When Was the Apostles’ Fast Established?
The institution of the Apostles’ Fast dates back to the earliest times of the Orthodox Church.
The ecclesiastical establishment of this fast is mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions:
“After Pentecost, celebrate one week, and then fast; for justice requires both rejoicing after receiving the gifts of God and fasting after the relaxation of the flesh.”
This fast became especially established when churches dedicated to the Foremost Apostles Peter and Paul were built in Constantinople and Rome, which at that time had not yet fallen away from Orthodoxy. The consecration of the church in Constantinople took place on the feast of the Apostles, June 29, and from that time the day became especially solemn both in the East and in the West. In the Orthodox Church, the custom became established for pious Christians to prepare for this feast through fasting and prayer.
From the fourth century onward, references to the Apostles’ Fast become increasingly frequent in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. It is mentioned by Saint Athanasios the Great, Saint Ambrose of Milan, and, in the fifth century, by Saint Leo the Great and Theodoret of Cyrrhus.
Saint Athanasios the Great, describing in his defense before Emperor Constantius the sufferings inflicted upon Orthodox Christians by the Arians, writes:
“The people, having fasted during the week following Holy Pentecost, withdrew to the cemetery for prayer.”
Why Is This Fast Called Apostolic?
This summer fast, which is now commonly called the Peter Fast or Apostles’ Fast, was formerly known as the Fast of Pentecost.
The Church calls us to this fast following the example of the Holy Apostles, who, after receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, prepared themselves through fasting and prayer for the universal preaching of the gospel. As the Apostle Paul says, they labored “in toil and hardship, often in vigils, in hunger and thirst, often in fastings” (2 Cor. 11:27).
The Apostles of Christ always prepared themselves for ministry through fasting and prayer:
“And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:3).
According to Saint John Chrysostom:
“Fasting, when joined with faith, greatly increases strength; for it teaches profound wisdom, makes a man like an angel, and strengthens him against the bodiless powers. He who prays as he ought and also fasts requires little; and he who requires little will not be greedy for money; and he who is not greedy for money loves to give alms. He who fasts becomes light and takes wing, praying with a vigilant spirit, extinguishing evil desires, appeasing God, and humbling his proud soul. Therefore the Apostles almost always fasted.”
Why Does the Apostles’ Fast Follow Pentecost?
The Day of Pentecost, on the fiftieth day after the Lord's Resurrection and the tenth day after His Ascension, when He was seated at the right hand of the Father, and sent down the Most Holy Spirit upon all His disciples and Apostles, is one of the greatest feasts of the Church.
It is the fulfillment of the new and eternal covenant foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah... I will put My law within them and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people... for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest... for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:31–34).
The Holy Spirit, who descended upon the Apostles — the Spirit of truth, wisdom, and revelation — inscribed a new Zionic law in place of the Sinai law, not upon tablets of stone but upon the fleshy tablets of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3). The grace of the Holy Spirit replaced the Sinai law, giving strength to fulfill God’s commandments and granting justification not by works but by grace.
We do not fast during Pentecost because in those days the Lord is with us. We do not fast because He Himself said:
“Can you make the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them?” (Luke 5:34).
Communion with the Lord is itself food for the Christian. Thus during Pentecost we are nourished by the Lord who dwells among us.
Saint Leo the Great writes:
“After the prolonged feast of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary, so that by its discipline we may purify our thoughts and become worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After the present festival, sanctified by the descent of the Holy Spirit, there customarily follows a public fast, beneficially established for the healing of soul and body, and therefore requiring us to observe it with proper devotion. For we do not doubt that after the Apostles were filled with the promised power from on high and the Spirit of Truth had entered their hearts, among the other mysteries of heavenly doctrine there was also imparted, by the inspiration of the Comforter, instruction concerning spiritual self-restraint. Through fasting the heart is purified and made more capable of receiving gracious gifts.
