PENTECOST – THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE APOSTLES

 

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!

The tenth day after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ. It was the Jews' great feast of Pentecost, which commemorated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.

All the Apostles, the Mother of God, and the other Disciples of Christ and other of the faithful, were all together in one room in Jerusalem.
It was the third hour of the day by the Hebrew reckoning of hours, according to our system – nine o'clock in the morning. Suddenly a sound came from Heaven, like a rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. There descended on them tongues that looked like fire, which rested on each one of them. There were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, previously unknown to them. Thus the Holy Spirit, according to the promise of the Savior, descended on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, as a sign that He gave the apostles the ability and zeal to preach the teachings of Christ to all peoples. He descended in the form of fire as a sign of the power to cleanse sins, to sanctify and warm souls.

From the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit the Christian faith quickly spread with the help of God, and the number of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ multiplied. Instructed by the Holy Spirit, the apostles preached boldly to all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, about His suffering for us and resurrection from the dead. The Lord helped them with many great miracles which were performed by the apostles in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. At first the apostles preached to the Jews, and then dispersed to various countries to preach to all the people. To perform the sacraments and to preach Christianity the apostles established, by the laying on of hands, bishops, presbyters, and deacons. This grace of the Holy Spirit, which was clearly conferred on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, is now conferred in our Holy Church invisibly in its sacraments, through the successors to the apostles, the pastors of the Church, its bishops and priests.