THE FEAST OF THE HOLY AND GREAT PENTECOST (Part II)

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ our True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE FEAST OF THE HOLY AND GREAT PENTECOST (Part II)

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Feast. Mode pl. 4.

BLESSED are Thou, O Christ our God. Thou sent down the Holy
Spirit into the fishermen and Thou gave them knowledge and
wisdom in everything; and through them, as in a net, Thou caught
the whole world. O Lord Who loves humanity, glory to Thee!

Kontakion Hymn. Mode pl. 4.

WHEN the Most High God came down and confused the
tongues, He divided the nations. When He distributed the
tongues of fire, He called all to unity. And with one voice
we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.
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Orthros (Matins) of Feast.

Kathisma 1. Mode 4.

Let us celebrate with joy this final post-festal feast, O believers;
for it is the feast of Pentecost today and the fulfillment of the
promise and the appointed time. For on this day the fire of the
Paraclete descended to the earth immediately, as in the form of
tongues, and illumined the Disciples and made them initiates of
heaven. The Holy Light of the Holy Spirit has appeared and
illumined the world.

Kathisma II. Mode 4.

When the well-being of the grace of the Divine Spirit came down
to those upon the earth and into fire-bearing streams parted
noetically, it refreshed the Apostles and led them to the Light.
The fire became for them a dewy cloud and rainy flame illuminating
them.

And we in turn through them received Divine grace by means of
fire and water. The Holy Light of the Holy Spirit has appeared and
illumined the world.
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HOMILY ON THE HOLY FEAST OF PENTECOST
By Saint and Venerable Bede

Since we are celebrating the feast of Pentecost, dearly beloved brothers and sisters, the coming of the Holy Spirit, we ought ourselves to live in accord with the solemnity that we are honoring. Indeed we only worthily celebrate the joys of this festival if, with God’s assistance, we render ourselves conformable to those to whom the Holy Spirit deigned to come and in whom he deigned to dwell. We ourselves are only suited to the coming and illumination of the Holy Spirit for this reason, that our hearts are filled with Divine love, and our bodies are dedicated to the Lord’s commands. Hence Truth says to his Disciples at the commencement of this gospel reading, "If you love me, keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete." Paraclete means ‘CONSOLER.’ The Holy Spirit is correctly called a Paraclete because, by producing a desire for the heavenly life, He raises up and restores the hearts of believers lest they falter amidst the adversities of this age. Hence, as Holy Church increased, it was said in the Acts of the Apostles, "And it was being built up, walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31).

[The words], "if you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete," were brought to fulfillment in the Disciples themselves. They were proven truly to have loved him, truly t hae obeyed His commandments, on that day when all at once the Holy Spirit appeared to them in [tongues of] fire as they were praying in the Upper Room, and taught them, [putting] in their mouths a diversity of languages (Acts 2:1-4) and made them strong in heart with the consolation of His love. Earlier, however, they possessed the Paraclete Himself, namely our Lord sojourning with them in the flesh. By the sweetness of His miracles and the wealth of His preaching they were wont to be raised up and strengthened, so that they could not be scandalized at persecution by unbelievers. But since by Ascending into Heaven after His Resurrection He had deserted them bodily, although the presence of His Divine Majesty was never absent from them, He rightly added concerning this Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit: "TO ABIDE WITH YOU FOREVER." He abides Eternally with the saints, always illuminating them inwardly and invisibly in this life, and introducing them to the Everlasting Contemplation of the sight of His Majesty in the future.

If we too, dearly beloved brethren, love Christ perfectly in such a way that we prove the genuineness of this love by our observance of His commandments, He will ask the Father on our behalf, and the Father will give us another Paraclete. He will ask the Father through His humanity, and will give [us another Paraclete] with the Father through His Divinity. We must not suppose that it was only before His Passion that He was asking on behalf of the Church, and that now, after His Ascension, He is not also asking, since the Apostle says concerning Him, "Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us" (Romans 8:34).

We also have as our Paraclete our Lord Jesus Christ. Although we are unable to see Him bodily, we recollect what He did and taught in the body, as written down in the gospels. If we commit ourselves with all care to hearing, reading, conferring with one another, and PRESERVING THESE [DEEDS AND TEACHINGS] IN HEART AND BODY, IT IS SURE THAT WE WILL EASILY OVERCOME THE HARDSHIPS OF THIS AGE–AS IF THE LORD WERE SOJOURNING WITH US FOREVER AN CONSOLING US. If we love this Paraclete and keep His commandments, He will ask the Father, and He will give us another Paraclete–that is, He will in His clemency pour forth the grace of His Spirit into our hearts, and it will gladden us in the expectation of our heavenly homeland in the midst of the adversities of our present exile. Then we will be able to say with the Prophet, "According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart," your parclesis, that is, "YOUR CONSOLATION, O LORD, HAE GLADDENED MY SOUL" [Psalm 94:19 (93:19}.