This holiday is part of the Easter cycle, so it may be in May or June, depending on when Easter occurs. The Pentecost occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. It commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the disciples of Jesus. Many people who spoke a variety of languages had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate a religious holiday, and the Holy Spirit allowed the disciples or apostles to preach in other languages through “tongues of fire.” Many Greek Orthodox Christians recognize the Pentecost as the birth of the church because the descent of the Holy Spirit completed the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It was also the first time that the apostles had preached to the masses.
The Monday following the Pentecost is Pentecost Monday or Holy Spirit Monday, a public holiday in Greece. Schools and businesses are closed, but shops, restaurants, and tavernas are usually open on this day because it is a day when many Greeks travel since it makes a three-day weekend for workers. A religious service is held in the morning in the Church of the Nativity of Mary on this day.
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