Introduction

Bless God in the congregations,

The Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

(Entrance hymn of the Pascha season; Ps. 67[68]:26)

The life-giving spring, the pool of Bethesda, the well of the Samaritan woman, the pool of Siloam—one image permeates the season of the Pentecostarion: water. The Pentecostarion is the main hymnbook of the Pascha season, or Eastertide (the forty days between Pascha and the Ascension), and its hymns are sung in church until the Sunday after Pentecost (All Saints’ Day).

In the ancient Church, Christians were baptized at Pascha, when they celebrated with the rest of the Church their incorporation into the redeemed Body of Christ and their participation in the life of the Resurrection and of the Holy Spirit. Later the Feast of Pentecost also became a day on which Christians received baptism. Hence the central theme of water, reminding us of the waters of baptism, through which we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4) and of the heavenly Kingdom.

The Pentecostarion takes its name from Pentecost, which is the Greek term for the Feast of Weeks—an ancient Jewish holiday still celebrated in Judaism as Shavuot. The Feast of Weeks commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Law to the people of Israel on Sinai. Just as the date of Shavuot is linked to that of Passover, the date of Pentecost is linked to that of the Christian Passover (Pascha). It was on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after our Lord’s Resurrection (Pentecost means “fiftieth day”), that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and upon all flesh (Acts 2:1–38; Joel 2:28–29), and it is this event that Orthodox Christians celebrate every year on the Feast of Pentecost.

Despite holding such a central position in the Church’s worship for eight weeks of the year, no hymnbook is so overlooked as the Pentecostarion. Throughout Lent and Holy Week, we have been building up to the joyful celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection. The Pascha season (which we will henceforth refer to simply as “Pascha”) is therefore considered a time to feast and rejoice: the Wednesday and Friday fasts are abolished in the week after Pascha, or throughout the whole season according to another ancient Orthodox tradition. It certainly is a time for rejoicing, but this should not lead us to forget that it is also a preparation for another great feast: Pentecost.

The season of the Pentecostarion can be divided into two halves, with the Feast of Mid-Pentecost acting as a watershed between the celebration of Pascha and the preparation for Pentecost. From Pascha to Mid-Pentecost there is a greater emphasis on the Resurrection, while from Mid-Pentecost the emphasis shifts to the coming feast and the waters of baptism. Pascha is therefore both backward-looking and forward-looking: we celebrate and rejoice in our Lord’s Resurrection, and we prepare for the great feast of the Holy Spirit descending upon us, filling and fulfilling the Church of Christ. The risen Christ will return to His Father in heaven (the Ascension), and the Holy Spirit will come down to us on earth (Pentecost).

This descent of the Holy Spirit and His indwelling within us is one of the principal themes of Christian Orthodox baptism. Every year, the Church reminds us of our own baptism (however long ago it may have occurred) and the incredible calling to be vessels of the Holy Spirit. The Church therefore lays before us an important and humbling question: Am I living up to my sacred calling to be a disciple of Christ and a member of His Church? It is upon this question that this little book invites us to reflect.

A Guide to the Season of the Pentecostarion

Pascha and Renewal Week/Bright Week

The Pascha season begins. Sunday of Pascha through Thomas Sunday

The Life-Giving Source

Friday of Renewal Week

Thomas Sunday

First Sunday after Pascha

The Myrrh-bearing Women

Second Sunday after Pascha

The Paralytic

Third Sunday after Pascha

Mid-Pentecost

Fourth Wednesday after Pascha

The Samaritan Woman

Fourth Sunday after Pascha

The Blind Man

Fifth Sunday after Pascha

Leave-taking of Pascha

Sixth Wednesday after Pascha. The Pascha season ends.

The Ascension

Sixth Thursday after Pascha

Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council

Sixth Sunday after Pascha

All Souls’ Saturday

Sixth Saturday after Pascha

Pentecost Sunday

Seventh Sunday after Pascha

Trinity Week

Week following Pentecost Sunday

All Saints’ Day

Sunday after Pentecost^[1]

^[1] Papavassiliou, Vassilios. Meditations for Pascha: Reflections on the Pentecostarion. Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2014. Print.