The Troparion of Pentecost

The troparion of Pentecost (Blessed are You, O Christ our God…) takes me back to the faces of the brethren in the Orthodox Youth Movement (MJO) in Beirut, to their very old house in “the little mountain” that used to bring us together in the eighties of the last century. At the onset of my commitment, I used to look, in the commitment, for correctness and perfection in it. The brethren in Beirut did not confine themselves to chanting this troparion in their meetings if they happened to be on Pentecost or during the week that follows it, but rather, they used to chant it also at other times in order to affirm their correctness and perfection, that is, their belief that they are ever in need of the help of the Holy Spirit, Who always pours out His bounties abundantly on the world. Many can attest to the joy that abided in the brethren’s faces when they chanted it. I see them in front of me. The open faces explain, both to the novice and to the expert, that the Holy Spirit is the One Who steers the ship in the sea of the world. Beirut is the starting point of knowing that we belong to the Holy Spirit.