Thou hast taken to Thyself, O Lord, the firm and divine-voiced preachers, the chief Apostles, for the enjoyment of Thy blessings and for repose; for Thou didst accept their labors and death as above all sacrifice, O Thou Who alone knowest the secrets of our hearts.
Kontakion for the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul
Because Holy Pascha was very early this year, the Fast of the Holy Apostles will begin early and last long, thirty-eight days beginning on the Monday following the Sunday of All Saints, 22 May/4 June, and ending on the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul on 29 June/12 July. In these latter days of universal lukewarmness to spiritual struggle, many Orthodox Christians are tempted to ignore this holy fast altogether; some do not even know that it exists! Yet if we understand it properly, we will rejoice to take advantage of this sacred season as a time for growing the virtues in the field of the soul.
The seasons of the Church year are based primarily on the historical and factual events of Our Lord's and His Most Pure Mother's earthly lives, as well as on the historical record of the lives of the saints. They are not merely "natural" or "cosmic" cycles. By God's Providence, however, the natural seasons of the year offer us a beautiful illustration of how the spiritual seasons should affect our souls.
During the spiritual spring of Great Lent, our souls are worked by the harrow of prayer and fasting and then plowed by the sharp sword of the Word of God, to prepare them to receive the Divine Seed, Our Lord Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word, who was planted in the ground as a grain of wheat after His Death and arose on the third day for our salvation on the First Day of the Resurrection.
During the sacred Pentecost, the fifty days from Pascha to the Descent of the Spirit, the newly planted field of the soul is watered by the grace of the Holy Spirit as by the spring rains, so that the Word may bear fruit in us.
The Apostles' Fast is the summer of the soul, in which that which was planted and watered should begin to sprout and grow. Our Lord came and suffered His terrible Passion, and rose from the dead, and sent the Spirit, not merely as a demonstration of His divine Power, but primarily for our salvation and sanctification, that is, so that He might live in us by grace and that we might bear fruit for Him. By the Apostles' preaching and gathering so many millions into His Church, He multiplied Himself, as it were, and created countless "little Christs" by grace, so as to fill up the seats at His Father's heavenly wedding banquet.
One of these seats is waiting for each of us, if only we will cooperate with Our Lord's ineffable gift of grace. Let us, then, not shrink from or complain about the length of "yet another" fast, but rather embrace it joyously as a time of opportunity. It is not as strict as Great Lent, of course, but it does provide an ideal framework in which we can prepare for and receive Holy Communion, which is the most important work of sanctification in the life of the Christian. Let us plan now…and do so!
Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.
- I Peter 1:17
A foolish man takes fright when the lightning merely flashes and the thunder cracks, but a wise man stands in the fear of God every day and every hour. The Creator of thunder and lightning is more awesome than either, and He does not just appear before you from time to time as do thunder and lightning, but is with you unceasingly and never separates Himself from you. Therefore it is not enough to feel the fear of God only from time to time, but we must breathe it in with every breath. The fear of God is the fresh ozone in the suffocating air of our souls. This ozone brings purification and lightness, and a sweet fragrance and health. Until he had become established in the fear of God, Peter was merely Peter and not an apostle, a hero, a teacher of the people and a worker of wonders.
Oh, my brethren, let us not make merry before the time of harvest. This life of ours is not the harvest but the time of sowing, in toil, sweat, and fear. The farmer lives in trepidation until he has gathered the crop from his field. Let us also leave our merrymaking until the day of harvest, for now is the season of toil and fear. Shall I be saved? That question should torment each one of us, just as the question, "Shall I reap the fruit of my labor from the field?" torments the farmer. The farmer labors and waits in trepidation every day. Let us also labor and wait in fear for the [completion of the] whole season of our sojourn here on this earth.
O Lord, who art fearful and mighty, uphold us in Thy fear. To Thee be glory and praise for ever. Amen.
- from the Prologue for the 29th of June, by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic