The Shepherd, June 2009
THE COMING MONTH
THIS YEAR, when the Church month of June begins we have already completed the period of Pentecost, and the Great Feast of Pentecost -Trinity itself. The month begins on the first Sunday after that Great Feast, which is dedicated to All the Saints, and on the second day of the Church month, the Monday, we begin the Apostles’ Fast.
This fast does not demand such strict fasting as the Great Lent which precedes Easter. This year it lasts for 27 days, from the 2nd of the month until and including the day before the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. During this period, we should, as in all fasts, try to attend to our spiritual lives more assiduously.
To do this, we should apply ourselves more carefully to our prayer-life and to spiritual reading, which will nourish us spiritually; we should refrain from leisure activities as much as possible and try not to travel too much. We should try more determinedly to deal with our passions, and this should include preparing for and coming to confession. Married couples should refrain from sexual relations during the fast. And, of course, we should try to keep to the food-fasting disciplines, which the Church enjoins.
Throughout this fast, we keep an “f3” fast (see calendar insert) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; on Tuesday and Thursday we are permitted wine (alcohol) and oil; and on Saturdays and Sundays, fish, wine and oil. On two days, these regulations are slightly relaxed because feasts coincide with them: on 11th / 24th, we have the feast of the Icon “It is Truly Meet” and of the Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas, and so wine and oil are permitted even though it is a Wednesday, and on 24th June / 7th July, we have the feast of the Birth of St John the Baptist, and so fish is also permitted on that day. Conversely on 28th June / 11th July, although it is a Saturday, we are only permitted wine and oil, and not fish, because it is the eve of the Apostles’ festival itself. On Sunday 29th June / 12th July, we celebrate the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul along with the Resurrection of the Saviour, and, after receiving the Holy Mysteries or the antidoron, we are able to break our fast.
Among the Saints celebrated in June, we have:-
The Holy Martyrs Martha, Mary, Cyria, Valeria and Marcia of Palestine (6th / 19th). These young women were natives of Palestine and lived during the period of the Roman persecution of the Christians. They were brought to the Christian Faith by the teaching and godly counsel of an Elder, who is otherwise unknown to us. Having converted, they decided to live in reclusion, occupying themselves with fasting, prayer and vigils rather than becoming involved in the concerns of this world. However, through the providence of God, that their light should not be hid under a bushel, even their silence was heard, and they came to the notice of the governor of Caesarea. They were brought before his tribunal and required to renounced their Faith. When they steadfastly refused to do so, they were put to torture and their bodies were horribly mutilated. Their spirits, however, were nothing daunted. And they were eventually delivered up to the sword and thus they received the crowns of martyrdom and everlasting bliss.
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