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Whitsunday - one of the biggest Christian holidays
Anita Valentinova, Source: vesti.bg, 23.05.2010
Today is Whitsunday - one of the major Christian holidays. The birthday of Orthodox Church is always celebrated on Sunday on the 50th day after Easter. On this day Jesus Christ founded the church on earth by sending the Holy Spirit.
The holiday is called Whitsunday, because this event happened on the day of Whitsunday holiday of the Old Testament which marked fifty days after the Jewish Passover.
Whitsunday was one of the three great feasts. Originally it celebrated the completion of the barley harvest. It was celebrated with the sacrifice of bread and animals as a day of joy and gratitude which recalled wanderings in the desert.
Later on the receipt of the Sinai legislation, fifty days after the Exodus, was also celebrated on that day.
Later on on that day are highlighted Sinai receiving the law, fifty days after the Exodus. The holiday was a solemn and joyous and a great number of people flocked to Jerusalem in order to show their gratitude to God. For the Apostles the day was even more important, because it was also the day of the Resurrection - Sunday. Apostles were gathered together and prayed after the Ascension of Christ. At 10 o'clock in the morning, they heard a noise from heaven. It seemed as if a whirlwind descended over their house. And "they have seen fire tongues, which were divided, and one of them sat to each apostle. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." This was a visible sign of the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit. Being incorporeal, the Holy Spirit showed visible sign of its presence. As soon as the godlike fire kindled in the souls of the apostles, they were filled with the Spirit, and began to glorify the majesty of God as they were speaking in some alien languages. Thus, apostles become wiser, spiritually enlightened and they understood the true meaning of faith. The event gave them strength and courage to read the Gospel all over the world and they were ready to devote their lives to their faith.
The noise, coming from the sky, attracted many Jews to the house. People from different nationalities were gathered in Jerusalem on the occasion of the feast on this day. All of them heard in their own language the words, glorifying the majesty of God. Around 3 000 people adopted the Christianity, baptized and joint the first Christian community on that day. Thus, on that they the foundations of the Orthodox church were laid, so it is considered that we celebrate the birthday of the church exactly on Whitsunday.
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