Homily Four for the Feast of Pentecost
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
(Delivered in 1905)
“Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and undivided Trinity, always, now and ever and unto the ages of ages” (Exclamation at the beginning of the all-night vigil)
Dear brothers and sisters, we celebrate the great Christian feast of Pentecost, i.e. the fiftieth day after Pascha, or the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the tenth after His Ascension into heaven. What a great and saving event for the Church took place on this day? The glorious, life-giving descent of the Holy Spirit, the third Divine Person of the Holy Trinity, on the Apostles and all the faithful disciples of Christ who were in the Upper Room on Zion. Before that, the Holy Spirit had not been present in the world, for Jesus Christ was not glorified, as the Holy Scripture says, i.e. until He suffered and died for the sins of the world. For only by the merits of Christ and by His intercession did God the Father send His Holy and life-giving Spirit into the sinful and perishing world. This descent of the Holy all-renewing and all-containing Spirit of God was accompanied by miraculous all-renewing actions on the disciples who had gathered and were awaiting Him in unanimous ardent prayer. Listen to the sacred story of this glorious event by the writer and evangelist Luke.
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?... So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel..." (Acts 2:1–8, 11–15).
Hitherto Saint Luke has the Apostle Peter quote the words of the Prophet Joel, who foretold this glorious event several hundred years before by the Holy Spirit. Here the Divine miracle consists in the fact that all the Apostles suddenly received from the Holy Spirit the gift of speaking in the different languages of all the nations to whom they were to go preaching the gospel, and while one Spirit proclaimed by grace, all the nations that heard were heard differently, and each heard his own language; and the Apostles, being simple and unlearned, became so wise that they could speak clearly and powerfully, penetratingly about the great and saving deeds of God, became new people, holy and ardent, selflessly loving God and capable of subduing all nations to the faith of Christ. And they, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, carried the good news of Christ everywhere to all ends of the world and taught everyone the faith of Christ, so that their message went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the universe.
The first-called apostle Andrew was given the gift of speaking, among other things, in the Slavic language, and he, being with a sermon within the borders of Russia, preached the gospel to the Russian Slavs in their native language. And in the ninth century after the birth of Christ, God sent to the Slavs to renew the preaching of the gospel the equal-to-the-apostles brothers Cyril and Methodios, teachers of the Slavs, who invented the Slavic alphabet and wrote the Gospel of John and the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom in the Slavic language. And this was the work and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. From them began the word of God and the Divine service in the Slavic language among us Russians. And so, glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and undivided Trinity, which also brought us into the Church of those saved in Christ by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, who descended upon the Apostles, from that time until now abides in the Church of Christ, holy, catholic and apostolic, and will abide in it until the end of the age, according to the promise of Christ, just as Christ God Himself promised to be with us until the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).
Thus, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity equally contribute to the salvation of the faithful by their all-powerful participation, as consubstantial. The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Truth, steadfastly preserves the truth of the Orthodox faith, which was brought down from heaven by Christ, enlightens and strengthens the Church and all true believers; appoints shepherds to tend to the flock of Christ, administers the mysteries, revives them into Christian life, cleanses the sins of the believers, sanctifies, nurtures, raises, arranges their sorrows (antiphon); repels false teachings, performs miracles and signs, thereby manifesting the truth and salvific power of the Orthodox faith in Christ, perfects them in virtue, and reveals the holiness and incorruption of true ascetics – inspiring us to render them due honor and glory, imitating their way of life.
We thank the Lord for the greatest blessing that we were born and raised in the Holy Orthodox Church, the only saving one, we have the happiness of reading and listening to the word of God and the Divine service, and preaching in the Slavic and Russian languages, and we can understand much, much about God and His works in the world and in His Church, and know His holy and righteous will and have received all the strength to fulfill it.
Let us be attentive to our holy faith, lest we fall away. "For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense," says the Apostle Paul, "then how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation (and the neglect of many is exceedingly great), which, having been spoken by the Lord, was confirmed in us by those who heard Him, God bearing witness with signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His will?" (Heb. 2:1-4). "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, lest you fall away from the living God and fall into schism or a sect; but exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if indeed we hold fast our godly faith and conversation steadfast to the end" (Heb. 3:12–14). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
