6];
now, "The Holy Spirit gives all things: makes prophecies flow, perfects
priests, taught the unlettered wisdom, revealed fishermen to be theologians,
welds together the whole institution of the Church"; "That which was proclaimed
of old in Law and Prophets has been fulfilled; for today the grace of the
Divine Spirit has been poured out on all believers"; "now the Advocate
Spirit has been poured out on all flesh: for beginning with the choir of
the Apostles, from them he has unfolded grace by participation to the faithful;"
"The strength which has come down today is the good Spirit, Spirit of the
Wisdom of God; Spirit proceeding from the Father and made manifest to us
the faithful through the Son; giving freely to those in whom he dwells
of the holiness in which he is perceived by nature."; "O light-formed children
of the Church, receive the Spirit's fire-breathing dew, a redeeming purification
of offences; for now a law has gone out from Zion, the torch-tongue-formed
grace of the Spirit".
Praising the Zion event and showing
its fruits, the Holy Church lifts up our minds and hearts even to the knowledge
of God's attributes and actions of the Heavenly Visitor, the Spirit of
God. In the words of St. Gregory the Theologian: "The Holy Spirit always
was, and is, and will be; neither beginning nor coming to an end, but always
ranked and numbered with the Father and the Son"; "He is the life and creator
of life; He is the light and the bestower of light; He is the pouring out
of goodness and source of goodness"; "through Whom the Father is known
and the Son (John 16:14) is glorified, and by all is known"; "He is the
Spirit of wisdom, understanding"; "He is God and deifier." "He distributes
the gifts" (1 Cor. 12:11), "crowns the prophets, apostles and martyrs ".
Glorifying the Holy Spirit, the solemn
Worship of the actual day also includes within itself the thanksgiving
glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ, "Who on this final great and saving
day of Pentecost revealed to us the mystery of the Holy, Consubstantial,
Coeternal, Undivided and Uncompounded Trinity", and "poured out the Comforter
upon the disciples, as was promised", and "setting them as Evangelists
of our true faith, revealing them as confessors and heralds of true theology".
"In your courts", exclaims the Holy Church, "I will sing your praise, as
the Savior of the world, and bending the knee I will worship your invincible
power, at evening and morning and midday, and at every moment I will bless
you, O Lord."
The Holy Church uplifts also the
general doxology to the Most Holy Trinity and inspires us, that we, "bending
the knee of souls and body", praise you "the Father without beginning,
and the Son, likewise without beginning, and Co-eternal and All Holy Spirit",
"the Trinity One in Essence", "Identical in power and Coeternal". "Come,
you people," the Church appeals to its children, "let us worship the Godhead
in three persons, the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit; for the
Father timelessly begot the Son, co-eternal and co-reigning, and the Holy
Spirit was in the Father, glorified with the Son; one power, one essence,
one Godhead."
But that our glorifications do not
remain fruitless, the Holy Church often appeals to the very Spirit Comforter
with the prayer: "O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth who
art everywhere and fillest all things. Treasury of Blessings, and Giver
of life: Come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and
save our souls, O Good One."(1967 OCA translation).
(Liturgical
texts above mostly from Archimandrite Ephrem (c) 10 Feb. 2001)
[1]
Pentecost for the Jews was one of the three great annual feasts (Exodus.
23:14, 16, 17; Deut. 16:16). By the day of Pentecost the Jews had finished
the harvest, which began with the feast of Pascha, according to that the
fiftieth day after the first day of Pascha was actually the feast of the
ending of the harvest, in which under the law they should offer to God
a thanksgiving sacrifice from fruits of the earth. (Exodus. 23:16; Num.
