Page 53 - Delcampe Collections classiques EN-006

Postcards

The feast of Pentecost comes from
the Greek Pentêcostê meaning the
fiftieth day. It is in fact the fiftieth day
after Easter that Pentecost is ce-
lebrated. Ten days after the Ascen-
sion, when Christ’s body ascended
to heaven, the Apostles received the
Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of
fire, as explained in the New Testa-
ment in the Book of Acts.
The feast of Pentecost became po-
pular as early as the 4th century and
was given prominence by Vatican II.
It is the religious celebration of the
Holy Spirit and is invariably held on
the 7th Sunday after Easter. In se-
veral European countries, including
Germany, France and Belgium, the
following day, Whit Monday, is a pu-
blic holiday, which we celebrated on
29 May.
If today it would not occur to most
people to send a Pentecost card, this
was not the case in the past. Indeed,
Delcampe has many postcards dedi-
cated to this holiday, especially in the
German speaking countries. Angels
are often used to represent the Holy
Spirit coming from heaven.

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can find thousands of them on
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A French postcard with a Whitsun theme.
2 German postcards with a Whitsun theme.

Delcampe Magazine 53