Armenian Apostolic Church to mark the Feast of Pentecost May 23
14:51 22/05/2010 » Society
The Armenian Apostolic Church will mark the Feast of Pentecost May 23
this year. The feast is the commemoration of the descent of the Holy
Spirit upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day following the Feast of
the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Armenian
Church celebrates this feast 50 days following Easter Sunday.
The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons in the Holy Trinity
coexisting with, and equal to, the Holy Father and the Holy Son.
During His earthly life and ministry Christ spoke to the Apostles
about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Recording the words of Christ,
St. John writes, `The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all
that I have told you.’ (John 14:26).
The descent of the Holy Spirit is described in the Acts of the
Apostles: `When the day of the Pentecost came, all the believers were
gathered together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from the
sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues
of fire which spread out and touched each person there. They were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as
the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Acts 2:1-4).
In the book of Acts, St. Luke further records the names of various
countries, and that men from those countries were surprised, when each
of them heard his native language. Among the mentioned places are
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia (Acts 2:9). Two of the saints of the
Universal Church, both of Roman origin, Tertullian and Augustine, have
written that the word `Armenia’ should possibly be substituted instead
of `Judea’, as it is more logical that Armenia would be mentioned
among those as a `foreign’ country, as the apostles were living in
Judea. Moreover, with regards to geographical position, Armenia was
situated between Mesopotamia and Cappadocia. Therefore, the people
living in Armenia may have been among the first witnesses of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit.
Among the Armenian Church songs and hymns, two are dedicated to the
Feast of Pentecost: `The Sent Dove’ (referring to the Holy Spirit in
the form of a dove that descended upon Christ during His Baptism) and
`Indivisible Trinity’. These are sung during the Morning Service on
the feast day. Also, during the Evening Service, the `Andastan’ rite
of the blessing of the four corners of the world is conducted. It is
during this service that a prayer written by 12th century Armenian
Church father Nerses of Lambron, is read.
In the Christian Church the teaching of divine grace is related to the
Holy Spirit. According to that instruction, each virtue is a divine
grace granted to the faithful by the Holy Spirit. Thus, ascribing any
virtue to one’s own self, and not to God, is a grave sin and can be
manifested in another, which is pride. Hence, commemoration of
Pentecost is also an appeal to the faithful to avoid pride and
instead, use the divine graces in life for righteous purposes and
moral goals.
Source: Panorama.am