The Apostles’ Fast begins on the Monday after the Sunday of All Saints and ends on June 28. The fast changes length every year.
The Sunday of All Saints comes one week after Pentecost. And Pentecost is fifty days after Pascha. Since Pascha moves around on the calendar each year, so does Pentecost, so does All Saints, so does the start of the Apostles’ Fast. Some years it lasts several weeks. Other years it is under two weeks.
But June 28 never moves. That’s always the last day of the fast, because June 29 is always the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. The fast prepares us for their feast day.
Why We Fast for the Apostles
This isn’t some medieval invention. The Apostles’ Fast goes back to the early Church. You can see the apostles themselves fasting in Acts 13:2 before they went out to preach. The first Christians kept this pattern alive.
We’re imitating the apostles. They fasted as they carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We fast as we try to live that same Gospel in Beaumont, Texas, or wherever God has planted us. It’s a way of joining ourselves to their mission.
The timing matters too. We spend the week after Pentecost celebrating, no fasting at all during the week after Pentecost. We’re rejoicing that the Holy Spirit has come. Then we shift gears. The Spirit came at Pentecost to equip the Church for its mission, and the apostles went out fasting and praying. So do we.
How Strict Is It?
Less strict than Great Lent. That’s the first thing people want to know.
During the Apostles’ Fast, we abstain from meat, dairy, and eggs. Wine and oil are allowed on most days, and fish on many of them, though customs differ on the details. Wednesdays and Fridays keep the typical strict rule, no fish, wine, or oil, unless there’s a major feast. At St. Michael, oil and wine are allowed on fast days, Wednesdays and Fridays included. If your parish’s patronal feast falls during the Apostles’ Fast, you get fish that day even if it’s a Wednesday.
Great Lent is longer and more intense. The Apostles’ Fast is gentler. Think of it as a summer fast. It’s warm outside, there’s fresh produce everywhere, and the Church isn’t asking quite as much of us as she does in the spring.
Some people find it harder precisely because it’s summer. Cookouts, vacations, family reunions. Your Baptist relatives aren’t going to understand why you’re not eating the brisket at the Fourth of July party. That’s okay. You can explain, or you can just eat beforehand and bring a dish you can eat. The fast isn’t meant to be a burden or a way to make yourself conspicuous. It’s a tool for prayer.
A Moveable Discipline
The variable length is actually kind of nice once you get used to it. The Church calendar breathes. Some years we get a long, slow preparation for Saints Peter and Paul. Other years it’s quick. Either way, we’re being formed by the rhythm of the Church’s life rather than imposing our own schedule on God.
If you’re new to Orthodoxy, this might be your first Apostles’ Fast. Don’t panic if it feels awkward. Talk to Fr. Michael or another parishioner about how to approach it. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is to enter into the life of the Church, to fast as the apostles fasted, to prepare your heart to celebrate the men who brought us the faith we now hold.
June 29 is coming. We fast so we can feast.
