What is Pentecost?

In Germany, spring is dotted with public holidays that have their origins in Christian tradition: Good Friday and Easter, which celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; Ascension, commemorating Christ's ascent into heaven; and Pentecost, considered the birthday of the Christian Church.

Also known as Whitsun or Trinity Sunday by some religious traditions, it marks when the Holy Spirit is believed to have descended upon the Apostles of Jesus, Mary and other followers of Christ, 50 days after Easter — hence the name, which comes from a Hellenistic Greek word meaning "50th." Though the holiday is important for Christians, it has its roots in Judaism.

The above-mentioned followers of Christ had gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot in Hebrew), a harvest festival held seven weeks and one day after the first day of Passover, also celebrated as the day that the Ten Commandments were revealed to Moses.

Miracle of understanding

"The disciples were a bit lost after the death and resurrection of Jesus and then after the Ascension," said Reverend Aljona Hofmann, a pastor at Berlin's Protestant Gethsemane Church. "They didn't know what to do next. They'd had such a good time with Jesus, who was no longer within reach, and they had withdrawn to a house in Jerusalem. And then the Holy Spirit came upon them, this power of God that […] simply came over them and they felt a kind of vitality, a kind of strength that they had lost."

That strength inspired them to talk to others about what they had experienced. "It was actually a miracle of understanding," Hofmann told DW. "They all spoke their own language, yet they could still understand each other." 

According to the biblical account, the disciples who had witnessed the miraculous event went out to the streets and started attracting a large crowd. They inspired about 3,000 people to also become baptized followers of Christ — the first steps toward an organized church.

Making the abstract tangible

As the birth of the church, Pentecost is celebrated in all Christian faiths, Eastern and Western. In more than 30 countries, it's observed as a public holiday, one that non-believers simply enjoy as a day off in springtime.

The color associated with Pentecost is red, thought to symbolize the joy and fire of the Holy Spirit.

In Italy, that's taken a step further and associated with roses, whose petals are often scattered from the ceilings of Catholic churches. The petals are meant to represent the tongues of flame that touched Mary and the Apostles during the Pentecost.

One of the most striking examples of that practice takes place at the Pantheon in Rome, where firefighters let fall thousands of rose petals through the building's oculus at the conclusion of the Pentecost Mass.

Some Baroque churches in Austria, southern Germany and France also have openings in their ceilings, albeit much smaller than the Pantheon's oculus, called "Holy Ghost Holes," which symbolize the descent of the Holy Spirit. In addition to rose petals, some churches lower a dove figurine through the hole during Pentecost observances, the dove being the primary symbol of the Holy Spirit in Christian tradition.

These traditions are attempts to make the abstract concepts behind Pentecost more easily understood. That abstract quality may be one of the reasons it's less well known than other Christian holidays.

"It's a festival where you don't have anything tangible. How do you describe a ghost?," said Hofmann. " Christmas is very figurative: A child is born. That's familiar; we've experienced that in our families. Resurrection is more difficult, but the egg helps us a little, new life. But a spirit, how do you explain that?"

Small but significant gifts

Additionally, Pentecost is not tied to secular traditions that would lend themselves well to commercialization. "There's a funny saying that the gifts are the smallest at Pentecost," said Hofmann. No Easter Bunny, no Santa Claus — it's just the "gift of the Holy Spirit." 

Hofmann's church has for years marked the holiday with an ecumenical celebration involving several different Christian denominations. It features a religious service followed by, in typical German fashion, coffee and cake, and grilled sausages.

For her, the event represents the "miracle of understanding" behind Pentecost: "I don't have to become like you. I don't have to speak your language for us to understand each other, but I can stick to what's important to me, where I feel comfortable, where I am at home. And yet we can still come together. […] I think it's also a miracle that people come closer and understand each other, despite all their differences."

In these highly polarized times, those gifts may be the most essential ones.

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier