Solemnity of Pentecost
Massimo Palombella
Today’s celebration, 50 days after Easter, concludes the Easter Season.
Pentecost is the fulfilment of the Incarnation, the ‘moment of entering into communion with the nature of the Verb, that is, of passing from the natural life of before to that which transcends human existence, and to this we could not arrive except by becoming participants in the Holy Spirit’ (from the ‘Commentary on the Gospel of John’ by St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop [Lib. 10; PG 74, 434]).
The separation from Jesus that occurred with the Ascension brings us the gift of the Holy Spirit that we receive in order to ‘know’, to be able to establish that personal relationship with the Lord that makes us truly capable, as the Apostles were, of living for Him, suffering and dying for Him, of doing the Truth, of facing our fears, of carrying our burdens, of slowly becoming those persons that God calls us to be.
The Communion antiphon for today’s celebration is taken from the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2, 2. 4) with the following text:
“Factus est repente de coelo sonus
advenientis spiritus vehementis,
ubi erant sedentes, alleluia:
et repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto,
loquentes magnalia Dei, alleluia, alleluia.”
(Suddenly, a sound came from heaven
like the rush of a mighty wind,
in the place where they were sitting, alleluia;
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and announced the great things God had done, alleluia, alleluia).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Gradual Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The interpretation is by the Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle conducted by Hubert Dopf. The music track can be found on the CD ‘Gregorian Chant for the Church Year’ published by Universal International Music B.V. in 1997.
A blessed Sunday, happy Solemnity of Pentecost, and heartfelt greetings.
