The Forgotten Day
Remembering that today is Whitsun Tuesday, I opened up The Lutheran Hymnal, and pondered the assigned propers for the day, and one of our forgotten hymns. The antiphon of the Introit is from 4 Esdras 2:36, 27 (in the KJV 2 Esdras 2:36, 37): Receive the joy of your glory, Hallelujah! Giving thanks to God, Hallelujah!: who has called you to His heavenly kingdom. Hallelujah! Hallelujah. The Psalm is 78:1: Give ear, O my people, to My Law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth, perhaps a remembrance that Pentecost was associated in Judaism with the giving of the Law on Sinai. That always reminds of St. Paul’s: “…for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6), recalling that with the giving of the law, about three thousand perished (Exodus 32:28, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men), while on Pentecost life came in the Baptismal waters (Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls).
The collect is a repeat from Whitsun Monday: O God, who didst give Thy Holy Spirit to Thine Apostles, grant unto us the performance of our petitions, so that on us, to whom Thou has given faith, Thou mayest bestow also peace; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle is from Acts 8:14-17, where the Apostles in Jerusalem hear that the Samaritans had welcomed the word of the Lord, and send down to them Sts. Peter and John to lay hands upon them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost, since He had not fallen upon them; they had only been baptized in the name of Jesus. Certainly a challenging verse, but many of the fathers have seen in this a reference to the Church’s practice of Confirmation, and I note how in the liturgy of Baptism, immediately following the act of Baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, we have the rubric: The pastor places his hands on the head of the newly baptized while saying: The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with His grace to life + everlasting. Amen. That exact same blessing is also given to the confirmands in our rite.
The verse is the same as Whitsun Monday, and this will be the final time that we have the doubling of the verse and the loss of the gradual until next Easter season, a reminder that the 3 day feast of Pentecost is essentially a Paschal celebration, for it is the crowning of the Easter season. Christ died and rose from the dead that He might pour forth the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah, hallelujah! The Apostles spake with other tongues the wonderful works of God. Hallelujah. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful: and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. Hallelujah. That beautiful call to the Holy Spirit has inspired so very many of the Church’s beautiful hymns for this feast.
The Holy Gospel assigned in John 10:1-10, which might seem an odd choice for a feast of the Holy Spirit, but that’s only until you remember that the Holy Spirit is the one who teaches the sheep to recognize the voice of their Good Shepherd who calls them by name, so that they follow Him, knowing only His voice; and that Jesus has come to give us life, and that abundantly, and that life is conveyed to us via the gift of faith (as the collect reminded us) through the Holy Spirit.
The Hymn I’d invite us to meditate upon this Whitsun Tuesday is from the pen of the incomparable Paul Gerhardt, with a sturdy matching tune by Crüger, and seems the perfect text for closing out this little three day festival, TLH 228. I’d encourage you to pray through its entirety, but give special heed to stanza 5 (hearkening back to the Introit):
Thy gift is joy, O Spirit, / Thou wouldst not have us pine;
In darkest hours Thy comfort / Doth ever brightly shine.
And, oh, how oft Thy voice / Hath shed its sweetness o’er me
And opened heaven before me / And bid my heart rejoice!
The Holy Spirit turns to joy all that He touches, as 19th century Seraphim of Sarov once observed. And the joy the Spirit brings us: of faith, of answered prayer, of peace, of a Good Shepherd who gives us abundant life, of comfort in all life’s trials and afflictions: this is what our Introit urges us to render thanks to God for upon this holy day.
