May 24 - Pentecost

The moveable feast of Pentecost it translates as the 50th day after Easter.  It began as the Jewish Feast of the First Fruits which occurred fifty days after Passover.  This coincided with the harvest of winter wheat and was celebrated with a meal to be shared by the family with their slaves, Levites, strangers, orphans and widows.  After the death of Christ it became a celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit as described in Acts 2:1-31.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.  When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.  Utterly amazed, they asked: "Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?  Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs - we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"  Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.  These people are not drunk as you suppose.  It's only nine in the morning!  No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

"In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams. 
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy. 
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke. 
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved."

"Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.  This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.  But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.  David said about him:

"I saw the Lord always before me
Because he is at my right hand,
I will  not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence."

 "Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.  But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.  Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.

The day preceding Pentecost was traditionally a day of fasting.  The feast is considered the second greatest of the church year, the first being Easter.  Pentecost is the anniversary of the founding of the Christian church.   The day is symbolized by the dove representing the Holy Spirit descending.  Red flowers and greenery were used to decorate the church.  The red representing the Holy Spirit and the green representing hope and life.  The columbine flower is also a symbol used for Pentecost, it's name taken from the Latin columba which translates to dove.  It was also a day to celebrate baptisms into the church.