
With the tongues of fire came the ability for the spread of Christianity to other nations which would soon reach the land of Armenia by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. This would become the birth of the Armenian Church and the nation’s religion.
Tongues symbolise God’s purifying presence which burns away the undesirable elements of our lives and sets our hearts aflame to ignite the lives of others.
The coming of the Holy Spirit (or Hokekaloust in Armenian) is celebrated by the Armenian Church, as in all Christian churches, 50 days after Easter.
As possessors of this beautiful faith, Pentecost points us to our personal Pentecost, for just as the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, so too does the Holy Spirit come to each one of us at the time of our chrismation or confirmation with the anointing of the Holy Oil. As baptised infants, if we are open to that gift, it transforms us and inspires us to live a Christ centred existence, in which the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control — can grow and thrive.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23)