My beloved spiritual children in Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,

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

APPROACHING THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS SUNDAY OF PENTECOST (June 7th)

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

Blessed are You, O Christ our God. You made the fishermen all-wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them You drew the world into Your net, O Lover of mankind, glory to You.

Pentecost

Before Christ ascended into Heaven He gave a command to His Disciples to return to Jerusalem after His Ascension and remain there until they were invested with 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 50 days after Pascha and ten days after His Ascension to heaven. Thus in the Church we observe the feast of Pentecost, in which we honor the Holy Trinity, and on the following day we celebrated 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 that 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 holy hymnographer calls Pentecost the last feast concerning man's reformation and renewal: "Let us believers joyfully celebrate a last fast: it is Pentecost, fulfillment and deadline of a promise". Thus, if the Annunciation to the Theotokos is the beginning of the Incarnation of the Logos/Word and the Divine Economy, Pentecost is the end, since it is then that man, through the Holy Spirit, becomes a member of the risen body of Christ.

We can also place Pentecost, as well as what relates to the Holy Spirit and Christ, in this framework because Christology cannot be understood apart from Pneumatology, nor Pneumatology apart from Christology.

The descent of the Holy Spirit took place on Sunday. And here we see the value of Sunday (Lord's Day), for the Great Feasts of the Lord took place on it. According to Saint Nikodemos 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 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, 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 Risen Body of Christ.

The feast of Pentecost is a feast the Holy Spirit, because we learn from the Descent of the Holy Spirit that God is threefold. 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 acquire practical experience of His threefold hypostasis. Thus Pentecost is a feast of orthodox theology.

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 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 '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".

God 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 the evil spirits. Therefore the Holy Spirit is a comforter, or one who consoles man, as Saint John Chrysostom says. It is a mark of God that He consoles men, so God is characterized by the same term as the Holy Spirit...

"...The phrase "other Paraclete" means that Christ and the Holy Spirit are different hypostases, but they have a common nature, essence and energy. Saint Gregory the Theologian, interpreting the phrase "other Paraclete", says that this constitutes and characterizes the 'co-lordship' and consubstantiality of the two hypostases (persons). The fact that Christ says the He will send 'another Comforter' means that He too is a comforter. "For it is one and I am the other". In this way we can see the equality in honor of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Son and the Father, because all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity have a common essence or nature, and a common energy or intention glory. This is why wherever Christ is, there is the Holy Spirit, and wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is Christ...

"...The Church was founded on the day of Pentecost, in that the holy Apostles became members of the Body of Christ. Thus, while they previously had a communion with Christ, now by the power and energy of the Holy Spirit they became members of the Body of Christ. The Church changed from spirit to flesh. The Saints, the deified, had a relationship and communion not only with the Unincarnate Logos/Word, but with the Logos/Word become flesh, Christ the Godman. The theology that the Church is the Body of Christ is explained by the holy Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 12:1-31). He says that the Church is not a religious organization, but the Body of Christ. Moreover he says that the distribution of the gifts of grace takes place by the energy of the Holy Spirit. To conclude, the holy Apostle Paul says: "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it" (1 Corinthians 12:27). (Source: The Feasts of the Lord. An Introduction to the Twelve Feasts and Orthodox Christology by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos HIEROTHEOS)

(To be continued)

_____________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

+++

With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George