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The Pentecostarion (, ; , , literally "Flowery Triodon"; ) is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic churches that includes the texts for the Paschal Season, but varies in exact span between different traditions.
The name means the Book of the "Fifty Days", referring to the period of time from Pascha to Pentecost. In Greek, it is also sometimes called the Joyful Pentecostarion (Πεντηκοστάριον χαρμόσυνον, ). In English, it is sometimes called the Paschal Triodion. The name "Pentecostarion" is also applied to the liturgical season covered by the book.
The Pentecostarion is part of the Paschal cycle or "Moveable Cycle" of the ecclesiastical year. This cycle is dependent upon the date of Pascha and continued throughout the coming year until the next Pascha.
Pascha (Easter) is the most important feast of the entire year, outranking by far all others. Each week of the Pentecostarion is named after the Gospel lection which is read on the Sunday which begins it; for instance, the week that follows Thomas Sunday is referred to as Thomas Week. During the liturgical season of the Pentecostarion, the Gospel of John is read in full, as is the Acts of the Apostles. Both of these books were chosen because of their instructive content. Pascha (Easter) is the traditional time for baptizing new converts to the faith. So, just as Great Lent, with its liturgical book, the Triodion, was the final period of preparation for the before their baptism, so the time of the Pentecostarion is the time of initiation into the Sacred Mysteries of the Christian religion for the "Newly Illumined" (i.e., the newly baptized).
The two Sacred Mysteries of baptism and chrismation are reflected in the two feasts which mark the beginning and ending points of the Pentecostarion: Pascha and Pentecost. Baptism is naturally tied to the Resurrection, according to the Apostle Paul. Chrismation, the reception of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is naturally reflected in Pentecost. Because of this, the imagery of water figures prominently in the hymns of the Pentecostarion. (1990). 9780943405025, Holy Transfiguration Monastery. ISBN 9780943405025
In the editions of the Pentecostarion used by the Old Believers and by Eastern Catholic Churches who follow the Ruthenian recension (Byzantine Catholics in Eastern Europe and Byzantine Catholic Church in America), the contents of the Pentecostarion begins with Lazarus Saturday and contains the services of Holy Week. The book is often called Floral Triodion in these traditions, as the first Sunday in the book is colloquially referred to as Palm Sunday.
In most of Eastern Orthodox uses and in Melkite Catholic use, Pentecostarion begins with Easter Matins.
Different traditions also include different feasts after the Feast of all saints: there is usually (but not always) a feast of local saints, but there can be other additions, like the feast of Holy Eucharist in Catholic versions.
The Afterfeast of Pascha lasts for 40 days, beginning on the Sunday of Pascha and concluding with the Afterfeast ("leave-taking") of Pascha on the day before the Ascension of the Lord.
In the temple (church building), the Holy Doors on the iconostasis are left open for the entire week, symbolizing the open Holy Sepulchre, and the Epitaphion (shroud) is visible on the Holy Table (altar), representing the burial cloths () which, according to Christian tradition, bore witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Paschal Artos (, "leavened loaf") is a loaf of risen bread bearing an icon of the Resurrection on it, which is blessing near the end the Paschal Vigil. It is then placed either near the Icon of Christ on the iconostasis or in the nave of the church. The Artos represents the physical presence of Jesus after his Resurrection, and is venerated by the faithful when they enter or leave the temple as a way of greeting the Resurrected Christ.
At the end of either Matins or the Divine Liturgy, there is often a crucession (procession headed by the cross), during which the Paschal Canon is chanted, and the priest blesses with holy water.
Unique to Vespers and Matins during Bright Week is the use of the singing of the verse of Psalm 68 responsorially with the Paschal Troparion in place of the usual Psalm 104 at Vespers and the Hexapsalms at Matins.
Only on Bright Friday are the Paschal hymns joined to another commemoration, that of the icon of the Theotokos, "Life-giving Spring". On all of the other days of Bright Week, only the Resurrection may be celebrated. Exceptions are made for the feast day of a local patron saint, or for important feast days such as Saint George, which may be combined with the paschal celebration.
If it becomes necessary to celebrate a Christian burial during Bright Week, even this service is radically different, and follows for the most part the format for Paschal Matins, with only a few funeral hymns being chanted.
Thomas Sunday is also called "Antipascha" (literally, "in the place of Pascha") because those who for honorable reason were not able to attend the Paschal Vigil, may attend services on this day instead. In middle Greek, "anti" Pascha also means "enter" Pascha. Pascha is a unique feast in the church year; being the "Feast of Feasts" it follows a format unlike any other day. Those liturgical elements normal to a Great Feast of the Lord which were displaced by Pascha's unique elements are instead chanted on Thomas Sunday.
The placement of this feast is based upon the idea of the synaxis, wherein secondary persons directly involved in the events celebrated in one of the Great Feast are celebrated on the day after. However, since Bright Week is devoted exclusively to the celebration of the Resurrection, and Thomas Sunday falls logically on the eighth day of the Resurrection (according to its biblical source), this day becomes the first Sunday on which these persons can be commemorated.