28:26). Over time this feast began to incorporate and commemorate the giving
of the Sinai law received by the Hebrews within 50 days after their exodus
from Egypt. For the Jews this feast was solemn and joyful (Deut. 16:11),
and for this feast they flocked to Jerusalem in great numbers. Each of
them considered it a sacred duty to visit the Holy City, in order to bring
in gratitude to God the sacrifice from the gathered harvest, established
by the law, (Lev. 23:17, 30), and it was considered obligatory not only
for Palestinian Jews, but also for those outside of Palestine living in
countries all over in the then known world. Therefore in Jerusalem for
the feast of Pentecost it was possible to meet those arrived from Rome,
Egypt, Crete, Mesopotamia, from all areas of Asia Minor and Western Asia,
from "all of the people under Heaven", not only Jews, but also proselytes,
i.e. those converted from paganism (Acts 2:5, 9:11, 20:16).
[2]
The mighty wind was closest to the prophecy, and the appearance of fiery
tongues was seen as the sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The mighty
wind and vision of fiery tongues proceeded not for long, maybe for a moment;
but the Holy Spirit has always poured himself out into the souls and hearts
of the believer. Being most pure and bodiless, the Holy Spirit has selected
a physical sign to more perceptively manifest His presence. "For", reasoned
St. Gregory the Theologian, "as the Son of God was seen to be visible on
earth, it also was necessary for the Holy Spirit to be seen to be visible.
But "yes who will not think", teaches St. Leo the Great, "that what was
visible with physical eyes was the most Divine essence of the Holy Spirit."
"That which actually belongs to His essence is hidden in His Divinity,
because human sight, as it cannot see the Father and Son, also cannot see
the Holy Spirit". "According to His nature the Holy Spirit is invisible,
similar to the Father and Son; at His descent only the attribute is revealed
in His service and action in such signs, as He Himself wishes." And He
without any special purpose has now selected these, rather than other signs:
by logic nothing happens without a purpose. Instead of the darkness and
thunder at the giving of the Law on Sinai, here was heard "a sound from
heaven like the rush of a mighty wind", that openly was that same Holy
Spirit, then and now who gives the law, who sanctifies it and who fulfills
it. The strong sound signified that a mighty power was transferred to the
apostles; the movement from the Heaven signified that this wondrous power
proceeded from the One who ten days before these events ascended to heaven.
The filling of the whole house by the noise and the blessing of the assembly
through the fiery tongues signified that all of them were washed and baptized
by the Holy Spirit and by the abundance of gifts received from Him. The
fire expressed the revitalizing power of the words of the Gospel, which
should cleanse the hearts of the people, and expressed the light of faith,
the warmth of love, both in the ardent zeal of the preachers and the devoted
attention of the hearers of the Gospel. Fiery tongues lay on the heads,
because the head of man is the noblest and main part of the body. The meekness
of the fire, which lay on the heads, signified the mercy and grace of God.
The tongues signified the gift of words and the knowledge of many foreign
languages, which up to that time were unknown to them, that were bestowed
on them for the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world. The divided
tongues signified that the Gospel would be preached in different countries
and to various peoples. The Holy Spirit descended on them after the passing
of ten days, instead of immediately after the Ascension, so that those
who accepted Him would be made most ardent. The Holy Spirit descended within
fifty days after Pascha as a reminder of the old law, for Israel received
the Ten Commandments after the passing of 50 days after crossing the Red
Sea. At the third hour, on this one day the Lord God granted the grace
to inspire us to honor the three Persons in one essence. On the feast the
descent of the Holy Spirit takes place in order that the many who have
gathered has carried the message about this event everywhere, and so that
those present at the feast of Pascha and former eyewitnesses of events
with Christ may understand their extraordinary significance. On Pentecost
the Holy Spirit descended, because in that time before the law was given,
it was necessary at the same time to pour out much grace of the Spirit.
(Synaxarion on Monday of Pentecost; 2nd Canon, 7th Ode, 3-rd troparion;
Church Messenger 1888, 23; 1895, 20.).
[3]
These fools, who dared to explain to one another what they did not at all
understand, "sneering, said" that the apostles "drank sweet wine" (a favorite
morning drink in antiquity)". Thus blasphemous levity always sneers at
sacred inspiration. So they always also are cold to subjects of faith:
if they are not able to understand something, then they make an effort
to make fun of anyone who speaks of higher things. Carnal people do not
know of other pleasures, except for the sensual; they judge from their
own experience, and - blaspheme!
