Pentecost Sunday

"There appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:3-4).

Pentecost, celebrated 50 days after Easter Sunday, commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ’s disciples and marks the end of the season of Easter.

“The Church takes its life from an act of God, the sending of the Holy Spirit,” said Bishop Robert Deeley. “Mary was asked to be the mother of the son of God. The angel Gabriel told her that the Holy Spirit would come over her. The birth of Christ comes through the Holy Spirit. So, too, does the conception and birth of the Church.”

It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that empowers the disciples to begin preaching, bringing others to know and love Christ and to become part of the Church.

On Pentecost, priests wear red vestments to symbolize fire and the presence of the Holy Spirit. All Christians are invited to also wear red on Pentecost Sunday and to celebrate the day in some way.