Orthodox Pentecost Monday in Cyprus in 2025

Orthodox Pentecost Monday in Cyprus in 2025
Mosaic of the Holy Spirit descending on Pentecost Sunday. Image by Holger Schué , via Pixabay
  How long until Orthodox Pentecost Monday?
Orthodox Pentecost Monday
  Dates of Orthodox Pentecost Monday in Cyprus
2026 Cyprus Mon, Jun 1 National Holiday
2025 Cyprus Mon, Jun 9 National Holiday
2024 Cyprus Mon, Jun 24 National Holiday
2023 Cyprus Mon, Jun 5 National Holiday
2022 Cyprus Mon, Jun 13 National Holiday
  Summary

The name Whitsunday is generally attributed to the white garments formerly worn by the candidates for baptism on this feast

  Orthodox Pentecost Monday in other countries
Orthodox Pentecost Monday internationally
Related holidays

Orthodox Pentecost Monday in Cyprus

In Cyprus, Kataklysmos, also known as the Water Festival or Festival of the Flood takes place on Orthodox Pentecost Monday, 50 days after Easter.

Katalysmos is thought to have originated from a feasts in honour of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The key events that form part of the festival are fairs, swimming competitions, boat races, folk dancing and traditional music, and taking the chance for everyone to have fun throwing water at each other.

When is Orthodox Pentecost Monday?

Orthodox Pentecost Monday, also known as Holy Spirit Monday, is observed fifty days (approx. seven weeks) after Orthodox Easter.

The date in the Orthodox church will differ from the Western church due to the different methods of calculating the date of Easter.

History of Orthodox Pentecost Monday

It marks the end of the Easter cycle, which began 92 days before with Orthodox Shrove Monday.

Pentecost Sunday commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the Apostles, as recorded in the New Testament in Acts, 2.

The Holy Spirit allowed the apostles to speak in other languages through 'tongues of fire', and they started preaching the word of Jesus to the Jews who come to Jerusalem for the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost),  a festival that celebrates of the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Many Christians recognise this day as the birth of the Church for two reasons. Firstly, the descent of the Holy Spirit completed the Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - the basis of Christian theology. Secondly, it was the first time that the Apostles had preached to the masses.

The following day, Pentecost Monday is celebrated as a holiday in some East European counties.

In Greece, Pentecost, known as Agiou Pneumatos is also a national holiday in Greece and schools and companies are closed, but shops, restaurants, and cafes are open and normally packed with crowds.


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