The comprehension of the meaning of the Holy Trinity Day continues

On the feast of Pentecost, the giving of which in 2021 took place on June 26, the Primates of the Orthodox Churches from different sides explained to the flock the significance of this event.

Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church explained the meaning and history of the feast of Pentecost in the most detail. He recalled that the Holy Spirit descended only after the Ascension of the Savior Jesus Christ, when God the Son was reconciled to God the Father, placing human nature on the throne of the Holy Trinity, purified and sanctified by death on the cross. Before his ascension to heaven, Jesus Christ was before people, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit, He becomes the inner world of a person. This presence of Christ and the Most Holy Trinity in people through the action of the Holy Spirit is a secret of the Church. The Holy Spirit is mysteriously present in the human soul and mysteriously, together with the human will, forms the life of a Christian so that it is similar to the image of Christ. The desire of the Holy Spirit is to make every Christian a spiritual icon of Jesus Christ.

His Beatitude Daniel also reminded that Pentecost is the feast of the foundation of the Church of Christ as a human community, which is gathered thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit through the love of the Most Holy Trinity. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of fiery tongues means the sanctification of the disciples of Jesus Christ, who then went to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all nations in their native language. "This miracle was performed to show that all peoples are blessed, all ethnic groups under the sun are blessed by God and are called to repentance and baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity," said the primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia emphasized the same idea in his sermon. He recalled that on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ, many people of different nationalities gathered in Jerusalem, who spoke different languages and did not understand each other, which was a consequence of sin. But the Holy Spirit that descended on the apostles allowed representatives of different countries to penetrate into each other's hearts and speak the same language – the language of the Holy Spirit, the language of love and forgiveness. This language brings peoples closer together, while the rulers of this world divide them.

His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria drew attention to the fact that the world is now in a state of deep spiritual and moral crisis, and the Church in it resembles a spiritual oasis in the desert of hopelessness. He stressed that only in the Church can one receive the Holy Spirit to fight against sin, corruption, death, passions and vices. In this quiet port in the midst of a stormy sea of life, everyone can drink the living water of the Word of God. A word that can revive and warm even the most petrified and cruel heart, awaken and ignite even the weakest flickering divine spark, turn people from slaves of sin into children of God.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia stressed that we are saved by faith in God, but not by our own faith, but by the one that the Holy Spirit gives us (by Divine grace). The Holy Spirit gives grace (faith) every time we call on God, offer repentance, and receive communion. The devil, on the contrary, seeks to tear faith out of our hearts. The same topic was developed in his sermon by the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as part of the Moscow Patriarchate, Onufriy. He explained that every person, like the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, has a mind (the image of God the Father), constantly giving birth to a thought (the image of God the Son), carrying with it energy and strength (the image of the Holy Spirit). If a person's mind is filled with the Word of God, then he gives birth to thoughts that bring joy, and vice versa, if his mind is filled with evil, then he gives birth to thoughts that carry energy that poisons everything around.

Alexey TORBA

June 26, 2021