Whit Tuesday (syn. Whittuesday, Whitsun Tuesday) is the Christian holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost Monday, the third day of the week beginning on Pentecost.[1] Pentecost is a movable feast in the Christian calendar dependent upon the date of Easter. "Whit" relates either to the white robes worn by those baptized on Pentecost, or to the French word "huit," since Pentecost is the eighth Sunday after Easter.[2]
Observance
It was a holiday in the Lutheran Church in Germany at Bach's time, where all major holidays were celebrated for three days. Bach and others composed cantata music for the occasion.
It used to be a public holiday in Denmark and Sweden. In Denmark it was abolished 26 October 1770, and in Sweden 4 November 1772, both places as part of larger reductions of the number of holidays.
^[1] Lucchese, Kathryn M. and Rylander ,Cathy "Folk like me: The read-aloud book of saints," Morehouse Publishing, 2008, ISBN978-0-8192-2289-3, page 43.
^[2] Rapalje, Stewart and Lawrence, Robert L., "A dictionary of American and English law, Volume 2," Frederick D. Linn & Co., 1888, page 1357
