www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Does anyone know that Philip's Fast started?

With the beginning of Philip's Fast on the Gregorian Calendar, I'm wondering and looking for input as to if the beginning of this Fast was even brought up at your church, if the people who attend your church even know what Philip's Fast is, and if it is practiced by more than 5% of those who attend your church?

I have to believe that those who lurk and post on this forum would not constitute a true sampling of Greek Catholics, but I am personally amazed at the absoulute ignorance (and note that I said ignorance and not stupidity) of Greek Catholics when it comes to issues like this.

I also am looking for confirmation that in the Melkite Rite they have officially through their Synod abbreviated Philip's Fast and have called it the Christmas Fast that begins on December 11? (please confirm the new date). My understanding is that the Anthiochians have kept the Traditional Fasting period.

If the above is true, why is that that whenever there is a difference between current Greek Catholic and Orthodox practices that the Greek Catholics are the ones who in every instance I've seen been the ones to abbreviate and move away from Tradition? If we wish for reunification with the Orthodox so bad, why do we as Greek Catholics continue, time after time after time to move away from Tradition while the Orthodox are generally the ones who keep Tradition? I don't understand this!

I don't mean to pick on the Melkites because in the Ruthenian and Ukrainian Rites I've rarely even heard the fasting periods even mentioned(besides the Great Fast and even that has been watered down ad nasuem). I'd love to do a poll and see how many people even know when the Apostles Fast occurs on the calendar for example?

I've seen a few people post(a couple of these posts were deleted) on this board demanding to know if our newly Orthodox Brother Etnick believes in the Catholic Faith and basically trying to excoriate him for taking on Orthodoxy. The real question to ask is where in the name of all that is good are our leaders in the Greek Catholic Faith to stand up and defend and restore Tradition? Maybe he'd still be with us today if we weren't tinkering with Tradtion.

The bottom line is that we have a lot of ignorant people in our pews, yes the people have a responsibility to learn things, but somewhere along the line our leaders need to take responsibility for things like this. Yeah, I know, I can see the posts asking me what I've done to tell people about these things, it's the typical defense mechanism to divert from the heart of the problem which is that we don't have any leaders who will take the bull by the horns and heed to the words of +JPII and Pope Benedict to return to our Orthodox roots.

Monomakh

Answers to your questions:

1. Yes. I preached on it from the pulpit Sunday, linking the lawyer not recognizing Christ as the Fulfillment of the Law along with the Pharisee and the priest in the Good Samaritan parable not recognizing the application of the Law; to people nowadays who may not recognize 'Advent'--the Coming of Christ--because they may not be fasting, praying, and giving as we are all called to do.

2. My congregation knows this time as the Advent Fast, not the Phillip's Fast. So, if you ask them, they willhave a blank expression on their face when you ask them about this Phillip's Fast. They'll probably acknowledge that there's an Advent Fast at least verbally--enacting it may be a different matter, though.

3. My guess is that it is practiced by about a third of the congregation now, but this will increase by Thanksgiving to about half by St. Spiridon's Day, and will be 75% by the week before the Nativity.

I have been asked by several parishioners about the fasting 'rules', which is good because at least they're interested now.

I serve in a Greek Cathedral in the South--'Bible Belt' country--so the interest in religion may not be present in other parts of the country.

They have, aside from a one day dispensation for Thanksgiving since they are one the New Calendar. All food served on Sundays during the fasts in my experience was always compliant with the strict guidelines of the fasts. The priests were adamant about this.

Dear Monomakh,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

According to some sermons of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, he introduced the feast of Christmas into the Eastern Church about the year 379 or 388. After his departure from Constantinople the celebration of Christ's Nativity on December 25 was neglected. In 395 Emperor Honorius reinstituted the celebration. St. John Chrysostom tells us how he introduced this feast at Antioch sometime around 380. He explicitly says how he introduced it in imitation of the Church at Rome. St. John believed that the Roman Christians knew the date of Christ's birth better than anybody else since the imperial city archives were accessible to them.