One cannot contend against the assaults of persecutors and the furious threats of the wicked with a body softened by indulgence and a flesh made fat; for what delights the outward man destroys the inward, while the rational soul is purified all the more as the flesh is mortified. Therefore the teachers who enlightened all the children of the Church by their example and instruction marked the beginning of their warfare for Christ by holy fasting, so that, entering into battle against spiritual corruption, they might possess in self-restraint a weapon by which sinful desires could be slain. Our invisible adversaries and bodiless enemies cannot overcome us if we do not surrender ourselves to fleshly lusts. Though the tempter’s desire to harm us remains constant, it is powerless when he finds within us no opening through which to attack.
For this reason the unchanging and saving custom was established: after the holy and joyful days celebrated in honor of the Lord who rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are to run the course of fasting. This custom must also be diligently observed so that the gifts bestowed by God upon the Church may remain within us. Having become temples of the Holy Spirit and having been filled more abundantly than ever with divine waters, we must not submit to any lusts nor serve any vices, lest the dwelling place of virtue be defiled by anything ungodly. With God’s help and cooperation we can attain this, provided that through fasting and almsgiving we strive to cleanse ourselves from the stains of sin and bring forth abundant fruits of love.”
Saint Leo of Rome further writes:
“From the apostolic ordinances inspired by God Himself, the leaders of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, established first of all that every labor of virtue should begin with fasting. They did this because the commandments of God can be fulfilled properly only when Christ’s army is protected from all the temptations of sin by holy abstinence. Therefore, beloved, we ought especially at this time to devote ourselves to fasting, for it is now commanded after the completion of the fifty days extending from Christ’s Resurrection to the descent of the Holy Spirit, days which we have spent in special festivity. This fast was ordained to protect us from the carelessness into which we can easily fall because of the long period of unrestricted eating that we have enjoyed. If the field of our flesh is not continually cultivated, thorns and weeds readily spring up, producing a crop fit not for the granary but for burning. Therefore we are now obliged to guard with all diligence the seeds placed in our hearts by the heavenly Sower and to beware lest the envious enemy somehow spoil what God has given and cause the thorns of vice to grow in the paradise of virtue. This evil can be driven away only by mercy and fasting.”
Blessed Symeon of Thessaloniki writes that the fast was established in honor of the Apostles, “because through them we have been deemed worthy of many blessings, and because they became for us the workers and teachers of fasting, obedience, and self-restraint. Even the Latins bear witness to this against their own will by honoring the Apostles with a fast in their memory. But we, according to the Apostolic Constitutions compiled by Clement, celebrate for one week after the descent of the Holy Spirit, and then beginning with the following week honor the Apostles who handed down to us the practice of fasting.”
Why Are the Apostles Peter and Paul Called the Foremost Apostles?
According to the testimony of the word of God, the Apostles occupy a special place in the Church:
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).
Clothed with equal power from above and the same authority to forgive sins, all the Apostles will sit upon twelve thrones beside the Son of Man (Matt. 19:28).
Although certain Apostles are distinguished in Scripture and Tradition — Peter, Paul, John, James, and others — none of them was the supreme ruler or superior in honor to the rest.
However, because the Acts of the Apostles chiefly recount the labors of Peter and Paul, the Church and the Holy Fathers, while reverencing the name of every Apostle, call these two the Foremost Apostles (Protokoryphaioi).
The Church glorifies the Apostle Peter as the first among the Apostles to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, and Paul as the one who “labored more abundantly than they all” and was numbered among the foremost Apostles by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 11:5). One is honored for his steadfastness, the other for his radiant wisdom.
By calling these two Apostles “foremost,” on account of the primacy of their order and labors, the Church teaches that her only Head is Jesus Christ, while all the Apostles are His servants (Col. 1:18).
Saint Peter the Apostle, before his calling, bore the name Simon. He was the elder brother of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called and was a fisherman. He was married and had children. According to Saint John Chrysostom, he was a fervent, uneducated, simple, poor, and God-fearing man. He was brought to the Lord by his brother Andrew, and at the very first glance at the simple fisherman, the Lord gave him the name Cephas in Syriac, or Peter in Greek, meaning “rock.” After Peter was chosen among the Apostles, the Lord visited his humble home and healed his mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:29–31).
Among the three closest disciples, Peter was deemed worthy to witness Christ’s divine glory on Mount Tabor, His divine power in the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), and His humiliation according to the flesh in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Peter washed away his denial of Christ with bitter tears of repentance. He was the first of the Apostles to enter the Savior’s tomb after the Resurrection and the first to behold the Risen Lord.
