St Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
161 N. Murphy Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Pentecost - Trinity Sunday

Pentecost – Trinity Sunday

Greetings to one and all on this holy feast of Pentecost – also known as Trinity Sunday, for on this day the fullness of God’s revelation and relationship with mankind was made manifest. Just as Christ promised at His holy ascension, the Comforter has come to us on this day… the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity now enters fully into the life of the Church and of her Christian people.

The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, and Giver of Life. This is why the Church is decorated in green and filled with living branches. The Life-giving Breath of God is exhaled upon us today!

Today we resume our prayer to the Holy Spirit… ‘O Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good gifts and the Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.’

The Holy Spirit is the promised Comforter Who fills us with the presence of God and Whose fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Such fruits can fill the heart of the individual Christian and should be manifest in the assembly of Christians in the Church.

In the resurrection of Christ, we proclaim that we have seen the True Light. And indeed it is so! And now, on this blessed day of Pentecost we receive the True Warmth of the Holy Spirit. As Christ is the Light of God, so may we say the Holy Spirit is the Warmth of God. May that warmth of the Holy Spirit fill us with those blessed fruits of God’s grace.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, during these past 50 days of Paschal joy we do not kneel or make prostrations because ‘while the Bridegroom is with us, there is no time for mourning’. But now the Pentecost Vespers service welcomes us and encourages us to once again bend our knees in prostration before God. There are three ‘Kneeling Prayers’ that are said… we pray for forgiveness, for the assistance of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our earthly pilgrimage, and we commemorate those who have gone before us in the faith.

May the grace of the Holy Spirit be with us all the days of our life!

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