Whitsunday: Feast of the Pentecost
Sunday, May 24th
8:00 am | Holy Eucharist Rite I
*Nursery Care is available from 9am to noon
10:30 am | Holy Eucharist Rite II, with Procession & Station at the Font
Pentecost, known also as Whitsunday, is the fiftieth day of Easter that brings the season to a close. It is a celebration to mark the moment when the disciples began more fully to see that the power of the risen life of Jesus had indeed been given to them to share. They were the witnesses of the risen Christ. They were to be the hands and feet of God's love in the world. They were to be the light of his grace to all they encountered. The work of God to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth by the ministry of the disciples was matched by the outpouring of God's Spirit, so our celebration of Pentecost is full of heavenly fire.
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"Whitsunday," by George Herbert (1593-1633)
Listen, sweet Dove, unto my song,
And spread thy golden wings in me;
Hatching my tender heart so long,
Till it get wing, and flie away with thee.
Where is that fire which once descended
On thy Apostles? thou didst then
Keep open house, richly attended,
Feasting all comers by twelve chosen men.
Such glorious gifts thou didst bestow,
That th' earth did like a heav'n appeare:
The starres were coming down to know
If they might mend their wages, and serve here.
The sunne, which once did shine alone,
Hung down his head, and wisht for night,
When he beheld twelve sunnes for one
Going about the world, and giving light.
But since those pipes of gold, which brought
That cordiall water to our ground,
Were cut and martyr'd by the fault
Of those who did themselves through their side wound.
Thou shutt'st the doore, and keep'st within;
Scarce a good joy creeps through the chink:
And if the braves of conqu'ring sinne
Did not excite thee, we should wholly sink.
Lord, though we change, thou art the same;
The same sweet God of love and light:
Restore this day, for thy great name,
Unto his ancient and miraculous right.