Monday of the Holy Spirit

The dedication of the day after a great feast to the person or agent through whom the feast was accomplished is a long-standing liturgical pattern in the Orthodox tradition. Just as the Theotokos is honored on the day after the Nativity of Christ and Saint John the Forerunner on the day after Theophany, so the Holy Spirit is honored on the day after Pentecost, the feast that celebrates His descent upon the Apostles.

Early Christianity extended the Pentecost celebration across multiple days. In the Western tradition, Whit Monday was part of Pentecost's octave, an addition made in the seventh century, until the 1969 revision of the Roman Calendar removed it. The Eastern tradition has retained an extended commemorative structure, spending successive days honoring the Persons of the Trinity made manifest through the Pentecost event, so that Trinity Sunday is followed by Spirit Monday and then the Third Day of the Trinity.

In its present form, the day carries much of the Pentecost service forward. Many of the same hymns as on the day of Pentecost itself are sung, while a proper Canon of the Holy Spirit is chanted at Compline, and special canons to the Holy Spirit are appointed for Matins. No Vigil is prescribed for the eve of the observance, in contrast to the eve of Pentecost. At Matins the Great Doxology is sung without the Polyeleos. At the Divine Liturgy the Deacon intones the same introit as on Pentecost, and the special entrance verse and dismissal of Pentecost are used, the dismissal being the same as on the feast itself.

The whole week following remains fast-free, and the pattern of naming days from the day after Pentecost extends onward: all the remaining days of the ecclesiastical year, until the preparation for the next Great Lent, are numbered from the Monday after Pentecost.

The day sets apart the honor of God the Holy Spirit, the all-Holy, good, and life-creating Spirit who descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost and who continues to sanctify the Church. Where Trinity Sunday contemplates the whole revelation of the Godhead, Spirit Monday draws out specifically pneumatological themes, giving the third Person of the Trinity His own day of honor.

The liturgical texts confess the Spirit as the giver of every gift: the inspirer of prophecy, the one who consecrates the Church's ministry, and the bond that sustains her unity. They praise Him as the source of goodness through whom the Father is known and the Son glorified, and as the wellspring of the life and holiness by which prophets, apostles, and martyrs are perfected.

The observance therefore proclaims the Holy Spirit as an active, personal agent in the Church's life rather than an abstract power: the giver of prophecy, the perfecter of holy orders, and the bond that sustains the Church. In honoring the Spirit the day after Pentecost, the Church confesses that the descent of the Spirit was not a single past event but the abiding source of her sanctification.

The day shares the festal icon of Pentecost. It depicts the Twelve Apostles seated in a semicircle, with the Holy Spirit descending upon them at the top in the form of tongues of fire; in some versions the Theotokos is shown seated in the center among them. At the bottom is an allegorical figure called Kosmos, symbolizing the world, holding scrolls that represent the teaching of the Apostles. In the Orthodox tradition the liturgical color of Pentecost is green, and clergy and faithful carry flowers and green branches during the services.

Spirit Monday shares many of its hymns with Pentecost itself. A proper Canon of the Holy Spirit is appointed at Compline, and special canons to the Holy Spirit are chanted at Matins. The Great Doxology is sung at Matins without the Polyeleos, and no Vigil is prescribed for the eve of the day. These texts hymn the Spirit as all-holy, good, and life-giving — the source of every gift who inspires prophecy, consecrates the Church's ministry, and sustains her unity.

The Afterfeast of Pentecost is a fast-free period lasting one week. During it, fasting is not permitted, including on the Wednesday and Friday that would ordinarily be observed as fast days. The Leave-taking of Pentecost falls on the following Saturday. As always, questions of personal fasting practice should be directed to one's own priest.

Churches are often decorated with greenery and flowers for Pentecost and its afterfeast; in the Orthodox tradition the liturgical color is green, and clergy and faithful carry flowers and green branches during the services.

On the night of Pentecost, the Kneeling Prayer service is observed: a Vespers to which are added three sets of long poetical prayers composed by Basil the Great, during which the faithful make full prostrations, resuming the prostrations that had been set aside from Pascha until this point.

All of the remaining days of the ecclesiastical year, until the preparation for the next Great Lent, are named for the day after Pentecost on which they occur, so that Spirit Monday marks a reference point for the numbering of the weeks that follow. In Orthodox theology, Pentecost is not considered the birthday of the Church; the Church is understood to have existed before the creation of the world.