The Kontakion for this day asks Christ to raise up the souls of the faithful, "paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts." The underlying symbolism of the feast is that mankind, being unable to raise itself from the fall by its own will or power, needed "some man" (i.e., the Son of Man, the Messiah) to come and raise it up.
The feast of the Paralytic is unusual in the Pentecostarion in that it does not last a full week, but ends on the day before Mid-Pentecost.
The Pentecostarion's theme of water is continued by the fact that Jesus sent the man to wash the clay from his eyes in the Pool of Siloam (the name 'Siloam' is interpreted as "sent", implying that the blind man's cure was bestowed for his obedience to Jesus).
The miracle of the blind man (traditionally named Celidonius) is remarkable in two respects: firstly, that although there are other accounts in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the blind having their sight restored, this is the only time someone born blind was given sight for the first time. Although the biblical text does not explicitly say so, the hymns in the Pentecostarion follow the traditional interpretation that not only was this man born without sight, he was born even without eyes. Jesus' act of making clay is an act of creation (creating eyes where none were before), a repetition of the first act of the creation of man in Genesis 2:7. This indicates the traditional Christian teaching that in the act of salvation Jesus makes his disciples a "new creation".
The second remarkable aspect of the miracle is that not only did Jesus give the man physical sight, but he bestowed upon him theoria as well. In the blind man's dialogue with the Pharisees, he holds his own in the dispute, engaging in reasoned theological discourse as though he were educated.
These three Sundays of the Paralytic, of the Samaritian Woman and of the Blind Man are characterized by their reference to the Sacrament of Baptism, each illustrating a different dimension or aspect of the Sacrament.
The hymns and lection in the Pentecostarion are very rich in drawing out relevant symbolism from biblical texts. The Epistle for the Divine Liturgy is from Acts 20:16-18 and Acts 20:28-36. The Gospel is from John 17:1-13.
Since the Apodosis of the Ascension fell on the previous day, there are no hymns appointed for this day which speak of either the Ascension or of Pentecost. Instead, the hymns are devoted to prayer for the dead. The prokeimenon at Vespers and Theos Kyrios at Matins are replaced by Alleluia, and a number of structural changes are made to the services following the pattern of the Saturdays of the Dead which fall during Great Lent. A general Panikhida (memorial service) is served either after Vespers or after the Divine Liturgy, and the Ektenia (litany) for the Departed is chanted at the Liturgy.
It is celebrated with an All-Night Vigil on the Eve of the Feast and Divine Liturgy on the day of the Feast. An extraordinary service called the Kneeling Prayer, is served on the night of Pentecost. This is a Vespers service to which are added three sets of long poetical prayers, the composition of Saint Basil the Great, during which everyone makes a full prostration, touching their foreheads to the floor (prostrations in church having been forbidden from the day of Pascha up to this point).
The churches are decorated with greenery, and among the Russians the clergy and faithful carry flowers and green branches in their hands during the services. Pentecost is a traditional time for baptisms. The week prior to the feast is known as "green week", during which all manner of plants and herbs are gathered. The Sunday of Pentecost is called "Trinity Sunday," the next day is called "Monday of the Holy Spirit", and Tuesday of Pentecost week is called the "Third Day of the Trinity." The whole week following Pentecost is an important ecclesiastical feast, and is a fast-free week, during which meat and dairy products may be eaten, even on Wednesday and Friday.
Theologically, the Orthodox do not consider Pentecost to be the "birthday" of the Church; they see the Church as having existed before the creation of the world (cf. The Shepherd of Hermas). The Shepherd of Hermas, Migne, Patrologia Graecae, 35:1108–9. The Orthodox icon of the feast depicts the Twelve Apostles seated in a semicircle (sometimes the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) is shown sitting in the center of them). At the top of the icon, the Holy Spirit, in the form of tongues of fire, is descending upon them. At the bottom is an allegory figure, called Cosmos, which symbolizes the world. Although Kosmos is crowned with glory he sits in the darkness caused by the ignorance of God. He is holding a towel on which have been placed 12 scrolls, representing the teaching of the Twelve Apostles.
The next day (Monday) is the beginning of the Apostles' Fast. This is a unique fasting in that it is of variable duration, beginning on the moveable calendar, but ending on the fixed calendar feast day of the Apostles Peter and Paul on June 29 (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar June 29 falls on July 12 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). While all of the Orthodox Churches celebrate Pascha on the same day (with the exception of the Finnish Orthodox Church, which follows the Computus), some churches follow the traditional Julian Calendar ("Old Calendar") and some follow the Revised Julian Calendar ("New Calendar") which uses the modern Gregorian Calendar to calculate their fixed feasts. Since there is currently a difference of thirteen days between the two calendars, the Apostles' Fast will be almost two weeks shorter for New Calendar churches, or in some years non-existent.
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