Solemnity May 16Solemnity · Fifty days after Easter

Pentecost Sunday: The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit came down on Mary and the Apostles as wind and tongues of fire: the birthday of the Church. In 2027: May 16.

Juan Bautista Maíno, Pentecost (1620–1625), Museo del Prado. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Who was Pentecost Sunday: The Holy Spirit?

Fifty days after the Resurrection, the Apostles were gathered in prayer with Mary in the Upper Room in Jerusalem when a sound like a mighty wind filled the house and tongues of fire rested on each of them. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they went out and preached, and people from many nations heard them in their own languages. About three thousand were baptized that day.

Pentecost closes the Easter season and is often called the birthday of the Church. It is a movable feast, seven weeks after Easter Sunday: in 2027 it is celebrated on May 16, and in 2028 on June 4. The dove on the Holy Spirit medal recalls the Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism.

Feast day and traditions

Priests wear red vestments, and many parishes decorate with red flowers and doves, read the Gospel in several languages, and celebrate Confirmations. Families pray the sequence "Come, Holy Spirit" and ask for the seven gifts.

In Latin America many communities hold vigils the night before with music and prayer.

Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

Novena

To pray a novena that ends on the eve of the feast, begin on May 7 and finish on May 15.

Mass readings

Read the Mass readings for May 16 from the US bishops (USCCB).

Open readings →

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We'll remind you of the feast

Get an email before May 16 with the saint's story, prayer and a greeting ready to send.

Celebrate as a family

Write the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord) on paper flames and let each person pick the one they need most.

Wish someone a happy feast day

Send a greeting with this saint's story and prayer.