Mid-Pentecost

This feast, mentioned in the title of these lines, is one of our major Church feasts. It is celebrated on Wednesday, halfway between Pascha and Pentecost, the period also known as the Feast of Pentecost. Twenty-five days have passed since our celebration of Pascha. The significance of this feast is that it reminds us of the ancient Feast of Tabernacles and transcends it. The ancient feast, which commemorated God's provision for the people during their desert crossing, providing them with life-sustaining resources, is annulled by the Feast of "Mid-Pentecost" by making it a foreshadowing of what is to come, namely Christ, Who alone is the "Water of Life" and the "Light of the World". This feast is a representation of every celebration on the basis of which the Church asks us to rhythm our lives. This is the wisdom of life. Christians do not come from their days and the events therein, but from a Church that is the soul of our lives. This feast teaches us that life is both farewell and anticipation. Ecclesiastically, we move from one beginning to another. The farewell always carries the flavor of a new beginning. The Spirit is coming. This is the promise of the Living Christ.