Pentecost Monday

Pentecost Monday is no longer considered part of the actual Easter festival cycle in most Christian churches. It therefore marks the transition into the so-called "ordinary time." Only in the Latin tradition has a separate holiday on the Monday after Pentecost has been preserved, which commemorates the Pentecost Octave celebrated since the 11th century. Therefore, Whit Monday is a public holiday in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, but not in the Vatican, where regular work is carried out on Whit Monday.

About the special role of the Holy Spirit in the Church, a tradition has developed in Germany to interpret Pentecost Monday as the "Day of Ecumenism," i.e., the striving for greater unity among Christians, with the indication that the Holy Spirit, according to the account in the Acts of the Apostles, came down equally upon all the apostles. The worldwide Catholic Church, on the other hand, has been commemorating the day "Mary, Mother of the Church" since 2018.