Mid-Pentecost
What is Mid-Pentecost?
Not many people are familiar with the feast of Mid-Pentecost. The Wednesday after the Sunday of the Paralytic, the Church celebrates a great feast of the Lord, that of Mid-Pentecost. As the name suggests, it is the mid-way point between Pascha and Pentecost. This feast day falls 25 days after Pascha which means it always falls on a Wednesday. The scriptural reference for this feast is when Jesus was 12 years old and was found teaching in the temple. John 7:14: “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How knows this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” In this guide, I hope to share a little more information about the feast and I’ve included ways to participate in the feast with activity suggestions, song references, link to a reading of a homily about the feast, reading suggestions and more!
The central theme for this feast is water. If you remember, the mid-point of Great Lent theme is the Cross of Christ so that we may daily die with Christ in order to experience the Resurrection of our Lord, so the mid-point of the Pentecostarion (50 days after Pascha) enlightens us regarding the theme of the fifty days following Pascha - which is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit poured out as a gift upon all the faithful who partake of the living water which is Christ Himself.
If you haven’t attended this service before, I would encourage you to do so!
The hymnography is full of beautiful imagery:
(Courtesy of Jacksonauction.com)
Understanding the Icon: Most icons showing biblical events from the traditional accounts of the life of Jesus make obvious sense in relation to the church year, however this icon, does not make obvious sense, in spite of the fact that it is an easily recognized scene. It depicts the event called recorded in Luke 2:41-49 “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it…And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed.”
It is rather odd that the image of the young Jesus among the elders became used for Mid-Pentecost, because the biblical text that connects the Mid-Pentecost icon type with that festival, and is sometimes used as the title of the icon, actually refers to a different (but similar) event supposedly later in the life of Jesus, as written in John 7:14: “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How knows this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”
The icon is inscribed: “In the Middle of the Feast Jesus Entered into the Temple…” That excerpt originally referred to the adult Jesus and to the Jewish feast, but The Orthodox Church made use of that “middle of the feast” notion to apply the image instead to Mid-Pentecost. In any case, it shows us how intimately icons are connected with the liturgical calendar of The Eastern Orthodox Church.
Christ Teaching in the Temple at Mid-Feast sold by Legacy Icons
Synaxarion - The fifty days following Pascha until the Feast of Pentecost are known as the period of the Pentecostarion in the Orthodox Church. At the mid-point between these great feasts of Pascha and Pentecost, on the 25 day which is always a Wedneday, is one of the most beloved feasts for the most devout Orthodox Christians known quit simply as Mid-Pentecost. Mid-Pentecost is to the Pentecostarion what the Third Sunday of Great Lent which honors the Holy Cross is to the period of Great Lent. It is a day which helps us focus on the central theme of the entire period. Whereas the mid-point of Great Lent reminds us to bear up the Cross of Christ bravely so that we may daily die with Christ in order to experience the Resurrection of our Lord, so also the mid-point of the Pentecostarion enlightens us regarding the theme of the fifty days following Pascha - which is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit poured out as a gift upon all the faithful who partake of the living water which is Christ Himself.
The central theme woven throughout the period of the Pentecostarion therefore is water. This becomes the central theme of the period because it is the central theme of the Gospel of John which we read in its entirety during the Pentecostarion and which naturally flows into the Acts of the Apostles which is also read during this period in its entirety. This theme appears for the first time on Pascha itself in the joyous Canon of the Feast of Feasts written by Saint John the Damascene when he invites us to "drink a new drink," not "brought forth from a barren rock," as in the Old Testament under Moses, but which rather "springeth forth from the grave of Christ." Then during the Paschal Divine Liturgy the priest processes with the Gospel and chants loudly from Psalm 67:27 saying: "In the congregations bless ye God, the Lord from the well-springs of Israel."
Fun Fact: In Russia, Mid-Pentecost is traditionally a time when both the fields and water are ritually blessed. Even as it is the tradition of the Church to bless gardens with Holy Water at Mid-Pentecost asking God for the fruits of the earth, so too, here at Mid- Pentecost let us contemplate and celebrate the fruits nourished within us by streams of living water – the waters that flow from the cross through the Church to eternal life in heaven.
Activities :
Make a priority to attend the Service! It always falls on a Wednesday!
Listen to the Troparion for the Feast by Gigi Baba HERE
Create “living waters” with this fun experiment from Creating a Great Day
Plant some flowers and plants in your garden and sprinkle them with holy water
For Older Kids:
Reading Suggestions:
Read the story from the Gospel:
John 7:14: “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How knows this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”
Luke 2:41-49 “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it…And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed.”
I hope you have a blessed feast day with your family!