Last Monday, the Copts of Egypt began the Fast of the Apostles, which follows the holy fifty days starting from the Feast of Resurrection until the Feast of Pentecost, passing through the Feast of the Ascension which is celebrated forty days after the Feast of Resurrection. The Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost are known to be feasts of the Lord because they are related to the person of Christ.
The Feast of Pentecost has different naming, including: the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, The Feast of the Pentecost, Pentecost Sunday, the Week of Pentecost. On that day, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Christ, so they began preaching Christianity in Jerusalem, then Judaea, Samaria and then to the entire world. That is why the Pentecost is the day on which the Church was born and began her ministry throughout the world. Celebrating this feast is a celebration of the Church’s birthday. The word Pentecost originally goes back to a Hebrew word meaning “the assembly” or “the meeting”, as the Jews used to meet in order to celebrate the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest. On the Jewish Feast of Harvest, God commanded His people to hold a great feast fifty days after the Passover, in which the Jews would remember the Prophet of God Moses receiving the Holy Law on Mount Sinai.
Lord Christ commanded His disciples saying, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” After the resurrection, Lord Christ kept appearing to His disciples along forty days, speaking to them about the kingdom of God, the Bible states, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”… “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Thus, the disciples of Lord Christ did not cease to pray with Saint Virgin Mary and all the believers, they were about 120 people, gathering at the Upper Room of Zion, which is the house of the mother of Saint Mark, the Preacher of the Egyptian lands.
On the fiftieth day after the resurrection of Lord Christ, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples; they began by preaching to the Jews assembled in Jerusalem them to celebrate the Pentecost, on that day, three thousand people joined the church: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?… we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God!” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Peter, standing up with the disciples, said to the people: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”… Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Hence, the Church was born and has been expanded to the rest of the world.
After the Pentecost, the father apostles began a fast (which was later named after them), to begin their preaching, and therefore it is considered the oldest fast known to the Christian Church since its founding, the fast was transmitted from the apostles to the successive generations till this day. At first, it had been called the fast of Pentecost, then it was changed to its current name “the fast of the apostles” in 325 AD during the convening of the first ecumenical council in the city of Nicaea. The fast of the apostles ends with the commemoration of the martyrdom of Apostles Peter and Paul. The fast’s duration is unspecified, as its beginning date varies from a year to another according to the date of the “Feast of Resurrection.”
And… stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
