Pentecost Sunday
May 31, 2020
DESCRIPTION OF THE MYSTERY OF PENTECOST
(Source)
Above the starry spheres
To where He was before,
Christ had grone up, soone from on high
The Father’s gift to pour.
And now had fully come,
On mystic cycle borne
Of seven times seven revolving days,
The Pentecostal morn;
When, as the apostles knelt
At the third hour in prayer,
A sudden rushing sound proclaimed
The God of glory near.
Forthwith a tongue of fire
Alights on every brow;
Each breast receives the Father’s light,
The world’s enkindling glow.
The Holy Ghost on all
Is mightily outpoured;
Who straight in divers tongues declare
The wonders of the Lord.
While strangers of all climes
Flock round from far and near,
And with amazement, each at once
Their native accents hear.
But faithless stil, the Jews
Deny the hand divine,
And madly jeer the saints of Christ,
As drunk with new-made wine.
Till Peter in the midst
Stood up and spake aloud;
And their perfidious falsity
By Joel’s witness showed.
Praise to the Father be!
Praise to the Son Who rose!
Praise, Holy Paraclete, to Thee,
While age of ages flow.
From “A Pentecost D & A:
Why did the Holy Ghost come upon the apostles in the form of fiery tongues?
To show that the Holy Ghost governs the tongues of the apostles and preachers when announcing the word of God; to inflame their hearts and the hearts of the faithful with the love of God and of their neighbor.
Why did the Holy Ghost appear amid the rushing as of a mighty wind?
To direct the attention of the people to the coming descent of the Holy Ghost, and to call them together to hear the sermon of the Apostle Peter.
What special effects did the Holy Ghost produce in the apostles?
He freed them from all doubt and fear; gave them His light for the perfect knowledge of truth; inflamed their hearts with the most ardent love, and incited in them the fiery zeal for the propagation of the kingdom of God, strengthened them to bear all sufferings and persecutions (Acts v. 41.), and gave them the gift of speaking in various languages, and of discerning spirits.
