If you decided to visit Chios not only for it’s beauty but to have a first hand experience of the interesting Greek culture, you definitely should not miss the orthodox Pentecost festivities at the end of may and beginning of June!
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Pentecost is one of the Orthodox Great Feasts and is celebrated with an All-night Vigil on the eve of the feast day. On Pentecost Sunday, Pentikostis, the distribution of the Holy Spirit is celebrated. Each year it is celebrated 50 days after the Orthodox Easter, which will be the 1st of June 2015 this year.
The feast itself lasts three days: The first day is known as “Trinity Sunday” Πεντηκοστή; the second day is known as “Monday of the Holy Spirit” Δευτέρα Πεντηκοστής; and the third day, Tuesday, is called the “Third Day of the Trinity.”
At Friday evening and Saturday before Pentecost, the Orthodox parishment celebrates in the churches to commemorate the dead people. Small biscuits and also the traditional “Koliva” – boiled wheat – is served at that day. Decorated with sugar in large, flat baskets, it is distributed at the end of the liturgy to all participants.
The After-feast of Pentecost lasts for one week, during which fasting is forbidden, even on Wednesday and Friday. In the Orthodox Tradition, the liturgical color used at Pentecost is green, and the clergy and faithful carry flowers and green branches in their hands during the services. That’s also the reason why Orthodox churches are often decorated with greenery and flowers on this day.
All of the remaining days of the ecclesiastical year, until the preparation for the next Great Lent are named for the day after Pentecost on which they occur (for example, the 13th Tuesday After Pentecost).
The Pentecost Monday is – like the Easter-Monday – not a complete holiday. The pupils and teachers have free and the Buses and Trains have the same schedule as on Sundays. Nevertheless most of the shops and private companies are open.
So you will for sure find something nice to do at the Pentecost Monday: First you witness the church spectacle with your own eyes and afterwards you can enjoy the stunning weather at the beach!