Introduction to Pentecost Sunday:

Pentecost Sunday is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, celebrated early enough to
be mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (20:16) and St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians
(16:8). It is the 50th day after Easter (if we count both Easter and Pentecost), and it supplants
the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which took place 50 days after the Passover and which
celebrated the sealing of the Old Covenant on Mount Sinai.

Date: Fifty days after Easter Sunday; see When Is Pentecost Sunday? for the date in

this and future years.

Type of Feast: Solemnity.
Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13,

or Galatians 5:16-25; John 20:19-23 or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15 (full text here)
Prayers: Novena to the Holy Ghost; Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; Act of

Consecration to the Holy Spirit; Come Holy Spirit; Litany of the Holy Spirit
Other Names for the Feast: Whit Sunday, Whitsun, Whit

Date: Fifty days after Easter Sunday; see When Is Pentecost Sunday? for the date in

this and future years.

Type of Feast: Solemnity.
Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13,

or Galatians 5:16-25; John 20:19-23 or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15 (full text here)
Prayers: Novena to the Holy Ghost; Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; Act of

Consecration to the Holy Spirit; Come Holy Spirit; Litany of the Holy Spirit
Other Names for the Feast: Whit Sunday, Whitsun, Whit