The first mention of a preparatory period before Christmas is mentioned in a decree of the Council of Saragossa (380). The Council Fathers stated that every Christian should daily go to church from December 17 until the Theophany (January 6th). At the Synod of Mac (581) in present day France it was decreed that from November 11, the day of St. Martin, until December 24 every Christian should fast 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

Our pre-Nativity period of preparation developed rather late. Scholars do not agree about the exact time it began. Some hold that it began in the sixth century. Others believe it began in the seventh or eighth century. The present liturgical pre-Nativity season was finally established at the Council of Constantinople (1166). The Council decreed that the fast would begin on November 15 and last until December 24 inclusive. Thus, there was created another 40 day fast. In 1966, the Byzantine Catholic bishops in America reduced this time of fasting to begin on December 10. As far as the liturgical texts are concerned, the period of preparation for the feasts of the Holy Nativity of our Lord and the Holy Theophany of our Lord still begins on November 15th.

The pre-Nativity fast is often called "Phillip's Fast" because it begins on the day after the feast of St. Phillip. The fast was introduced to prepare the Church for a worthy celebration of the great and holy day of the Birth of Christ. The regulations for the fast were far more lenient than the Great Fast before Pascha. Only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were days of strict fasting without meat, dairy products or oil (in Slavic countries). On Sundays fish was permitted. Lay people were at first permitted to eat fish on other days, too, until the monastic rigoristic influence prevailed. It is interesting to observe that the famous 12th century Byzantine canonist Balsamon expressed the opinion that it would be enough if the lay people fasted only one week before Christmas. In 1958 a modern Greek author, Christos M. Enislides, welcomes Balsamon's suggestion and believes that the best solution would be for the Church at large to abstain from meat and dairy products for 33 days. During the last seven days of the fast everybody should observe the strict fast.

To worthily meet our Lord and Savior, we should sanctify this pre-Nativity season of the Phillipian Fast. Sanctifying means spending our time in faith and in the service of God and in kindness towards our neighbor, especially those who are in need of our assistance. And we should think of what we would have been had Christ not come to our lowliness and poverty. Together with the whole of the Byzantine Church we should try to meet Christ as he deserves to be met and as it will, in His mercy, best serve our spiritual benefit!

Hope this helps,

Deacon El

Monomakh, both the Ruthenian and Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests in my area have mentioned the Pilipivka fast from the pulpit. As a deacon if I am preaching during a fast time I will always give a reminder.
FDD

We had a nice sermon on the Nativity Fast at our Ruthenian mission this past Sunday. It was a week-and-a-half late, but it did serve as a good reminder for those who may not have been fully aware of its onset.

Not in my parish!

We observe the Nativity Fast, beginning on the feast of St. Phlip, with a good homily and weekly reminders/information in the bulletin.

Certainly. Yesterday was the feast of Saint Philip and "Philip's Fast" begins today.

Father Serge

My church started hearing about it the week before the 14th. I don't think many of them retained the information. To be fair, I know of several who did. My guess would be if a visitor randomly chose a person in the church and asked what, when, and why Philip's Fast is, he'd have a 5% chance of getting a full and accurate answer. I can't say it is the priest's fault. He gave the information in written and verbal form.

At our church last Sunday it was mentioned that we should enjoy Thanksgiving and the leftovers, because the Fast begins this week.

Manomakh,

Our American consumeristic culture is mostly at fault for the lack of participation in the Philip's Fast. We have it all backwards, Americans begin their feasting the week before Thanksgiving and then the fasting begins the week after Christmas. This fasting is commonly called "dieting."

I suggested at a parish where I recently preached that we call the Philip's Fast the "Christmas Diet." Then when everyone else is dieting we can have our 40 day Feast right up to the Encounter in the Temple, know in these parts a Groundhog Day.

Now here's an opportunity for evangeligation!


Deacon Paul

I was reading the bulletin of a Ruthenian Church not too far away and it says this


I found the statement that none must fast to be rather hard to understand.

I also saw this


Which I don't understand either. Why would they have a western devotion in place of Orthros?

Rosary = Catholic, Orthros = Orthodox?

Or maybe I'm just a wee bit cynical...

I'm still recovering from something that happened to me when I had been ordained only 3.3 years - the parish Sisterhood asked what I thought would be a good date for a Christmas party. I suggested the Friday after the feast, since there's no fast that week. Several people shouted at me: "YOU CAN'T HAVE A CHRISTMAS PARTY AFTER CHRISTMAS!"

I shudder to think what these people do during Holy Week!

Fr. Serge

[Attention Moderators: please excuse the shout; I was quoting something yelled at me in 1970, not attempting to overpower anyone who is apt to read this in 2006!]