Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Religious Events
Fire From Heaven: Whitsun and Pentecost

Fire From Heaven: Whitsun and Pentecost

Last updated on: June 5, 2025 at 9:38 pm by Philip Jenkins

0 Comments

Fire From Heaven: Whitsun and Pentecost 2025-06-05T21:38:38-04:00 Philip Jenkins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This post offer a translation between British and American English, and suggests why you really should know about “Whitsun.” Although the name does survive in parts of the USA, it is no longer anything like as common as it once was in this country. I see my spellcheck identifies Whitsun as a likely error for something else, presumably an actual English word.

This coming Sunday, Christians around the world celebrate the feast of Pentecost, the origins of which can be found in Acts 2. As I have described, this feast is widely celebrated in nations that are or were predominantly Christian, sometimes spectacularly:

In Italy it was customary to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues …. The Italian name Pascha rossa comes from the red colors of the vestments used during today’s Solemnity. In France, it was customary to blow trumpets during the Divine Service, to recall the sound of the mighty wind that accompanied the Descent of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost became the focus of many Spring customs. In different parts of rural Europe, Pentecost was traditionally associated with trees, especially the birch: Pentecost trees were planted, people made birch wreathes. Church services were often held in the open air. Even today, Whit Monday is a public holiday in many countries, including European nations like Denmark and the Netherlands that we sometimes think of today as radically secularized. Pentecost/Pfingsten continues to be hugely popular in many German-speaking regions.

This image and the next are from Wikipedia, and are public domain

There is a striking east-west division here. Western and Catholic Christians generally stressed themes of fire and redness. Russians and the Orthodox emphasized green, growth, renewal, and vegetation, and Pentecost Sunday, Troitsa or Trinity, is Green Sunday. Liturgical colors are green.

Britain and Ireland have some very rich traditions about this day, but under its older name, which is Whitsun, White Sunday, possibly named from white baptismal garments. That was duly followed by Whit Monday, and together, these came to be a principal celebration of Spring. In parts of England, other festivities followed on the next Friday, Whit Friday, so that “Whitsuntide” extended to a whole week.

One comment about origins. I have always assumed that the English word white used to mean “holy” as well as the color, as is still the case in other Indo-European languages. In Russian, svet variously means light, or pure, or blessed, or holy, and that comes from the exact same root as the English white, and its various Germanic equivalents. Older sources (particularly in the nineteenth century) commonly translate Whitsun as “Holy Sunday,” which is very apt, but that interpretation is not so often given today. I’m not sure why. I note the helpful comment that “The derivation of the word Whitsun is still unclear, despite a great deal of discussion and argument by experts and others for well over a hundred years.” Ah, academics!

Wherever it came from, Whitsuntide was a key turning point of the year, and a beloved holiday for hard working people who did not get too many opportunities for leisure. Over the centuries, local communities developed a wide range of ritual observances, especially fairs, processions, parades, and Whit walks. There were Whitsun ales and Whitsun pastorals, singing and sports, mumming and Morris dancing. Also cheese rolling and cheese throwing: no, really. It’s worth reading the wide-ranging sketch of Whitsun-related customs here. Extended Whitsun was a core part of village life, and later of industrial working class life and leisure.

So large and important was this holiday that it very often features in English literature. I won’t begin to list the references here, but if you visit the Wikipedia page on Whitsun, you’ll find a stunning range of examples and quotes from – well, from pretty much everybody: Shakespeare and Dickens, James Joyce and Agatha Christie, H. G. Wells and Christina Rossetti, Sylvia Plath and Thomas Pynchon. Christina Rossetti wrote several pieces under the general “Whitsun” title, for instance her “Whitsun Day,” under the epigraph “When the Day of Pentecost Was Fully Come”:

At sound as of rushing wind, and sight as of fire,
Lo flesh and blood made spirit and fiery flame,
Ambassadors in Christ’s and the Father’s Name,
To woo back a world’s desire.

These men chose death for their life and shame for their boast,
For fear courage, for doubt intuition of faith,
Chose love that is strong as death and stronger than death
In the power of the Holy Ghost.

Still in the 1950s, this time of new growth and fertility was a very appropriate time for marriages, and Whit Saturday was thought especially suitable: see Philip Larkin’s 1955 poem The Whitsun Weddings. Everything seemed to happen at or around Whitsuntide.

Whitsun/Pentecost has generally suffered from European secularization, despite the day still being a holiday in many societies. Only in the 1970s did it lose much of its significance in the UK after it was merged into an official Spring Bank Holiday in 1972. In 2025, the British holiday fell last Monday, on May 26, our Memorial Day. I quote Neil Clark from a recent Spectator:

There are so many lovely, joyful traditions associated with Whitsun, as opposed to its soulless Bank Holiday successor. Parades, processions and fairs, children dressed in their new set of clothes, music and dancing and ‘Whit Walks’ in the north. Going back to the Middle Ages, the week following Whitsuntide was one of the three weeks’ holiday for medieval serfs, along with Yuletide and Eastertide. You don’t have to be overly religious to mourn the demise of Whitsun and be sad that its customs no longer command the national attention they once did. Ask anyone under 50: ‘What is Whitsun and when is it? and the chances are you’ll receive a blank look.

Most such customs have declined sharply in an urbanized European society. It’s hard to bless the village’s cattle, or to decorate the special Pentecost Ox, when you live in a downtown apartment. The neighbors would talk.

Emil Nolde, Pentecost (Photograph is my own work)

Even so, it’s not too long since that Whitsun was a cherished and fundamental part of British life, and if you miss that, you will fail to understand a large part of literature, and of social history. Hard though this might be to believe today, Pentecost was a very important thing even before there were Pentecostals.

In a very different mode from Whitsun Weddings, this is a wonderful time to read T. S. Eliot’s Little Gidding. Written in the middle of the Second World War, the poem invokes the German incendiary bombs then dropping on British cities, all that terrifying fire from the sky, and imagines them transformed into Pentecostal fires of faith:

The dove descending breaks the air

With flame of incandescent terror

Of which the tongues declare

The one discharge from sin and error.

The only hope, or else despair

Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre –

To be redeemed from fire by fire.

I wish you a Happy Whitsun.

I originally posted a version of this blog back in 2020.

Religious Events

History and Religion

Previous Post

June 3, 2025

Listening to Archival Silence: History and Hidden Voices

Next Post

June 6, 2025 Why the Grandparent Effect Still Matters Today

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I love horror but would have to acclimate back to Lovecraft and especially Machen. Have ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"Very good point about MacDonald.I am certainly a Machen fan!"

philipjenkins

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"The Scottish author George MacDonald integrated fairy world into his fiction in a way that ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"I like the idea that we can have different streams. The coffee analogy is genius."

Lisa Clark Diller

How Do You Take Your Evangelicalism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prayed in a den of lions?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elijah David Daniel Noah