Water is the symbol of life and the waters of baptism represent our new life in Christ. The dove symbolizes the presence of God’s Holy Spirit and both Mark’s gospel and the story in Acts portray the spirit’s movement as distinguishing Jesus’ baptism from John’s. The dove is also associated with peace and Psalm 29 ends with God’s blessing of peace on his people.
Dove of Peace – As a symbol for the Holy Spirit, the dove is by nature characterized by gentleness, purity and peace. As an attribute it typifies divine inspiration. In Matthew 10:16, Christ commands the disciples to express in their lives the love and gentleness of the dove. In 3:16, Matthew calls the dove a visible expression of the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit. As a symbol of love, the dove participates in the experience of Christ’s baptism and God’s love flowed through Him and provides us with grace and deliverance to do His will. During the Christmas season
Day of Pentecost – The Holy Spirit is most often represented by a snow white dove and this symbol is used on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles to illumine them with the gift of languages. On Pentecost the church also remembers the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and in Revelation 5:12 the list includes Blessing, Glory, Wisdom, Thanksgiving, Honor, Power and Might. In Christian art it is rendered: Divinitas, Sapientia, Benedicio, Gloria, Honor, Fortitudo and Virtus, represented in the design by the first letter of each gift. These gifts are considered to be the outpouring