Peter was an outstanding preacher. The power of his words was so great that three thousand and even five thousand people at a time were converted to Christ. At Peter’s word, those convicted of wrongdoing fell dead (Acts 5:5, 10), the dead were raised (Acts 9:40), and the sick were healed (Acts 9:32–34), even by the shadow of the passing Apostle (Acts 5:15).
Yet he possessed no supremacy of authority. All ecclesiastical matters were decided by the common judgment of the Apostles and presbyters together with the whole Church.
Saint Paul the Apostle, speaking of those Apostles who were considered pillars, places James first, then Peter and John (Gal. 2:9), while counting himself among them (2 Cor. 11:5) and comparing himself with Peter. The Council sent Peter on missions just as it sent the other disciples of Christ.
Peter made five missionary journeys, preaching the gospel and bringing many to the Lord. His final journey ended in Rome, where he proclaimed the faith of Christ with great zeal, increasing the number of disciples. In Rome, Peter exposed the deceit of Simon Magus, who claimed to be Christ, and converted to Christ two women beloved by Nero.
By Nero’s command, on June 29, A.D. 67, the Apostle Peter was crucified. He asked his executioners to crucify him upside down, wishing thereby to show the difference between his sufferings and those of his Divine Master.
The story of the conversion of the Holy Apostle Paul, formerly known by the Hebrew name Saul, is marvelous indeed.
Saul, educated in the Jewish Law, hated and persecuted the Church of Christ and even obtained authority from the Sanhedrin to seek out and persecute Christians everywhere. “Saul was ravaging the Church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women and committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3).
One day, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and asked of him letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he found any belonging to this Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem...” (Acts 9:1–9).
As he approached Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly shone around him. Falling to the ground, he heard the voice of Christ: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Trembling and astonished, he was led into Damascus, where for three days he neither saw, nor ate, nor drank.
The relentless persecutor of Christianity became the tireless preacher of the gospel.
Paul’s life, deeds, words, and epistles all testify that he was a chosen vessel of God’s grace. Neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor sword, nor even death itself could weaken the love of God in his heart.
He undertook continual journeys to many lands, preaching the gospel to Jews and especially to the Gentiles. These journeys were marked by extraordinary power in preaching, miracles, unceasing labor, inexhaustible patience, and a life of great holiness. The labors of Paul’s apostolic ministry were without parallel. He himself said:
“I labored more abundantly than they all” (1 Cor. 15:10).
For these labors the Apostle endured countless sufferings. In the year 67, on June 29, at the same time as the Apostle Peter, he suffered martyrdom in Rome. As a Roman citizen, he was beheaded with the sword.
The Orthodox Church honors the Apostles Peter and Paul as those who enlightened the darkness of the West. She glorifies the steadfastness of Peter and the wisdom of Paul, and sees in them the image of the conversion of sinners and their correction: in Peter, the image of one who denied the Lord and repented; in Paul, the image of one who resisted the preaching of Christ and afterward believed.
How Long Does the Apostles’ Fast Last?
The Apostles’ Fast depends upon the date of Pascha; therefore its duration varies. It always begins after the Sunday of All Saints (the week following Pentecost) and ends on June 29, unless the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul falls on a Wednesday or Friday.
The longest Apostles’ Fast lasts six weeks, while the shortest lasts one week and one day (according to Julian Calendar).
Patriarch Theodore Balsamon of Antioch (12th century) writes:
“All the faithful, both laity and monks, are obliged to fast for seven days or more before the feast of Peter and Paul; those who do not fast are to be excluded from communion with Orthodox Christians.”
How Should One Eat During the Apostles’ Fast?
The discipline of the Apostles’ Fast is less strict than that of Great Lent.
During the Fast of Peter and Paul, the Church Typikon prescribes that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays one abstain from fish, wine, and oil, and practice xerophagy (dry food) after the Ninth Hour and Vespers. On the remaining weekdays, one abstains only from fish while wine and oil are allowed.
On Saturdays and Sundays during the fast, as well as on the feast days of a great saint or on a parish patronal feast, fish is permitted.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
The institution of the Apostles’ Fast dates back to the earliest times of the Orthodox Church.
