Pentecost
Fifty days after the Resurrection, on the exising Jewish feast of Pentecost, while the disciples and many other followers of Jesus Christ were gathered together to pray, the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the form of "cloven tongues of fire," with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and they began to speak in languages that they did not know. There were many visitors from the Jewish diaspora to Jerusalem at that time for the Jewish observance of the feast, and they were astonished to hear these untaught fisherman speaking praises to God in their alien tongues. This account is detailed in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2. Taken from Orthodoxwiki.org.
What do the icons teach us?
“The expounding of the doctrine of the Trinity is the fundamental theological theme of the Festival of Pentecost. For its iconographical expression, the Orthodox Church has adopted the icon of the Holy Trinity representing the Biblical scene of three men appearing to our forefather Abraham by the oak of Mambre (Gen. 18). This image, based on a concrete historical event, shows the first appearance of God to man, signifying the beginning of the promise of redemption. Both the iconography and the Divine Service link the beginning of this promise with its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost, when the final revelation concerning the Trinity is given. In other words, the icon of the Holy Trinity binds together, as it were, the beginning of the Old Covenant Church and the establishment of the New Covenant Church.” (The Meaning of Icons, Leonid Ouspensky, page 200.
On Monday, Holy Spirit Day, we all use the icon of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (commonly referred to as the Pentecost icon). “With the Ascension ‘the works of Christ while in the flesh finish, or rather the works relating to His physical sojourn on earth; and the works of the Spirit commence”, says Gregory the Theologian. These works of the Spirit begin by the fulfillment of the promise of the Father’ (Acts 1:4) in the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. After worshipping the Holy Trinity on the first day of the Festival (Sunday), the Church offers, on the following day, special worship to the Holy Spirit, Who descended visibly on Christ’s Disciples.” (The Meaning of Icons, Leonid Ouspensky, p. 207)
The Divine Service of Pentecost “contrasts the confusion of tongues in Babylon to their harmonious union on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit. ‘When the All-Highest, descended, confounding the tongues, He divided the nations; but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all men to unity; wherefore with one accord we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.’ For the fathers of the Church say that it was necessary that the peoples of the earthly tower, should once more recover this unity and should be collected together in the spiritual building of the Church, fused into its single holy body by the fire of love. ‘Thus, according to the likeness of the Holy Trinity, undivided and distinct, there is formed a new being, the Holy Church, one in its being, but multiple in persons, whose head is Christ and whose members are angels, prophets, apostles, martyrs and all those who have repented in faith.’’’ (The Meaning of Icons, Leonid Ouspensky, p. 207)
The small semi-circle at the top of the icon with the twelve rays symbolizes that Holy Spirits descent upon every member of the Church separately and though “. . . there is one and the self same Spirit ,” “there are diversity of gifts . . . “ and “diversity of operations . . . .” To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge . . . to another the gifts of healing . . .” and so forth (I Cor. 12:4-31)
The center of the icon is empty as Christ is the invisible Head of the Church. “’Why at the descent of the Holy Spirit is there shown a man sitting in a dark place, bowed down with years, dressed in a red garment with a royal crown on his head, and in his hands a white cloth containing twelve written scrolls?’ The man sits in a dark place, since the whole world had formerly been without faith; he is bowed down with years, for he was made old by the sin of Adam; his red garment signifies the devil’s blood sacrifices; the royal crown signifies sin, which ruled the world; the white cloth in his hands with twelve scrolls means the twelve Apostles, who brought light to the whole world with their teaching.”(The Gospels in Iconographic Records, Pokrovsky, N., p. 463.)
On Monday, Holy Spirit Day, we all use the icon of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (commonly referred to as the Pentecost icon). “With the Ascension ‘the works of Christ while in the flesh finish, or rather the works relating to His physical sojourn on earth; and the works of the Spirit commence”, says Gregory the Theologian. These works of the Spirit begin by the fulfillment of the promise of the Father’ (Acts 1:4) in the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. After worshipping the Holy Trinity on the first day of the Festival (Sunday), the Church offers, on the following day, special worship to the Holy Spirit, Who descended visibly on Christ’s Disciples.” (The Meaning of Icons, Leonid Ouspensky, p. 207)
The Divine Service of Pentecost “contrasts the confusion of tongues in Babylon to their harmonious union on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit. ‘When the All-Highest, descended, confounding the tongues, He divided the nations; but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all men to unity; wherefore with one accord we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.’ For the fathers of the Church say that it was necessary that the peoples of the earthly tower, should once more recover this unity and should be collected together in the spiritual building of the Church, fused into its single holy body by the fire of love. ‘Thus, according to the likeness of the Holy Trinity, undivided and distinct, there is formed a new being, the Holy Church, one in its being, but multiple in persons, whose head is Christ and whose members are angels, prophets, apostles, martyrs and all those who have repented in faith.’’’ (The Meaning of Icons, Leonid Ouspensky, p. 207)
The small semi-circle at the top of the icon with the twelve rays symbolizes that Holy Spirits descent upon every member of the Church separately and though “. . . there is one and the self same Spirit ,” “there are diversity of gifts . . . “ and “diversity of operations . . . .” To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge . . . to another the gifts of healing . . .” and so forth (I Cor. 12:4-31)
The center of the icon is empty as Christ is the invisible Head of the Church. “’Why at the descent of the Holy Spirit is there shown a man sitting in a dark place, bowed down with years, dressed in a red garment with a royal crown on his head, and in his hands a white cloth containing twelve written scrolls?’ The man sits in a dark place, since the whole world had formerly been without faith; he is bowed down with years, for he was made old by the sin of Adam; his red garment signifies the devil’s blood sacrifices; the royal crown signifies sin, which ruled the world; the white cloth in his hands with twelve scrolls means the twelve Apostles, who brought light to the whole world with their teaching.”(The Gospels in Iconographic Records, Pokrovsky, N., p. 463.)
Below are articles & resources pertaining to Pentecost.
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