[4]
Three times, it is spoken in the Synaxarion that Christ gave the Holy Spirit
to the disciples: it is implicit before His suffering (Mt. 10:1,20), it
is clearer after His Resurrection through breathing (John 20:22), and now
He has sent Him in essence; it is better (to say), He Himself has descended,
more perfectly enlightening and illuminating them, and through them converting
all the ends of the world (see the St. Petersburg Theological Messenger,
1886, 19). But we must not represent this descent of the Holy of Spirit
anthropologically. The Holy Spirit, as God, is omnipresent; He has no place
from which to descend and nowhere to go; He is everywhere and fills all
things. To descend, to come may be only a limiting of the essence, but
not of God. All these expressions, as St. Chrysostom notes, are used about
God according to need, for in human language there are no words for expressing
Divine actions in their very essence; all these expressions mean nothing
other than the new appearance of the power of God, the special revelation
of His presence. Where the power of God opens itself, where He perceptibly
appears as His presence, there, according to our weak understanding and
still weaker expression, it is as if God comes. So, the descent of the
Holy Spirit on the apostles, actually speaking, is not the descent of the
Spirit on them, but the appearance of His power in them, opening in them
His special presence. The Holy Spirit also acted before in human generation.
The Holy Spirit, as the Church wisely sings, "always was, and is, and will
be". He was even in the Old Testament, in the patriarchs, in the prophets
and in any pure soul; without Him no truly good work was ever accomplished.
But the appearance of His power in the apostles was most crucial and beneficial
for the entire human race. In the eternal council of God concerning the
salvation of the race of man it is necessary, that the Son of God, after
the fulfillment of his most magnificent work on earth, has risen to Heaven
and that, according to the departure of the Savior to Heaven, the Holy
Spirit has come to make what was begun by the Savior, to enable the apostles
to preach the Gospel to the whole world, to prepare the hearts of the people
for the acceptance of the Gospel message, to instill in their life service
to the Redeemer, to inform them of a new spiritual force in the fulfillment
of a new law of grace, is briefly: to enable the human race make those
Divine Gifts their own, which they acquired by the suffering of the Son
of God (see page 600, footnote 2). Therefore the descent of the Holy Spirit
on the apostles however is His solemn entrance to the high post of Consecrator
of the sinful human race; it is a solemn sanctification of a new, worldwide,
eternal Church; after this sanctification the Consecrator already began
to visibly and continually act in it. And by this fact alone it reveals
how important and beneficial for the entire human race is the descent of
the Holy Spirit on the apostles. If He did not descend upon them; the work
of our Savior would remain unfinished; the apostles would not be able to
preach about Him to the entire world; the world would not know their Savior;
there would not be a Christian faith in the world and all of us would remain
in the darkness of idol worship. (The Works of Innocent, Archbishop of
Cherson, vol. 1, pages 387-8).
[5]
"Brightly and triumphantly", says His Grace Theophanes, Bishop of Tambov,
"the Holy Church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles."
And how can she not celebrate? Because the Holy Spirit actually created
the Church of God on the foundation established in the Lord Jesus Christ:
He finally reveals and explains to the Apostles the mysteries of the kingdom
and the entire Christian teaching, by Him all languages are mastered and
are given to the hearers of the faith, He bestows all powers "to those
living in godliness, He is the source of all their rules and institutions
for the development, strengthening and protection of the believers, He
from here on keeps whole and undamaged the pledge of our salvation. Remembering
this great work of God, the Holy Church can exult and praise the great
in her.