The ecclesiastical establishment of this fast is mentioned in the Apostolic Constitutions:
“After Pentecost, celebrate one week, and then fast; for justice requires both rejoicing after receiving the gifts of God and fasting after the relaxation of the flesh.”
This fast became especially established when churches dedicated to the Foremost Apostles Peter and Paul were built in Constantinople and Rome, which at that time had not yet fallen away from Orthodoxy. The consecration of the church in Constantinople took place on the feast of the Apostles, June 29, and from that time the day became especially solemn both in the East and in the West. In the Orthodox Church, the custom became established for pious Christians to prepare for this feast through fasting and prayer.
From the fourth century onward, references to the Apostles’ Fast become increasingly frequent in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. It is mentioned by Saint Athanasios the Great, Saint Ambrose of Milan, and, in the fifth century, by Saint Leo the Great and Theodoret of Cyrrhus.
Saint Athanasios the Great, describing in his defense before Emperor Constantius the sufferings inflicted upon Orthodox Christians by the Arians, writes:
“The people, having fasted during the week following Holy Pentecost, withdrew to the cemetery for prayer.”
Why Is This Fast Called Apostolic?
This summer fast, which is now commonly called the Peter Fast or Apostles’ Fast, was formerly known as the Fast of Pentecost.
The Church calls us to this fast following the example of the Holy Apostles, who, after receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, prepared themselves through fasting and prayer for the universal preaching of the gospel. As the Apostle Paul says, they labored “in toil and hardship, often in vigils, in hunger and thirst, often in fastings” (2 Cor. 11:27).
The Apostles of Christ always prepared themselves for ministry through fasting and prayer:
“And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:3).
According to Saint John Chrysostom:
“Fasting, when joined with faith, greatly increases strength; for it teaches profound wisdom, makes a man like an angel, and strengthens him against the bodiless powers. He who prays as he ought and also fasts requires little; and he who requires little will not be greedy for money; and he who is not greedy for money loves to give alms. He who fasts becomes light and takes wing, praying with a vigilant spirit, extinguishing evil desires, appeasing God, and humbling his proud soul. Therefore the Apostles almost always fasted.”
Why Does the Apostles’ Fast Follow Pentecost?
The Day of Pentecost, on the fiftieth day after the Lord's Resurrection and the tenth day after His Ascension, when He was seated at the right hand of the Father, and sent down the Most Holy Spirit upon all His disciples and Apostles, is one of the greatest feasts of the Church.
It is the fulfillment of the new and eternal covenant foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah:
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah... I will put My law within them and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people... for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest... for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:31–34).
The Holy Spirit, who descended upon the Apostles — the Spirit of truth, wisdom, and revelation — inscribed a new Zionic law in place of the Sinai law, not upon tablets of stone but upon the fleshy tablets of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3). The grace of the Holy Spirit replaced the Sinai law, giving strength to fulfill God’s commandments and granting justification not by works but by grace.
We do not fast during Pentecost because in those days the Lord is with us. We do not fast because He Himself said:
“Can you make the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them?” (Luke 5:34).
Communion with the Lord is itself food for the Christian. Thus during Pentecost we are nourished by the Lord who dwells among us.
Saint Leo the Great writes:
“After the prolonged feast of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary, so that by its discipline we may purify our thoughts and become worthy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After the present festival, sanctified by the descent of the Holy Spirit, there customarily follows a public fast, beneficially established for the healing of soul and body, and therefore requiring us to observe it with proper devotion. For we do not doubt that after the Apostles were filled with the promised power from on high and the Spirit of Truth had entered their hearts, among the other mysteries of heavenly doctrine there was also imparted, by the inspiration of the Comforter, instruction concerning spiritual self-restraint. Through fasting the heart is purified and made more capable of receiving gracious gifts.
One cannot contend against the assaults of persecutors and the furious threats of the wicked with a body softened by indulgence and a flesh made fat; for what delights the outward man destroys the inward, while the rational soul is purified all the more as the flesh is mortified. Therefore the teachers who enlightened all the children of the Church by their example and instruction marked the beginning of their warfare for Christ by holy fasting, so that, entering into battle against spiritual corruption, they might possess in self-restraint a weapon by which sinful desires could be slain. Our invisible adversaries and bodiless enemies cannot overcome us if we do not surrender ourselves to fleshly lusts. Though the tempter’s desire to harm us remains constant, it is powerless when he finds within us no opening through which to attack.
