- Pentecost
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/pen"ti kawst', -kost'/, n.1. a Christian festival celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter, commemorating the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles; Whitsunday.2. Shavuoth.
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(from Greek pentecoste, "fiftieth day") Christian festival commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus, occurring on the Jewish Pentecost, after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension.The disciples began to speak in the many languages of the people assembled there, a sign that the disciples should spread the Christian message throughout the world. Jewish Pentecost was a thanksgiving feast for the first fruits of the wheat harvest and was associated with remembrance of God's gift of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Christian Pentecost is celebrated on the Sunday concluding the 50-day period following Easter. It is also the name of the Jewish celebration of Shavuot ("Festival of Weeks").* * *
also called Whitsunday(Pentecost from Greek pentecostē, “50th day”), major festival in the Christian church, celebrated on the Sunday that falls on the 50th day after Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, which occurred on the Jewish Pentecost (Shavuot), after the death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ (Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2), and it marks the beginning of the Christian church's mission to the world.The Jewish feast was primarily a thanksgiving for the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, but the rabbis associated it with remembrance of the Law given by God for the Hebrews to Moses on Mount Sinai. The church's transformation of the Jewish feast to a Christian festival was thus related to the belief that the gift of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus was the firstfruits of a new dispensation that fulfilled and succeeded the old dispensation of the Law.When the festival was first celebrated in the Christian church is not known, but it was mentioned in a work from the Eastern church, the Epistola Apostolorum, in the 2nd century. In the 3rd century it was mentioned by Origen, theologian and head of the catechetical school in Alexandria, and by Tertullian, Christian priest and writer of Carthage.In the early church, Christians often referred to the entire 50-day period following Easter as Pentecost. Baptism was administered both at the beginning (Easter) and end (the day of Pentecost) of the season. Eventually, Pentecost became a more popular time for baptism than Easter in northern Europe, and in England the feast was commonly called White Sunday (Whitsunday) for the special white garments worn by the newly baptized. In The First Prayer Book of Edward VI (1549), the feast was officially called Whitsunday, and this name has continued in the Anglican churches.also called Pentecôte , formerly Aragh , or Ragaisland of Vanuatu, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Espiritu Santo island. Volcanic in origin, it occupies 169 square miles (438 square km) and has a central mountain ridge that rises to 3,104 feet (946 metres) at Mount Vulmat. Many permanent streams flow down the eastern slopes into fertile valleys, where copra and coffee are cultivated. Pentecost is known for a fertility ritual performed (usually at various times from April through May) to guarantee a good yam harvest; “land divers” jump headfirst from towers up to 80 feet (24 metres) tall that are made of bush timber and vines. The divers are suspended only by vines, short and springy enough to break their fall, attached to the tower and to their ankles. Careful planning allows them to just brush the ground and survive these plunges, which are said to have inspired the modern sport of bungee jumping. The island has one hospital and has airstrips at Lonorore in the southwest and Sara in the north.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
