Today, the feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles – Pentecost – Trinity Day was celebrated with holy liturgies in the Kotor Parish, in the churches of St. Nicholas in the Old Town, St. Basil of Ostrog in Dobrota and St. Peter of Cetinje in Prčanj.
After the festive matins, the Holy Liturgy in the Church of St. Nicholas was served by the hierarchal vicar of Kotor-Tivat, the parish priest of Kotor, Archpriest-stavrophor Nemanja Krivokapić, with the clergy of the Parish.
The congregation, who were preparing, received Holy Communion.
According to the ancient Orthodox custom, the faithful wove wreaths of freshly picked zurkva, which is brought into the church on this great holiday.
Spirits – Trinity, the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, a holiday that represents the birthday of the Christian Church, is celebrated on the 50th day after the Christian Passover (Easter), and is therefore also called Pentecost. This Christian holiday corresponds to the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, which was celebrated as the Feast of Weeks (Sunday) or the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 34:32), also on the 50th day after Passover. In the Christian Church, Pentecost commemorates the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.
Just as the appearance of God at Sinai was the birthday of the Jewish people, so too is the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles the birthday of the Christian Church – on the same day, after the sermon of St. Peter, three thousand believers were converted (Acts 2:4). The experience of glossolalia, speaking in unknown tongues, or understanding foreign languages, is closely linked to the event of Pentecost.
In church iconography, the Descent of the Holy Spirit is faithfully depicted with the apostles sitting to the side, with a vacant seat at the head (this seat is for the Lord Christ, who ascended to heaven ten days earlier).
This holiday was established by the apostles and always falls on a Sunday. Since God the Son promised to send the Holy Spirit, and God the Father permitted it, all three persons of God participate in this event.
On that day, churches are decorated with green branches and sprinkled with grass. The event of this day is represented on the icon: a gathering of the Apostles, among them the Holy Virgin Mary the Theologian, and above each of their heads a small flame like a tongue of fire. However, it can also be represented in the form of three travelers, when God appeared to the forefather Abraham at the oak of Mamre (Genesis 18:1-2).