Pentecost

==== Lowering of doves ====
[[File:St.Peter und Paul in Söll - Heilig-Geist-Loch.jpg|thumb|Holy Ghost hole, Saints Peter and Paul Church in [[Söll]]]]
In the [[Middle Ages]], cathedrals and great churches throughout Western Europe were fitted with a peculiar architectural feature known as a [[Holy Ghost hole]]: a small circular opening in the roof that symbolized the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the midst of the congregation. At Pentecost, these Holy Ghost holes would be decorated with flowers, and sometimes a dove figure lowered through into the church while the narrative of Pentecost was read. Holy Ghost holes can still be seen today in European churches such as [[Canterbury Cathedral]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 2012|title=Seeing red, and other symbols of Pentecost - On The Way e-zine|url=http://www.ontheway.us/may-2012/seeing-red-and-other-symbols-of-pentecost|access-date=2021-12-02|website=www.ontheway.us|quote=In the Middle Ages, cathedrals and great churches were built with a peculiar architectural feature called the Holy Ghost hole, a small portal in the roof through which the Holy Spirit could descend to reside among the assembled worshippers. As part of the Pentecost celebration, the hole was adorned with flowers and often a lowly servant on the cathedral roof would lower the figure of a dove through the roof into the nave of the church while the Acts account of Pentecost was read. England's Canterbury Cathedral, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, is one church where a Holy Ghost hole can be seen today.|archive-date=2021-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228211404/http://ww38.ontheway.us/may-2012/seeing-red-and-other-symbols-of-pentecost|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Similarly, a large two dimensional dove figure would be, and in some places still is, cut from wood, painted, and decorated with flowers, to be lowered over the congregation, particularly during the singing of the [[sequence (poetry)|sequence hymn]], or ''[[Veni Creator Spiritus]]''. In other places, particularly [[Sicily]] and the [[Italy|Italian peninsula]], [[Rosalia (festival)#Rose Sundays|rose petals]] were and are thrown from the galleries over the congregation, recalling the tongues of fire. (see [[#Rosalia|below]]) In modern times, this practice has been revived, and adapted as well, to include the strewing of [[origami]] doves from above or suspending them, sometimes by the hundreds, from the ceiling.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ecva.org/congregations/resources/trinity_bloomington_pentecost/trinity_pentecost.htm |title=The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts |publisher=Ecva.org |access-date=2010-05-17}}</ref>