It has been said that the Orthodox Church is the Church of the Holy Spirit, so great is its devotion to the "Comforter, the Spirit of Truth" Who proceeds from the Father, as Christ described Him during the Mystical Supper in the Gospel of John.  Every prayer, every liturgical and sacramental action of the Eastern Church is done through an invocation to the Holy Spirit.  His Presence and Activity is felt everywhere in Orthodoxy which is truly the original "Pentecostal Church."  But can we experience the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives today? 

Pentecost, or the fiftieth days following Passover or Pascha, was celebrated by the children of Israel for thousands of years even before Christ.  

Now Christ, Who is our New Passover, sacrificed Himself as the Unspotted Lamb to death on the Cross and rose again on the third day to reclaim the creation of the Father that became dead through sin.

Now the mystery of the Holy Trinity is completed with the sending into the world of the Spirit of Christ who proceeds from the Father and rests on the Son.  His role is to bring to us the saving mystery of Christ, to recall to us His words and His commandments while leading us into all grace and truth. 

The great symbol of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that of olive oil.  This oil was crucially important in the daily lives of the people of the desert.  

It was used in cooking and for purposes of health care.  It was used to beautify the body and for religious anointing.  Kings and priests were and still are consecrated with olive oil mixed with spices.  Psalm 132 encapsulates very poignantly the spiritual significance of oil when the Psalmist cries out that the good oil was poured out as upon the "Beard of Aaron down to the edges of his garments."

The children of Israel, the people of the desert, thought of God's grace as Divine Oil being poured out on them.  They wore tassels and fringes upon their garments to remind them of the streams of Divine Oil that God continuously poured out upon His people.  

When King David repented of his sin of adultery with Bath-Sheba and of his sin of the murder of her husband, his prayer of confession and sorrow as contained in Psalm 50(51) shows that his great concern was that God tooko away the Holy Spirit from him.

They often adorned their staffs and other items with knotted cords and tassels, symbols of Divine protection and therefore of "God's luck" which became "good luck" (just as "God's Friday" became "Good Friday").

To this day, Orthodox Priests and Bishops have their vestments adorned with fringes that recalls the same theological truth.  The prayer rope is a knotted cord that ends with a tassel that follows the same idea as well as does the fringed belt Slavic Christians wear ("opashka").

It is clear from the Acts of the Apostles, that the coming of the Holy Spirit was understood in just this way.  They referred to the "pouring out" of the Spirit Who appeared as flaming tongues giving them all sorts of powers and miraculous gifts.

Pentecost is therefore the feast of the Birthday of the Church, the Body of Christ. On this day, the Apostles celebrated the first Divine Liturgy following the Mystical Supper since they invoked the Holy Spirit to come down and transform bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Since the descent of the Spirit occurred around 9:00 am, this is why the Eastern Church celebrates the Divine Liturgy at that time in the morning.  For the Christian East, the Words of Institution, "This is My Body, This is My Blood," refer to an historical event, the event of the Mystical Supper.

The "Epiclesis" is the prayer of invocation of the Spirit that follows that asks the Consoler to come and effect the Miracle of the transmutation of the Bread and Wine and to fill Them and us with every spiritual gift.

The Eucharist is Pentecost as much as it is Pascha (i.e. the Cross, the Tomb and the Resurrection)!

The attitude in prayer of the Eastern Church can therefore be likened to an empty vessel into which the Holy Oil, which is the Spirit, is poured to overflowing or, King David sang in Psalm 22(23) "My cup runneth over."

Traditionally, Christians pray with palms modestly raised upwards as if holding out their hands as vessels into which God will pour the Oil of Compunction.

Some western commentators have said that the Orthodox are very "passive" in their worship.

And if they are, this is because they know that of themselves they are nothing.  Prayer is invoking the coming and anointing of the Holy Spirit and we are to wait patiently for Him to come to us!

It is the Spirit Who effects all the other Mysteries/Sacraments of the Church.  We are anointed with the Spirit in Chrismation (not "Confirmation") which is our personal Pentecost, empowering us to be vibrant Pneumatophores or "Spirit-Bearers" in receiving the other Mysteries and blessings of the Church. 

We are called to be open to the Spirit in our lives, to be filled with the Spirit at all times and to share the overflow with those around us.

Holy Oil is used frequently in the Eastern Church as a reminder of this, in the Mystery of the Anointing which is not only given to those who are ill, but to all of us four times a year, the Priesthood, the anointings given by the Priest on important feast days etc.

At our Baptism, the Priest anoints our bodies at eight points in the shape of an 8-pointed Orthodox Cross (three-bar Cross with slanted foot-rest) with a mystical play on the number "8" which is the numerical value of the Name of Jesus.

The Spirit introduces us to the Mystical Life where we worship the Holy Trinity which is revealed to us through the Bible, this Mystery cannot be comprehended by unaided human reason.

The Orthodox Church "covers up" or "veils" the Mysteries of faith.  It does not try to "expose" them as the Western Church does (e.g. Monstrances and Eucharistic Processions in the Roman Catholic Church).

Our mystical life is one of constant "in-spiration" and our prayer life is our living link with the Spirit. 

The Orthodox Church is a Church of constant prayer, the invocation of the Name of Jesus Christ in the Jesus Prayer which is, as the Fathers taught, the "epiclesis of our Lord and Saviour" which we constantly call down on our souls to conform them to Christ.

The mystical Icons contain all manner of symbolism as do the liturgical actions of the Priest during the Liturgy and other sacramental actions.  

The incense that is used to bless the Icons and the faithful - who are living Icons - is welcomed by us as we say silently, "Thy Good Spirit will lead us along level paths, O Lord."

In the Spirit, we become a community of priests, the Royal Priesthood, called upon to constantly invoke the sacramental and mystical Name of Jesus over ourselves and those around us and upon the entire world God has created.  We do this as a priestly exercise to sanctify everything in Christ through the Holy Spirit to the Glory of God the Father!

And there is no limit to the Presence of the Spirit in our lives for, as Christ said, God gives the Spirit without measure.

Let us not be satisfied with an external performance of some daily prayers and weekly attendance at the Divine Liturgy.

To be satisfied with a minimalist Christianity is to show a lack of faith.  What is more, it shows a lack of enthusiasm to the real power and joy and excitement that God has poured out upon His Church and upon us in the Holy Spirit.

Let us see the work of the Spirit in our lives as we constantly glorify Him and Christ together with His Father!  

Let us experience Pentecost all over again with an attentive and receptive heart at the Divine Liturgy and in Holy Communion.  

If we want to see Christ raise the dead and perform His other miracles again, let us attend a Baptism and the other Mysteries of the Church.

If we want to experience miracles, let us ponder on the Epiclesis in the Divine Liturgy.  

Let us become true Spirit-Bearers, intoxicated with God!

Like St Philip in the Acts of the Apostles, let us be ready and willing to be "taken up" in the Spirit and sent by Him to wherever He wants us to go and to whomever He wants us to be with to communicate His love and Divine Power.

In preparing for the coming and blessing of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, let us imitate the Apostles who were constantly praising God in the Temple. 

May our prayer lives be such so that we many never hear from the mouth of our Saviour these remonstrating words that He spoke to His sleeping disciples in the Garden before His Crucifixion: Could you not watch with me for one hour?

We may not speak in tongues like the Apostles did.  But the Spirit may communicate to us words that speak in a special way to someone who needs to hear them.  Let us be open to being used by the Spirit as His vessel and instrument for all such purposes!