Written by Gustave - Updated on Apr 17, 2025
Every Christian worth their salt knows that, apart from Christmas and Easter, Pentecost is probably the most important event of all the Christian festivals. It takes place 50 days after Easter, followed by the famous Whit Monday, a public holiday for all workers throughout the world. But far more than just an international holiday, Pentecost evokes something infinitely more important for Christians.
The origin of Pentecost
Most people think it's just a holiday where you can rest and relax on Whit Monday, while you leisurely search for a free invoice template on the Internet while sipping your coffee. However, for Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, and even for Evangelicals, Pentecost is a very important event, as it allows them to commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit among the apostles.
However, it is not only a Christian festival, but also a Jewish one. The word Pentecost means 50. In the Old Testament, this event marked the end of the Passover celebrations, a series of Jewish festivities in memory of their exodus from Egypt. Thus, on the 50th day, the Jewish people had the custom of offering God the first fruits of the harvest. Later, this tradition was associated with the festival of the transmission of the Tablets of the Law to Moses and became a Jewish festival in its own right.
For Christians, the story of Pentecost is recorded in the book of Acts, in chapter 2. After Jesus' resurrection, he went to heaven during the ascension. It was only a few days after this event that the descent of the Holy Spirit among Jesus' disciples took place. Chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles tells that they gathered in the upper room, a place where they usually gathered to pray and discuss. Suddenly, a great noise and a violent wind terrified the disciples. Tongues of fire were placed on each of their heads. It was the Holy Spirit that Jesus himself had promised them when he was still among them. Moreover, not far from this chapter, more precisely in the chapter, when Jesus had not yet gone to heaven, he had told the apostles that they would receive the strength to become his witnesses in the four corners of the world. What happened during Pentecost was the fulfillment of this promise.
Extraordinary phenomena at Pentecost
The coming of the Holy Spirit among the apostles marked the beginning of their ministry. The book of Acts relates that immediately after the descent of tongues of fire on the disciples, they began to speak in tongues, which means that they spoke languages that were not their native languages, but which belonged to other countries. Thanks to Pentecost, Christians believe that they have God's Holy Spirit within them and that they have the strength of this Spirit to accomplish what God Himself has called them to do.
It is worth noting that it was at Pentecost that the church really began to emerge, as well as the Christian religion, because according to the book of Acts, it was from that moment that the apostles began to scatter everywhere to preach the Good News of Jesus.
Pentecost today
For years, Pentecost has been celebrated between May 10 and June 13, and the date is the same for all countries around the world. The day of Pentecost is followed by Whit Monday, which is a public holiday all over the world.
Even if time and the various churches that have been created over the years have distorted the true meaning of Pentecost and even if it has become a simple worldly festival in some countries, Christians must never forget that Pentecost is the very origin of Christianity. Pentecost must be lived every day. As every Christian has the Spirit of God within them, they must walk in the Spirit, as Paul reminds us in some of his epistles. This is the very essence of Christianity.
For the Catholic Church in particular, Pentecost is a very important event, so important that it generally associates this day with that of the sacrament of confirmation, an event during which some of the faithful renew their commitment to follow God. It is therefore not surprising that both events take place in several Catholic churches during Pentecost. During the sacrament of confirmation, the bishop lays his hands on the confirmands so that they may receive the Holy Spirit.
