Preparing for Pentecost

In the spirit of our "Holy Week & Pascha for the Domestic Church" guide, here are some ideas for celebrating the great feast of Pentecost in your domestic church! Even though many of you may now be able to return to celebrating the Divine Liturgy and other services at your parish, there are still plenty of things that you can also do at home to incorporate the celebration of the feast into your daily life and therefore to enjoy a richer experience that permeates your whole being! Isn't that the gift of the Holy Spirit?--to be "everywhere present and filling all things!" May the Holy Spirit fill you with joy!

Decorate!

• The color used in the Byzantine Tradition for Pentecost is green, the color of new life. Cut some greenery from your yard and decorate your icon corner, or even your dining room and/or other places in your home. Let these leaves remind you of the abundance of life that the Lord wishes to give us in Him, beginning now and continuing into eternity. Keep the decorations until the Saturday following Pentecost.

Pray!
Basic:

• This Saturday evening, if Vespers is not offered at your parish or if you are unable to attend, pray a portion of Vespers, including the Old Testament readings, in your icon corner.  Great Vespers Booklet      Propers for Pentecost
• On Sunday morning, attend Divine Liturgy at your parish OR pray along with a live-streamed Liturgy OR pray Typika in your icon corner.   Typika Service       Propers for Pentecost
• On Sunday evening, pray one or more of the Kneeling Prayers (p. 17, 20 & 24), while kneeling in your icon corner. During the Paschal season, we do not kneel (in celebration of the Resurrection), but on the evening of Pentecost we may kneel again as we humbly welcome the gift of the Holy Spirit and enter back into a greater asceticism because we haven't reached our own final resurrection yet!

Advanced:
In addition to the above:

• Pray the full Vespers service with propers for Pentecost.
• On Sunday morning, pray Pentecost Matins, or a portion of Matins, before Divine Liturgy or Typika.   Matins Service       Propers for Pentecost (much of the music is difficult, so feel free to straight chant or recite)
• You may also continue to use the propers for Vespers and Matins for your prayer during the whole week.

See our Holy Week & Pascha guide for more information and tips about praying at home.

Celebrate!

• Each day this week, in addition to your daily routine of prayer, sing the Pentecost Troparion (Divine Liturgy propers p. 2) to begin your prayer before meals. The Feast of Pentecost continues until Saturday afternoon. 
• Another hymn we can sing again (we refrain from singing it during the Paschal season and Ascension in anticipation of Pentecost), is Heavenly King (Divine Liturgy propers p. 1). It is good to begin our daily prayers with this prayer to the Holy Spirit, because we can't pray without the action of the Holy Spirit within us!
• Get creative! Here is a fun idea for some cookies to make to remind you of the powerful fire of the Holy Spirit who inflames our hearts with love for God and each other! They are sugar cookies made with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut in half. Make yellow and red frosting and blend together in the middle of the cookie.

Share!

• Share photos of your celebration of Pentecost with others, or tell other families/couples/individuals about your feast. If you are on Facebook, share photos on the Facebook group The Domestic Church, Byz-y at Prayer.

Learn More!

• Visit God With Us Online to learn more about the Sundays, feast days and prayer of our Church.