Hmmmmm.....

[James the Persian]

Am I right in recalling that at the moment that John baptised Jesus in the Jordan, the spirit (dove) descended upon him? If so this should be a very important day (i.e. Pentecost) as it means that effectively they became 'Christians' in the truest sense as the dove then descended upon them as it had on Jesus?

That's a different feast. It's Theophany (Epiphany in the west) on 6th January and is one of our most important feasts. Originallly it was the second most important in the Church year, after Pascha (Easter) but before the Nativity (Christmas).

We also do make a very big deal out of Pentecost and several other feasts that don't appear to be all that important in the west nowadays (did anyone other than me - I'd guess only the RCs - notice the feast of the Ascension?)

I would point out that it's not yet Pentecost for a large number (something like 250 million Orthodox and I don't know how many OOs) of Christians as we do not follow the Gregorian paschalion and, being 50 days after Pascha, Pentecost is a moveable feast. Orthodox Pentecost this year will be on 11th June.

James

 

[Nehustan]

That's a different feast. It's Theophany (Epiphany in the west) on 6th January and is one of our most important feasts. Originallly it was the second most important in the Church year, after Pascha (Easter) but before the Nativity (Christmas).

We also do make a very big deal out of Pentecost and several other feasts that don't appear to be all that important in the west nowadays (did anyone other than me - I'd guess only the RCs - notice the feast of the Ascension?)

I would point out that it's not yet Pentecost for a large number (something like 250 million Orthodox and I don't know how many OOs) of Christians as we do not follow the Gregorian paschalion and, being 50 days after Pascha, Pentecost is a moveable feast. Orthodox Pentecost this year will be on 11th June.

James

Hi James, funny I was just talking about the move of the Gregorian to Julian calenders by the Latin Church.

I wasn't saying that Christ's baptism was the same event as the pentecost, rather that it shared a quality, and thus was analagous if not synonymous. Happy pentecost in advance and....may the spirit descend with a light of inspiration upon you

 

[James the Persian]

Hi James, funny I was just talking about the move of the Gregorian to Julian calenders by the Latin Church.

Yeah, I just picked up on it (answered in the appropriate thread). You've got it backwards, though. The RCC moved from Julian to Gregorian. The Protestants later followed suit (not for a long time, though) and some Orthodox moved onto a similar, though not identical, calendar (called the Meletian) for the fixed feasts only in the 1920s. All Orthodox (apart from the Finns, and then only for political reasons) still use the Julian calendar to calculate the moveable feasts.

James