For this reason the unchanging and saving custom was established: after the holy and joyful days celebrated in honor of the Lord who rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are to run the course of fasting. This custom must also be diligently observed so that the gifts bestowed by God upon the Church may remain within us. Having become temples of the Holy Spirit and having been filled more abundantly than ever with divine waters, we must not submit to any lusts nor serve any vices, lest the dwelling place of virtue be defiled by anything ungodly. With God’s help and cooperation we can attain this, provided that through fasting and almsgiving we strive to cleanse ourselves from the stains of sin and bring forth abundant fruits of love.”
Saint Leo of Rome further writes:
“From the apostolic ordinances inspired by God Himself, the leaders of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, established first of all that every labor of virtue should begin with fasting. They did this because the commandments of God can be fulfilled properly only when Christ’s army is protected from all the temptations of sin by holy abstinence. Therefore, beloved, we ought especially at this time to devote ourselves to fasting, for it is now commanded after the completion of the fifty days extending from Christ’s Resurrection to the descent of the Holy Spirit, days which we have spent in special festivity. This fast was ordained to protect us from the carelessness into which we can easily fall because of the long period of unrestricted eating that we have enjoyed. If the field of our flesh is not continually cultivated, thorns and weeds readily spring up, producing a crop fit not for the granary but for burning. Therefore we are now obliged to guard with all diligence the seeds placed in our hearts by the heavenly Sower and to beware lest the envious enemy somehow spoil what God has given and cause the thorns of vice to grow in the paradise of virtue. This evil can be driven away only by mercy and fasting.”
Blessed Symeon of Thessaloniki writes that the fast was established in honor of the Apostles, “because through them we have been deemed worthy of many blessings, and because they became for us the workers and teachers of fasting, obedience, and self-restraint. Even the Latins bear witness to this against their own will by honoring the Apostles with a fast in their memory. But we, according to the Apostolic Constitutions compiled by Clement, celebrate for one week after the descent of the Holy Spirit, and then beginning with the following week honor the Apostles who handed down to us the practice of fasting.”
Why Are the Apostles Peter and Paul Called the Foremost Apostles?
According to the testimony of the word of God, the Apostles occupy a special place in the Church:
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).
Clothed with equal power from above and the same authority to forgive sins, all the Apostles will sit upon twelve thrones beside the Son of Man (Matt. 19:28).
Although certain Apostles are distinguished in Scripture and Tradition — Peter, Paul, John, James, and others — none of them was the supreme ruler or superior in honor to the rest.
However, because the Acts of the Apostles chiefly recount the labors of Peter and Paul, the Church and the Holy Fathers, while reverencing the name of every Apostle, call these two the Foremost Apostles (Protokoryphaioi).
The Church glorifies the Apostle Peter as the first among the Apostles to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, and Paul as the one who “labored more abundantly than they all” and was numbered among the foremost Apostles by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 11:5). One is honored for his steadfastness, the other for his radiant wisdom.
By calling these two Apostles “foremost,” on account of the primacy of their order and labors, the Church teaches that her only Head is Jesus Christ, while all the Apostles are His servants (Col. 1:18).
Saint Peter the Apostle, before his calling, bore the name Simon. He was the elder brother of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called and was a fisherman. He was married and had children. According to Saint John Chrysostom, he was a fervent, uneducated, simple, poor, and God-fearing man. He was brought to the Lord by his brother Andrew, and at the very first glance at the simple fisherman, the Lord gave him the name Cephas in Syriac, or Peter in Greek, meaning “rock.” After Peter was chosen among the Apostles, the Lord visited his humble home and healed his mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:29–31).
Among the three closest disciples, Peter was deemed worthy to witness Christ’s divine glory on Mount Tabor, His divine power in the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), and His humiliation according to the flesh in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Peter washed away his denial of Christ with bitter tears of repentance. He was the first of the Apostles to enter the Savior’s tomb after the Resurrection and the first to behold the Risen Lord.
