Pentecost

Fifty days after Easter The great feast of Pentecost, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, is considered by the Church Fathers to be both the birth of the Church and the culmination of the revelation of the Holy Spirit.The icon shows the Twelve (now joined by St. Paul to replace Judas) in the upper room as the Holy Spirit descends on them from a sacred sphere above. Below them in a dark alcove is a King traditionally ascribed the name of Kosmos. Kosmos represents the totality of pre-Christian pagan wisdom surrendering to the teaching authority of the Twelve, symbolized by the tray he carries with the twelve scrolls.