My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Lord, God and Savior JESUS CHRIST,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE GLORIOUS FEAST OF THE DIVINE PENTECOST AND
THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UPON HIS HOLY
DISCIPLES
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Great 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.
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Before Christ Ascended into Heaven He gave a commend to His Disciples to return to Jerusalem after His Ascension and remain there until they were iINVESTED WITH THE POWER FROM HEAVEN. Thus He gave them the promise that they would receive the Holy Spirit, about which He had spoken during His life.
This promise by Christ to the Disciples was realized FIFTY DAYS AFTER PASCHA AND TEN DAYS AFTER HIS ASCENSION TO HEAVEN. Thus in the Church we have observed the Feast of Pentecost, in which we honor the Holy Trinity, and on the following day we celebrate and glorify the Holy Spirit. So the Feast of Pentecost IS A FEAST OF THE HOLY TRINITY.
The Feast of Pentecost is also included in what the Church calls the "Twelve Feasts”, because it is the last feast of the Divine Economy. The Incarnation of Christ was aimed at victory over death and the COMING OF THE Holy Spirit into the hearts of men. Moreover, it is well known tha the purpose of the Ecclesiastical and spiritual life IS THAT WE SHOULD BECOME MEMBERS OF THE Body of Christ and RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. THESE TWO ARE INSEPARABLY LINKED TOGETHER.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit took place on Sunday. And here we see the value of Sunday, for the Great Feasts of the Lord took place on it. According to Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite, THE CREATION OF THE WORLD BEGAN ON THE FIRST DAY, THAT IS TO SAY ON SUNDAY. FOR IT WAS THEN THAT LIGHT WAS CREATED; THE RENEWAL OF CREATION BEGAN ON SUNDAY WITH THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST; THE COMPLETION OF CREATION TOOK PLACE ON SUNDAY WITH THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE MAKING OF CREATION WAS DONE BY THE FATHER WITH THE COOPERATION OF THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE RENEWAL WAS DONE BY THE SON WITH THE GOOD WILL OF THE FATHER AND THE COOPERATION (SYNERGY) OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THE COMPLETION OF CREATION WAS DONE BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER AND IS SENT BY THE SON.
Of course, in saying these things, we are giving importance to the Persons that played the leading part in the creation, RENEWAL AND COMPLETION OF CREATION. But finally, as we have been taught and we believe, HE ENERGY OF THE Triune God is theirs in common, and ONE Person can never be separated and isolated from the others in the Holy Trinity.
The Christian Pentecost in which we celebrate the Descent of the Holy Spirit coincides with the Jewish Pentecost. It was on the day when the Jews were celebrating Pentecost THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED UPON THE HOLY APOSTLES AND MADE THEM MEMBERS OF THE RIDEN BODY OF CHRIST.
The Great Feast of Pentecost is a feast of the Holy Spirit, because we learn from the Descent of the Holy Spirit that GOD IS THREE-FOLD. Previously too, both obscurely in the Old Testament and in Christ’s teaching, people were learning the Trinitarian Character of God, but at Pentecost they acquired practical experience of His Three-Fold Hypostasis. Thus Pentecost is a Feast of orthodox theology.
The Holy Fathers lived this mystery as far as it is possible in the experience of revelation. Saint Gregory the Theologian speaks of three lights which shone round him during the revelation which he had. He writes: "No sooner do I come to understand the one, than I am shone round by the three, no sooner do I disnite the three than I am brought back to the one".
The mystery of the HolyTrinity has been revealed to us by Christ Himself, Who told His Disciples that the Holy Spirit PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER and is SENT by Himself (John 15:26). This means that the Son of God does not take part in the procession of the Holy Spirit, but has a part in His sending and His mission to the world, and this sending is the MANIFESTATION OF THE Holy Spirit in energy. Thus, as Saint Gregory Palamas explains, THE HOLY SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER, BUT WE CAN SAY THAT IT IS SENT BY THE SON ONLY IN HIS ENERGY AND MANIFESTATION TO THE WORLD AND NOT IN ITS BEING IN ESSENCE. THE BEING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A DIFFERENT THING FROM HIS MANIFESTATION IN ENERGY.
Many names have been given to the Holy Spirit. One of them, which also shows the work which He does in the Church as well as in the lives of the people is the name "COMFORTER". Christ Himself used this word for the Holy Spirit when He said to His Disciples shortly before His Passion: "i will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter to be with you forever – the Spirit OF TRUTH" (John 14:16-17). And a little further on, the Holy Spirit is characterized by Christ as the ‘PARAKLETE’, THE COMFORTER WHO WILL TEACH THE DISCIPLES AND WILL REMIND THEM OF EVERYTHING HE HAS SAID DURING HIS LIFE. "But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you" {John 14:25]. Having the assurance that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, we pray to Him: "Heavenly King, Comforter, the spirit of Truth, Thou are everywhere and fill 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!
The Holy Spirit comforts the person who IS STRUGGLING AGAINST SIN, trying to keep Christ’s commandments in his life. This struggle is hard, because the fight is against evil spirits. Therefore the Holy Spirit is a comforter, or one who consoles men, as Saint John Chrysostom says. He is a mark of God that He consoles men, as God is characterized by the same term as the Holy Spirit….the Holy Spirit is CONSUBSTANTIAL WITH THE SON AND FATHER, BECAUSE ALL THREE PERSONS OF THE HOLY TRINITY HAVE A COMMON ESSENCE OR NATURE, AND A COMMON ENERGY OF INTENTION GLORY. This is why wherever Christ is, there is the Holy Spirit, and wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is Christ. Source: The Twelve Feasts of the Lord by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Glorious and Marvelous Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
Thou
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 