Word XVI. On the Day of Holy Pentecost, or the Descent of the Holy Spirit Upon the Apostles

June 10, 1907.

“«And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, all the Apostles and believers were together with one accord, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, and there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance» (Act 2:1-4).”

The history and meaning of the feast.

Most Holy Trinity, grant me a word for Your day! Let my word, the word of a mortal man, be worthy, as far as it is able, of Your holiness, goodness, and truth, of Your wisdom, Your mercy and bounty to the fallen human race; of Your unapproachable light, Your beauty! With this I begin my word on the great day of Pentecost, or the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles of Christ and upon all believers—namely, with a feeble praise of the Trinity.

And you, brothers and sisters, children of the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, listen to it with attention.

The subject of this word is the most exalted—as far exalted above all His creation as the beginningless Lord God is, three in Persons and one in His essence. In common speech this day is called Trinity Day, because on this day the Holy Trinity was solemnly revealed—God the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, through the intercession of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and, through the Son, descended upon the Apostles and made them wise to proclaim the great works of God in various languages, which they had never learned and did not know.

The Holy Spirit enlightened and regenerated the Apostles and the whole gathering in the upper room, so that they became new men, cleansed of every sin, of every passion of flesh and spirit; they were sanctified and established unshakeably in faith, hope, and love, in the full divine freedom given them through Christ by the Holy Spirit; and they became able to carry the preaching of Christ the Savior to every corner of the world and to plant faith in Him; for without faith no one can be saved and begin a new life; he who is in Christ is a new creature (2Cor 5:17).

That we may rightly understand this present feast of Pentecost, or the wondrous descent of the Holy Spirit—the all-good, almighty Creator, Enlightener, Renewer, and Comforter of the rational creation—let us recall, guided by the word of God, what man was created by God in the beginning, and what he became through his own willful fall. Though it is known a thousand thousand times over to everyone, let us repeat, once again, what is already known: that man was created in the image and likeness of God, with an immortal soul, with a free will, and with two possibilities—to be established forever in holiness and obedience to the Creator through the keeping of some commandment, and never to sin or die; or to transgress the Creator’s commandment and be subjected to sin and death and all the countless harmful consequences of self-will, and, from a good and simple being, to become evil and cunning; for God alone can never fall or change. The Creator’s commandment was broken: man fell into disobedience and cunning, became divided within himself, began to feel a tormenting inclination toward every evil, and an unnatural indifference and coldness, an ingratitude toward God, who had poured out upon man every mercy for soul and body.

Man ought to have tempered himself, as a clay pot is tempered in the fire, through the keeping of the Creator’s commandment, and remained firm in devotion to Him; but he did not endure the tempering and the trial, did not want to endure it, and shattered—became cunning and mortal, and such became all mankind descended from him. Every man began to feel within himself the war and the onset of sinful passions, enmity toward God the Creator, resistance to His laws, an inclination toward every lawlessness: men began to be at enmity also among themselves, to war one against another, and, lest the evil should soon become universal and men destroy one another, the Lord confounded the languages of men; they ceased to understand one another and were compelled to scatter in different directions.

Man fell through the cunning deception of the man-slaying serpent, like a child, inexperienced, and was subjected to the fearsome calamities of sin, of the curse, and of death. Out of love for the fallen, the Creator Himself willed to be his Redeemer and Savior, and to take upon Himself the sin of the human race, on the condition of man’s faith in his Redeemer and obedience to Him. The Lord, as the all-wise Physician of His own creation, heals like with like; the Creator takes upon Himself the form of man, while remaining God; He grows and lives among men, associates and unites with them, converses with them, enlightens them with the divine word, teaches them in parables and simple commandments, heals sicknesses, raises the dead, casts out demons; as God, He commands all the elements of nature; He suffers for the sins of men, as one guilty, though guilty of nothing, of not a single sin, in order to pay the debt to God’s justice; by His righteousness and His sufferings He conquers death and rises from the dead, convincing all of the future general resurrection, and after remaining forty days after His resurrection, and after many tangible appearances to His disciples, He ascends into heaven and receives, according to His humanity too, authority over the whole world. Gloriously, most wisely, to the very end, the Lord accomplished the work of His heavenly Father.

An especially important part of His work was to prepare His disciples as His messengers to the world, as enlighteners and teachers of the human race—as the salt of the earth, as the light of the world—and for the space of three years He taught them the great work of His holy mission and the salvation of men.

After His ascension into heaven it was necessary to send them the Holy Spirit, precisely in the form of fiery tongues, in order to enlighten them, to burn away their sin, to strengthen them in righteousness, to deify them, and to make them pillars of the faith and of His Church. And this greatest of miracles took place on the day of Pentecost, that is, after fifty days from His glorious resurrection, and on the tenth day after His ascension into heaven—and from that time the Holy Spirit abides in the Church of Christ and will remain in it until the end of the age, mightily to accomplish the salvation of believers. And He does accomplish in all of us believers the wondrous work of salvation, to the degree that each one has faith and zeal. Who among you does not know this, does not feel it? Who has not experienced in himself the grace of the forgiveness of sins, the comfort of heart and conscience, after heartfelt repentance for sins, after the performance of a good deed, and after the reception of the holy, life-giving Mysteries? And this is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Who has not experienced in himself comfort and joy at the reverent and orderly celebration of divine worship, or at the hearing and reading of the word of God? Who has not experienced in himself a renewal of grace? For by the Holy Spirit every rational creature is renewed, cleansed from the defilement of sin, and sanctified.

Celebrate, then, with joy this great day of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and upon the Church of Christ, and strive to be worthy members of it.

To the Holy Spirit belongs every all-saving cause: on whomever He breathes according to merit, He swiftly takes him up from earthly things, gives him wings, and raises him on high (Kontakion of the Antiphon). Amen.