Apostles’ Fast

The Apostles' Fast, a revered tradition in Eastern Christianity, offers a profound opportunity to emulate the spiritual journey of Saints Peter and Paul and the early disciples. Beyond mere dietary adjustments, this fast encourages us to embrace their core principles: mobility, connectivity, barrier removal, and endurance.

This guide is designed to facilitate a deeper engagement with these timeless themes, fostering not only spiritual discipline but also a robust, interconnected, and resilient life, grounded in the Abrahamic values of hospitality, outreach, and steadfastness.

Cultivating Mobility & Endurance: The Internal and External Journey

The Apostles traversed the ancient world, often on foot, confronting significant physical and spiritual challenges. This fast invites us to reclaim an awareness of our own physical capabilities and readiness for the journey of life and faith.

• Establish a Movement Goal: Embrace the itinerant spirit of the Apostles. Set a daily goal for walking, cycling, or other forms of physical activity suitable for your body. We encourage you to join our group chat (accessible via the Connect page or Facebook group) to share progress and offer mutual encouragement. The focus is on consistent, purposeful movement, building endurance and fostering engagement with your surroundings.

• Incorporate Weighted Walks (Rucking): For those physically able, consider adding a weighted backpack to your walks. This ancient practice builds strength and stamina, mirroring the burdens carried by early messengers. Begin with a light load and increase gradually.

• Prioritize Stretching: Just as a well-maintained traveler remains limber, dedicate daily time to stretching. This practice mitigates physical limitations, prevents injury, and serves as a reminder of the flexibility required on life's path.

Removing Barriers & Fostering Connection: The Apostolate of Correspondence

The Apostles communicated across vast distances, establishing networks and strengthening communities through written correspondence. In an era of fleeting digital interactions, let us revitalize the art of meaningful connection, transcending barriers of distance and oversight.

• Practice Intentional Correspondence: Make a deliberate effort to reach out. Manually record contact information for family, friends, mentors, and those with whom you've lost touch. This simple act acknowledges their tangible presence in your life.

• Assemble a Correspondence Kit: Be prepared for spontaneous or intentional outreach. Equip your home with envelopes, stamps, stationery, pens, and tape. A rubber band ball can serve as a symbolic reminder of bundled letters. This preparedness empowers consistent communication.

• Prepare for Physical Journeys: The Apostles needed to be ready for immediate travel. Maintain a printed road atlas in your vehicle (a reminder of physical navigation, even in the digital age), a tire plug kit, and a portable jump starter. This embodies self-reliance and readiness for unforeseen detours, mirroring the Apostles' arduous travels.

• Engage in Language Practice: Break down linguistic barriers. Dedicate time daily to practicing another language, even a few phrases. This opens avenues for understanding and connection, echoing the event of Pentecost.

• Prepare for Global Mobility: For those seeking the ultimate commitment to boundless travel, consider obtaining or renewing your passport. This document symbolizes freedom of movement and the ability to traverse geographical boundaries.

• Download Offline Maps: Acknowledge that technology can be unreliable. Download maps for offline use on your devices. This practical step ensures navigation capabilities even when digital connections are unavailable, reflecting preparedness for unexpected challenges.

Distribution & Affirmation: Sharing Your Gifts and Light

The Apostles were commanded to disseminate the Good News and their spiritual gifts broadly. This fast calls us to recognize and confidently share our unique talents and to uplift the community that supports us.

• Undertake a Personal "Pilgrimage": Select a location in your local area or within a reasonable distance that holds personal significance—a place of natural beauty, quiet reflection, historical importance, or artistic inspiration. Make a deliberate "pilgrimage" to this site, allowing the journey itself to be part of the spiritual experience, reminiscent of the Apostles' journeys to sacred sites.

• Publicize Your Skills and Contributions: The Apostles openly proclaimed their mission and abilities endowed by the Holy Spirit. This fast, a period for internal barrier removal, encourages you to articulate your skills and accomplishments, enabling those who could benefit from your unique contributions to find you. This is an act of humble stewardship of your gifts.

• Affirm Your Spiritual Home and Self: Rooted in the Abrahamic traditions of community, worship, and reverence for the divine:

• Offer positive affirmations about your church, its members, and/or yourself. Reflect on the blessings of your spiritual community, the kindness of fellow parishioners, and your unique spiritual gifts. This practice counters negativity and strengthens the bonds of faith and mutual support, echoing the unity of the early Church.

Sustenance & Stewardship: Honoring Creation and Local Bounty

The Apostles relied on simple sustenance and the generosity of those they encountered. This fast calls for a reconnection with the earth's bounty and support for those who cultivate it, fostering grateful and responsible living.

• Embrace Fresh, Seasonal Food: As much as possible during this fast, prioritize fresh, seasonal food. This practice re-establishes a connection with the rhythms of creation and supports local ecosystems.

• Identify Reliable Local Producers: Even if immediate purchases are not feasible, take time to identify reliable local food producers in your area. Understanding the source of your sustenance fosters a connection to the land and its cultivators. This practice exemplifies good stewardship and echoes the hospitality and shared sustenance in early Christian communities.

• Practice Mindful Consumption: Focus on consuming simply prepared meals in modest portions, often adhering to pescatarian, vegetarian, or vegan dietary principles, as is traditional for the fast. Whenever possible, share these meals with your faith community to strengthen bonds and cultivate communal spirit.

• Embrace Non-Consumptive Engagement: Dedicate periods to activities that do not involve food consumption, such as prayer, study, service, or creative endeavors. This practice allows for deeper engagement with meaningful pursuits, shifting focus from material consumption to spiritual and intellectual nourishment.

May this ancestral guide enrich your observance of the Apostles' Fast, empowering you to live with greater intention, mobility, and purpose, honoring the enduring legacy of those who preceded us.