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Pentecost is a holiday of Christianity, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter, and ten days after the Ascension. It is also known in English as Whitsun (Whitsunday), because of the white robes worn this day by those newly baptized. The word was already familiar in Old English, as Hwita Sunnandæg.

The name comes from the Greek word Pentékosté, meaning "fiftieth", and originally referred to Shavuot, celebrated after seven full weeks, on the fiftieth day after Passover (the second day of Passover, on the 16th of Nisan, is the first day of counting the Omer). The Hebrew festival was originally connected with celebrating the first-fruits of the spring grain harvest, but the Christian festival lost those associations to the new association with the descent of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecostal Christian churches, which are so named because they emphasize the Holy Spirit in each individual, celebrate Pentecost as the anniversary of the disciples' being filled with the Spirit, as described in the New Testament in Acts, 2. Most Christians recognize this event as the birth of the Church.

In Italy it was customary to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues; hence in Sicily and elsewhere in Italy Whitsunday is called Pascha rosatum. The Italian name Pascha rossa comes from the red colours of the vestments used on Whitsunday.
In France it was customary to blow trumpets during Divine service, to recall the sound of the mighty wind which accompanied the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
In England the gentry amused themselves with horse races. The Whitsun Ales or merrymakings are almost wholly obsolete in England. At these ales the Whitsun plays were performed.
At Vespers of Pentecost in the Oriental Churches the extraordinary service of genuflexion, accompanied by long poetical prayers and psalms, takes place. On Pentecost the Russians carry flowers and green branches in their hands.

The following Monday is a holiday in much of Europe. The day is known as Whitmonday in England, Wales, and IrelandThe island of Ireland ire in Irish, Airlann in Ulster Scots) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies on the west side of the Irish Sea, close to the island of Great Britain. It is composed of the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Irelan, and is also celebrated in IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is an island nation in the northern Atlantic Ocean, located between Greenland and Scotland, northwest of the Faroe Islands. Lydveldid Island ( In Detail) (Full size) National motto: none Official languageNone. Icelandic de facto''., SwedenThe Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige in Swedish) is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf, The Netherlands, BelgiumFor alternate meanings, see Belgium (disambiguation). Belgian redirects here. For the horse breed commonly used as a draft horse, see Belgian. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Belgi French: Belgique German: Belgien is a country in Western Europe, bordered and GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east. Since 1967, however, Whit Monday has not been a public holiday in the United Kingdom; the holiday has been moved to the fixed date of the last Monday in May, which sometimes but by no means always coincides with Whit Monday. Whit Monday will also cease to be a day off in France from 2005 onwards. The week beginning on Whitsunday (especially the first three days) is called Whitsuntide.

When is Pentecost?

Western ChristianityWestern Christianity refers collectively to Catholicism and Protestantism, especially when speaking more about what they share in common than about the ways they differ. As opposed to Eastern Christianity, these groups of Christianity dominated mostly and

20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom: May 19
2003: June 8
2004: May 30
2005: May 15
2006: June 4
2007: May 27

Eastern Christianity

2002: June 24

See also : Wave offerings

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living
in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered,
because each one heard them speaking in the native
language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked "Are not
all those who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear,
each of us, in our own native language?" -Acts 2: 1-9

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PentecostalismThe Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism is similar to the Charismatic movement, but developed earlier and separated from the mainstream church. Charismatic Christians,	PentecostPentecost is a holiday of Christianity, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter, and ten days after the Ascension. It is also known in English as Whitsun (Whitsunday)	Pentecostal Free Will Baptist ChurchThe Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church (PFWBC) is best thought of as Pentecostal rather than Baptist. But the PFWBC is historically and theologically a combination of both, having broken away from the Free Will Baptist Church due to acceptance of certai
Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day SaintsThe Pentacostal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also known as the PLDS Church is a sect of Mormonism organized in 1994-1995 by a study group called the "LDS Scripture Readers", led by Michael Bethel, composed initially of independent Mormons a	Pentecostal Church of GodThis article is about two bodies with the same name, the predominantly white Pentecostal Church of God headquartered in Joplin, Missouri, and The Pentecostal Church of God an African-American body headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The Pentecostal Church	Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North AmericaThe Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America is an interdenominational fellowship of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in North America, existing for the purpose of promoting cooperation and understanding. It is a successor to the Pentecostal
Pentecostal World Conference	Pentecost Monday	Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

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