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| Whit Monday | |
|---|---|
 MedievalRussian icon of theOld TestamentTrinity byAndrei Rublev, used as the icon of thefeast for Whit Monday. | |
| Also called | Pentecost Monday (Western), Monday of the Holy Spirit (Eastern) |
| Observed by | ManyEuropean countries and some former colonies |
| Type | Christian, Public |
| Begins | 1st Monday afterWhit Sunday |
| Date | Easter + 50 days |
| 2024 date |
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| 2025 date |
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| 2026 date |
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| 2027 date |
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| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Whit Sunday,Whit Tuesday,Whit Friday,Trinity Sunday |
Whit Monday orPentecost Monday, also known asMonday of the Holy Spirit, is theholiday celebrated the day afterPentecost, amoveable feast in the Christianliturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date ofEaster. In theCatholic Church, it is theMemorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, marking the resumption ofOrdinary Time.
Whit Monday gets its English name from "Whitsunday", an English name for Pentecost, one of the threebaptismal seasons. The origin of the name "Whit Sunday" is generally attributed to the white garments formerly worn by those newly baptized on this feast.[1]
Pentecost is always on a Sunday and is therefore usually a non-working day. That said, the Monday after Pentecost is apublic holiday inAndorra,Antigua and Barbuda,Anguilla,Austria,the Bahamas,Barbados,Belgium,Benin,The British Virgin Islands,Central African Republic,Republic of Congo,Cyprus,Denmark,Dominica,France,Gabon,Germany,Greece,Grenada,Hungary,Iceland,Ivory Coast,Luxembourg,Madagascar,Monaco,Montserrat,The Netherlands,Norway,Romania,Saint Lucia,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,Senegal,Solomon Islands,Switzerland,Togo andUkraine. In many of these countries, Whit Monday is known as "the second day of Pentecost" or "the second Whitsun".
In France, it became a work day for many workers from 2005 to 2007. This was to raise extra funds following the government's lack of preparation for a summertime heat wave, which led to a shortage of proper health care for the elderly.[2] It continues to be a "worked public holiday" in France.[3] InLiechtenstein, Whit Monday is considered to be a "favorite holiday", much like Christmas in many other countries. In Germany, Whit Monday (German:Pfingstmontag[p͡fɪŋstˈmoːntaːk]ⓘ) is aHoly Day of obligation forRoman Catholics.[4] It is celebrated inSouth Tyrol, and for its capital cityBolzano it replaces the holiday of the local patron saint celebrated elsewhere in Italy.
Until 1973, Whit Monday was apublic holiday in Ireland (also called a bank holiday). It was abank holiday in theUnited Kingdom until 1967. There it was formally replaced by the fixedSpring Bank Holiday on the last Monday in May in 1971.[5] It was also a public holiday in various former British colonies, especially in the Pacific. It remains a public holiday in some of the countries of theCommonwealth Caribbean. InSweden, Whit Monday was a public holiday until 2004; it was replaced by theNational Day of Sweden in 2005.[6]
Although Whit Monday is a civil holiday in many countries, it was not a Catholic religious holiday any more than the other weekdays that followPentecost Sunday. Until the1969 revision of theGeneral Roman Calendar, they were part of theoctave of Pentecost, which was added in the 7th century.[7] The Monday after Pentecost is now the first day of the resumption ofOrdinary Time. While the details differ from diocese to diocese, the most widespread practice in Germany (where the holiday remains an obligation) was to have a compulsoryvotive Mass of the Holy Spirit outranking evensolemnities (these would be local solemnities in that case).
However, in February 2018,Pope Francis declared that henceforth, Whit Monday will be the fixed date for the celebration of a new feast, officially known as the "Memorial ofMary,Mother of the Church" to be celebrated throughout theWestern Catholic Church,[8] with the exception of theOrdinariates, where theoctave ofWhitsun Week has been restored and the new Memorial is observed on the Saturday after Ascension Day.[9]
In theEastern Orthodox Church and theEastern Catholic Churches Whit Monday is known as "Monday of the Holy Spirit" or "Day of the Holy Spirit" and is the first day of theafterfeast of Pentecost, being dedicated specifically to the honor ofGod theHoly Spirit and particularly in commemoration of his descent upon the apostles at Pentecost. The day following is known as Third Day of the Trinity.[10] In the services on the Monday of the Holy Spirit many of the same hymns are sung as on the day of Pentecost itself. During theDivine Liturgy the Deacon intones the sameintroit as on the day of Pentecost, and thedismissal is the same as on the day of Pentecost. Specialcanons to the Holy Spirit are chanted atCompline andMatins.
❖ Because Pentecost has a privilegedOctave in the calendar of the Ordinariate, the Memorial ofThe Blessed Virgin Mary,Mother of the Church, is observed on the Saturday after Ascension Day. (notation on Whit Monday in the 2024 Ordo linked here)
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