Pentecost
The word, ‘Pentecost’ means ‘50th day’ in Greek. Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testament in Acts 2:1–31. From that point on the Apostles carried the message of Christ to the whole world. Thus Pentecost is the birth of the Church. The authority which Christ gave his Apostles through the Holy Spirit extends through the bishops today and continues to guide the Church.
The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. The first to use this analogy was St Augustine who said: Just as the soul gives life to the body, so also the Spirit gives life to the Church.