THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The Day of Pentecost is the Fiftieth Day of Easter; it brings the Paschal Season to its conclusion and, at the same time, signals the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples and to the church. Pentecost is not simply a festival of the Holy Spirit, rather, it is the time for acknowledging - ten days after the Ascension of Our Lord - the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his followers. Like Easter, it has a vigil (not observed to the same degree as the Easter vigil in either Protestant or Roman Churches) that really begins the day's celebration. For details about the Vigil of Pentecost, see: Adrian Nocent, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year, the Book of Comrnon Prayer, The Lutheran Book of Worship (Minister's Desk Edition), etc. The Roman Church treat…