As we prepare to enter the Apostles’ Fast this month, let us reflect a bit on the Holy Apostles of Christ and their important role in His Church.  During this holy period in their honor, we should venerate them and pray to them more often, continually seeking their holy intercessions before the throne of the Most High, which they flank, seated on their own glorious thrones.

            First of all, let us remember the very beginning of the Church on earth after the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension.  On the day of Pentecost – 50 days after Holy Pascha, the Lord sent His Holy Spirit upon the Holy Apostles and the other followers of Christ who were gathered together in the upper room.  “…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.” (Acts 2:1-4).

            This incredible and life-transforming act of God gave true birth to the Church.  In the absence of Christ, the Holy Apostles took the reigns of the Church, so to speak, knowing that God was truly with them once again, through His Holy Spirit.  The promise of Christ given just prior to His holy Ascension into heaven had been kept.  They were filled with power from on high to continue the ministry of Christ.  Basically, during the mystery of Pentecost, the Apostles were ordained as the first bishops of the Church, in order to oversee the Church, to teach her doctrines, and to preside over the celebration of the Eucharist.  These three basic elements still constitute the role of the bishop in the Orthodox Church.

            The great task of the Spirit-filled Apostles was to spread the Christian faith, both locally and in far-away places of the known world.  As they established churches in different lands, they ordained other bishops to oversee those churches.  Through the hands of the Apostles and those of the other bishops they ordained, many men were ordained to the ranks of bishop,  presbyter, and deacon, which has continued throughout the ages.   As you’ve heard many times, today’s Orthodox clergy trace their ordination back to the Apostles themselves, through what is called apostolic succession.

Holy Tradition, which encompasses the entire life of the Church from her beginnings to the present, also originated with the Holy Apostles.  As direct disciples of the Lord and witnesses of the Resurrection, they passed on the teachings of Christ and the Tradition of the Church which they shaped and forged through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” (2 Thes. 2:15).  When other Christians try to criticize the practices of the Orthodox Church by stating that everything we do is based on the traditions of men, we must remind them that our Holy Tradition has its source in Christ Himself, and has continued to be guided by God through His Holy Spirit.

The key thing for us to remember regarding apostolic succession and the Holy Apostolic Tradition, is that these things constitute an unbroken chain within the Orthodox Church which begins with the Apostles.  The seven ecumenical councils held by the Church during the first eight centuries of her life, specifically dealt with heretical perversions of the apostolic teachings of the Church, again, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The work of the ecumenical councils, as well as the many local councils held at various times and places, has ensured that the chain linking us to Christ and His Holy Apostles has remained unbroken.  This my beloved, is what has kept the Church Orthodox.  This is what has kept the True Faith pure and untainted – the same Faith that the Holy Apostles spread throughout the world and that we have inherited.

Let us use the following hymn found in the Orthros for Thursdays, as a special prayer during the coming fast of the Holy Apostles:

“Passing through all the earth, you preached the holy Incarnation of Christ from the all-spotless Virgin, and you turned men from their error. In teaching all men to adore One God, the Holy Trinity, you shed divine enlightenment upon the nations, O blessed Apostles of Christ the Savior.”

In Christ’s love, and with the prayers and blessings of the Holy Apostles,

+Fr. Anthony