Partaking in Pentecost at Home

On Pentecost we commemorate the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Blessed Virgin May and the disciples in the cenacle of the last supper fifty days after Christ's resurrection from the dead. And the name Pentecost actually comes from the Greek word for fiftieth: Pentékosté (Πεντηκοστή). You can read the Biblical account of this and the subsequent events of the day in Acts chapter 2.

This solemnity is also called Whitsunday for the white garments customarily donned by the recently baptized reborn in the spirit. In our time it is customarily when the faithful receive the Holy Ghost through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. Additionally this day signifies the birth of the Church itself with the beginning of the disciples' ministry of evangelization.

Unfortunately, much misinformation gets shared regarding where Pentecost ranks in the hierarchy of holy days this time of year. For hundreds and hundreds of years, Pentecost has been the second greatest feast of the liturgical year. And it continues to be so for those whose parishes follow the traditional calendar (General Roman Calendar). This is what we teach our children and follow in our home. Some of these parishes are under the FSSP, the Institute of Christ the King, the Anglican Ordinariate, and the SSPX.

However, for Novus Ordo parishes, with the institution of the New Universal Calendar by Pope Paul VI in 1969, Pentecost was bumped to number three by the removal of its octave. Before this change only three feast still held an octave and they were all of differing importance: Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas. With Pentecost's loss of an octave however, Christmas with its' previously lower class of octave rose to second place. This is confirmed in The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar released with the new Universal Roman Calendar in 1969. In section three of title 1 it tells us:

"The celebration of the two greatest Solemnities, Easter and the Nativity, is extended over eight days. Each Octave is governed by its own rules." General Norms, 12

Because it is a solemnity and, a high ranking one at that, our family goes all our for this holy day and celebrates in ways inspired by the for traditional symbols of the Holy Ghost: the dove, fire, water, and wind. You can read more on other symbols of the Holy Ghost, like light, in the 92' Catechism 694-701.

I'll share a few simple things we pull from to do below, but I know I'll forget to add some. And if you are reading during the 2020 pandemic our {Free} Pentecost at Home Missal and all the suggested musical recordings will be at the end of this post.

Pentecost at Home

For each symbol of the Holy Ghost we try to work in something, but the simplest thing we have enjoyed over the years is wearing red, white, and polka dots. Red is the liturgical color of the day and white recalls its Whitsunday title, however, the polka dots come from our family lexicon and a tradition started by my oldest son. When he was 2 years old and would announce the third Glorious Mystery during our family rosary instead of "Pentecost" our eldest would say, "Polka dots, the descent of the Holy Ghost." Around that same age the other children have adopted this moniker for a time and the Pentecost Sunday wardrobe stuck.

There is also an Plenary Indulgence for praying the Veni Creator Spiritus prayer - under the (new) usual conditions - that we try to remember each year. The latin and english prayer and all the current conditions are in our printable prayer booklet below.

The Dove:

The traditional fare for Pentecost is stuffed foul. Our family has Pentecost Dove on our wish list for someday but because of the expense that most likely won't be able to happen until we shoot them ourselves or they are gifted to us providentially. Instead we stick with roast chicken for Sunday supper at home and enjoy the parish pot providences (pot lucks for the rest of the world) made up of food from all over the world as a nod to the disciples' spiritual gift of speaking in all kinds of new languages.

Little white origami doves are a sweet addition to our festive table decor for the day as well. Plain computer paper works well or even those little precut post-it notes.

Wind:

This symbol provides the possibility for so many fun feast day activities, especially for boys. Ours have enjoyed:

Flying Kites
Throw Frisbees
Paper Airplane Contests
Paper Sail Boat Races - an overlap with the water symbol
Blowing Bubbles - a favorite of the youngest family members.
Blowing out birthday candles on a dessert after singing happy birthday to the Church - an overlap with the fire symbol

Fire:

Of all the symbols of the Holy Ghost, this is my sons' favorite. And it fits perfectly with my liturgical living motto: "When in doubt, add fire!" There is just something about adding fire to a holy day that helps sear it into the memory of our children. And for that I am deeply grateful. So some simple but safe ways to add some holy tongues of fire to the day's festivities are:

Have a bonfire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows. This can be done on a smaller scale with a fire pit, fire place, or even over a the burner of a gas stove. A blessing for a bonfire is in the prayer booklet below.
Light candles at meals during the Octave. We like to do seven candles for the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the sacraments.
Pop a few fire works if you have some and it's legal. <wink wink>
Make and wear little tongues of fire headbands - I usually just free hand them and use whatever colors of construction paper we already have.
Find some red roses to decorate with.
Reenact the Pentecost rose petal drop at the Pantheon or use them as table decor. We reuse faux petals from the wedding section each year.
Put your birthday candles on a fiery dessert like bananas foster, a torched top meringue pie or creme brulee.
You can also go the flame-like route with most any thing strawberry when they are cut vertically. We've done little strawberry short cakes, decorated cheese cakes with them, and many others I can't remember now that everyone's asleep and the house is quiet.

Holey donuts for the Holy Ghost

Water:

As the days start getting hotter down here in the south during May and June, I really appreciate this symbol of the Holy Ghost. An the kiddo enjoy any excuse to break out the swimsuits and spray someone with the water hose. This symbol probably presents the most possibilities for outdoor activities with a bonus reminder of our baptisms.

Go swimming
Have a water gun or water balloon fight
Run through the sprinkler
Fire up the slip-n-slide
Go to a splash pad
And for our littlest loves: take a bubble bath.

Pentecost at Home Missal:

After months our diocese is still without the sacraments and accessibility to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Sunday. So, in order to help our families keep the solemnity of the day I put together this free little missal booklet for a beautiful dry mass at home. You can download it here and all the suggested music is below.

How our family prays a Dry Mass can be read here.