Peter was an outstanding preacher. The power of his words was so great that three thousand and even five thousand people at a time were converted to Christ. At Peter’s word, those convicted of wrongdoing fell dead (Acts 5:5, 10), the dead were raised (Acts 9:40), and the sick were healed (Acts 9:32–34), even by the shadow of the passing Apostle (Acts 5:15).
Yet he possessed no supremacy of authority. All ecclesiastical matters were decided by the common judgment of the Apostles and presbyters together with the whole Church.
Saint Paul the Apostle, speaking of those Apostles who were considered pillars, places James first, then Peter and John (Gal. 2:9), while counting himself among them (2 Cor. 11:5) and comparing himself with Peter. The Council sent Peter on missions just as it sent the other disciples of Christ.
Peter made five missionary journeys, preaching the gospel and bringing many to the Lord. His final journey ended in Rome, where he proclaimed the faith of Christ with great zeal, increasing the number of disciples. In Rome, Peter exposed the deceit of Simon Magus, who claimed to be Christ, and converted to Christ two women beloved by Nero.
By Nero’s command, on June 29, A.D. 67, the Apostle Peter was crucified. He asked his executioners to crucify him upside down, wishing thereby to show the difference between his sufferings and those of his Divine Master.
The story of the conversion of the Holy Apostle Paul, formerly known by the Hebrew name Saul, is marvelous indeed.
Saul, educated in the Jewish Law, hated and persecuted the Church of Christ and even obtained authority from the Sanhedrin to seek out and persecute Christians everywhere. “Saul was ravaging the Church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women and committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3).
One day, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and asked of him letters to Damascus unto the synagogues, that if he found any belonging to this Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem...” (Acts 9:1–9).
As he approached Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly shone around him. Falling to the ground, he heard the voice of Christ: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Trembling and astonished, he was led into Damascus, where for three days he neither saw, nor ate, nor drank.
The relentless persecutor of Christianity became the tireless preacher of the gospel.
Paul’s life, deeds, words, and epistles all testify that he was a chosen vessel of God’s grace. Neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor sword, nor even death itself could weaken the love of God in his heart.
He undertook continual journeys to many lands, preaching the gospel to Jews and especially to the Gentiles. These journeys were marked by extraordinary power in preaching, miracles, unceasing labor, inexhaustible patience, and a life of great holiness. The labors of Paul’s apostolic ministry were without parallel. He himself said:
“I labored more abundantly than they all” (1 Cor. 15:10).
For these labors the Apostle endured countless sufferings. In the year 67, on June 29, at the same time as the Apostle Peter, he suffered martyrdom in Rome. As a Roman citizen, he was beheaded with the sword.
The Orthodox Church honors the Apostles Peter and Paul as those who enlightened the darkness of the West. She glorifies the steadfastness of Peter and the wisdom of Paul, and sees in them the image of the conversion of sinners and their correction: in Peter, the image of one who denied the Lord and repented; in Paul, the image of one who resisted the preaching of Christ and afterward believed.
How Long Does the Apostles’ Fast Last?
The Apostles’ Fast depends upon the date of Pascha; therefore its duration varies. It always begins after the Sunday of All Saints (the week following Pentecost) and ends on June 29, unless the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul falls on a Wednesday or Friday.
The longest Apostles’ Fast lasts six weeks, while the shortest lasts one week and one day (according to Julian Calendar).
Patriarch Theodore Balsamon of Antioch (12th century) writes:
“All the faithful, both laity and monks, are obliged to fast for seven days or more before the feast of Peter and Paul; those who do not fast are to be excluded from communion with Orthodox Christians.”
How Should One Eat During the Apostles’ Fast?
The discipline of the Apostles’ Fast is less strict than that of Great Lent.
During the Fast of Peter and Paul, the Church Typikon prescribes that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays one abstain from fish, wine, and oil, and practice xerophagy (dry food) after the Ninth Hour and Vespers. On the remaining weekdays, one abstains only from fish while wine and oil are allowed.
On Saturdays and Sundays during the fast, as well as on the feast days of a great saint or on a parish patronal feast, fish is permitted.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
