Today at 15:15
“This is a great holiday for me. I would like the holy spirit to cover all of us and entire Ukraine with warmth, kindness, and happiness. We are sincerely praying now,” visitor Natalka Kolesnichenko-Bratun said.
During the office, priests explained the essence of the holiday.
“The essence of this holiday is that Jesus promised his disciples would send them the grace of the Holy Spirit — 50 days after his crucifixion and resurrection. He called that Spirit the spirit of wisdom. This spirit should teach the disciples, the apostles, to follow the truth, and make their hearts open for the Word of God,” Hieromonk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church Toma Kushka said.
For this holiday, people decorated their homes and churches with herbs and flowers, that’s why the Pentecost is often called ‘a green holiday.’ Ukrainians have believed in the healing power of plants since ancient times.
“Aspen makes the Evil Spirit leave. That is why people used to place it on their gates. They believed that the Evil Spirit would be scared by this tree and go away. Girls used to have with them lovage and mint. These were considered to be talismans. It was believed that people, including boys, had to love a girl with lovage,” researcher Luidmyla Kostenko said.
After festive prayer services, people visited their friends, and arranged mass celebrations and fairs.