[6]
In this hymn it is pointed out that with the same descent of the Holy Spirit
appeared the gifts of God, there never was punishment for the self-deluded
pride of the people. There never was a time, when "all the earth would
speak with one mouth and with one voice." But the people, who were threatened
with dispersion and slavery, thought, contrary to any definition of God's
Providence, by general consensus and with the ability to fulfill an insane
enterprise, began to build a tower up to Heaven to get glory for them and
so not be dispersed over all the earth. Then God sent down various languages
to the unreasonable workers, and it so divided them that they were not
able to finish the work, because of the differences among the parties.
(Gen. 11). Now the division of languages appears as such a heavenly gift,
which up to now divided and separated the nationalities, is through the
preaching of the Gospel brought all together in one entirety, in one Church
of Christ (see the Kontakion for the feast).
The Troparion, Tone 8
Blessed art Thou, O Christ our
God,
Who hast revealed the fisherman
as most wise
By sending down upon them the
Holy Spirit;
Through them Thou didst draw
the world into Thy net.
O Lover of Man, Glory to Thee!
(1967 OCA translation)
The Kontakion, Tone 8
When the Most High came down and
confused the tongues,
He divided the nations;
But when He distributed the tongues
of fire,
He called all to unity.
Therefore, with one voice, we
glorify the all-holy Spirit!
(1967 OCA translation)
The Magnification:
We magnify Thee, O Life-giver
Christ, And we honor Thy most Holy Spirit,
Whom Thou didst send from the
Father unto Thy disciples.
The Rubrics require that the All-Night
Vigil be served on the eve of Trinity Day [7].
In Matins for the Magnification the icon stand with an icon, representing
either the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, or the Appearance
of the Lord to Abraham as the three Travelers is placed in the middle of
the temple. In the canon sing the refrain: "All-holy Trinity, our God,
glory to Thee".[8] At the Liturgy sing the festal
antiphons; instead of the Trisagion sing: "As many as have been baptized
into Christ"; instead of "It is truly Meet" sing the Irmos of the 9th Ode
of the Canon: "Rejoice, O Queen".
Readings (1) Num. 11:16,17, 24-29.
(2) Joel 2:23-32. (3) Ezek. 36:24-28. Epistle Acts 2:1-11; sel. 5. Gospel
John 7:37-52, 8:12; sel. 27.
[7]
The readings from Holy Scripture and the church hymns for this vigil belong
to a great event commemorating the day of the Holy Trinity. In the Vesper
readings the Church changes from a New Testament event to its ancient prototypes
and its promises, indicating those very internal ties between the Old and
New Testaments. In the first reading the narration about the appearance
of the Spirit of God on the 70 Israelite elders during the wandering of
the people of God in the desert is offered. In the second reading are the
prophetic words, with which the Apostle Peter (see Acts 2:4-21) explained
to the surprised people the great mysterious event of Pentecost, i.e. the
promise given through the Prophet Joel about the pouring out of the Holy
Spirit on all flesh. In the third reading the prophecy is pronounced about
spiritual absolution by means of water and the gift of the Spirit of God,
to the believer who holds to the preservation of the commandments of the
Lord. These prophecies clearly emphasize the spiritual renewal and enlightenment
of the sons of the New Testament by water and the Spirit.
[8]
In the Rubrics, the Paschal Triodion, and the Irmologion it is not prescribed
to sing any refrain to the Irmos of the 9-th Ode of the Canon, and it is
necessary to sing this Irmos without a refrain. But in the liturgical practice
of some dioceses such a refrain is used in 9-th Ode of the canon: "The
Apostles, having seen the descent of the Comforter, were amazed, how in
the vision of the fiery tongues the Holy Spirit was revealed". Because
this refrain is found in the Obikhod with music (2 parts), published by
the Holy Synod in 1798 for use in the divine services and has managerial
importance in the business of church notated singing, the refrain, placed
in it, can be used in liturgical practice (Manual up to now 1886, 44).
S. V. Bulgakov, Handbook for Church
Servers, 2nd ed., 1274 pp., Kharkov, 1900, pp. 608-613.
Translated by Archpriest Eugene
D. Tarris © 5/26/2001. All rights reserved.
For more information
please contact our Webmaster Very
Rev. George Konyev
|
