The Saturday before the Feast of Pentecost

On the Saturday before Pentecost we commemorate all departed pious Christians, with the idea that the occasion of the coming of the Holy Spirit not only consists of the economy of the salvation of man, but that the departed also participate in this salvation.

The Divine Ascension of the Lord

Interpreting these passages, in which we can see both Christ’s command and the Disciples’ obedience to it, we can observe some interesting points.

Homily on the Ascension

Today, my beloved, is a great feast of the Master, the Ascension of the Lord. What is the story of the day?

Sunday of All Saints

Initially, the most ancient Fathers made this a Feast solely of the Martyrs who suffered throughout the world, as attested by the encomium of Saint John Chrysostom, in which he praises only the Martyrs. The later Fathers, however, made this Feast more general, calling it the “Sunday of All Saints”, including in it Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Hierarchs, Ascetics, and all the Righteous together, of every age and race.

The Holy Pentecost

We have received this Feast from the Hebrew Bible; for, just as the Hebrews celebrate their own Pentecost, honoring the number seven, and because they received the Law fifty days after the Passover, so also do we, celebrating fifty days after Pascha, receive, instead of the Law, the All-Holy Spirit, Who gives us laws, guides us into all truth, and decrees what is pleasing to God.

“You have Ascended in Glory, Christ our God”

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, is a joyful festal stage in the truly jubilant Resurrection time of our Church. With feelings of rejoicing, we Orthodox faithful pack the churches on this holy day, to send hymns of thanksgiving to our Saviour and Redeemer Lord and to praise His holy ascent to the heavens, after He had consented to descend in order to perform his redemptive work for the human race. (Jn. 3, 13; Phil. 2, 6-11). We hymn His return to the divine throne of His ineffable majesty, at the right hand of God the Father, to Whom He is forever our great and eternal Intercessor (I Tim. 2, 5).

The Feast of Pentecost

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…”. Pentecost is both a culmination and a start. A new way was opening to the disciples, now however they had prepared themselves for it. For we cannot enter into Pentecost without preparation. We need, first of all, to have assimilated the whole spiritual substance that the fifty days following the Resurrection have offered us. We need to have experienced the risen Christ. We need to have lived through the days of the Passion. In short, one must have matured.