Maged S. A. Mikhail” The Fast of the Apostles in the Early Church and in Later Syrian and Coptic Practice Abstract ‘The Fast of the Apostles is a post-Pentecost rogation that may span three to forty-nine days. Cur- rent scholarship places its developed in Rome by the mid-fifth century. This study argues that most of the alleged evidence has been read out of context or in later recensions, and that scholars have failed to discern between the Fast of the Apostles proper and short heterogeneous fasts that are ‘marginally attested in the patristic era. It then traces the earliest incontrovertible evidence for this fast, and charts its development among the West and East Syrians and the Copts of Egypt. The Fast of the Apostles (or Disciples) is a post-Pentecost rogation that is associa- ted with the Apostles and their mission (see Mt 28:18-20). It was once observed from Central Asia to Constantinople, and in a less developed form, all over the west. The fast remains prominent among several eastern Christian confessions, where, bereft of uniformity (historically and today), it may span anywhere from three to forty-nine days. Often, the fast concluded on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (12 July; 29 June, Julian),! a celebration that gained prominence in the East only after 500 CE.” This often lengthy and historically pervasive fast has attracted scant scholarly attention, though it has influenced the interpretation of biblical, apocryphal, and * Lam grateful to Prof. Dr. Dr. Hubert Kaughold for sharing the references in notes 46 and 47 with ‘me, [am also thankful to the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society (Los Angeles) and its President, Mr. Hany Takla, for providing me with a digital copy of BN Copte 130 (2), fols 32 31, 1 In Rome, the date commemorated the translation of the relics of the two saints to the catacombs in the midst of the Decian persecution, but in other regions of the empire the date commemo- rated the martyrdom of both saints. Gregory Dix, Shape of the Liturgy, New Ecltion (London: Continuum, 2005), 375-6. ‘Theophanes, Chronicle: Theophanis Chronograph, edltrans. C. de Boor, 2 vols, (Leipzig: BG. ‘Teubner, 1883); C, Mango and R. Scott trans., The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor (Oxtor (Oxford University Press, 1999), ani $992 (cE 499-500), pg. 220. Festus, a Roman senator, made a request to Emperor Anastasios “that the commemoration of the holy aposties Peter and Paul should be celebrated with greater festivity.” 3. The most detailed discussions of this fast are footnote 448 in George E. Gingras, trans., Egeria. Diary of a Pilgrimage, ACW 38 (New York: Newman Press, 1970); J. Mateos, Lefya-sapra. Essai interpretation des matines chaldéennes, OCA 156 (Rome: Pont. Inst. orientalium studiorum, 1958), ch. 6; Karl Holl, Gesemmelte Aufdtze zur Kirchengeschichte, vol. 2, Der Osten (Tabin- ‘gen: J.C. B, Mohr, 1928), 177-80; Anton Baumstark, “Das Kirchenjabr in Antiochia zwischen 512 und 518,” Romische Quartalschrift fir christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchengeschichte (1897), 31-66, at 65. Also see the dated, though stil valuable entries in Joseph Binghvam’s Ancig- (Orch 982015)2 Mihail patristic texts, along with the drafting of canon laws and the formation of liturgi calendars and rites for every traditional Christian confession. In the east, the fast also informed the construction of confessional identities, particularly where mul- tiple Christian factions, who observed the fast differently, shared the same city or local. Beyond its marginalization, the Fast of the Apostles [FA hereafter] suffers from an erroneous double-pronged historiography. Positioning it as the “oldest fast” and the “Fast of the Church,” the various confessions that remain invested in this rogation have maintained that it was inaugurated by the first generation of Christians immediately after Pentecost, and they have long rationalized its obser- vance through a collage of biblical passages. On the other hand, the few scholars who have addressed this rogation (typically as a tangent or in a footnote) tend to rely on a few fourth- and fifth-century patristic passages that have been interpre- ted out of context. This study challenges the normative assumptions surrounding this fast, and untangles its rather convoluted historiography. It begins by systema- tically sifting through the early evidence for its observance and then proceeds to trace its development among Syrians and Copts. I. Biblical Evidence? In the normative literature of the pertinent Orthodox confessions, the FA is ratio- nalized through reference to a handful of biblical passages (e. g. Mt. 9:14-17, Acts 10:10) and a few patristic citations. Nonetheless, while the biblical references ities of the Christian Church, 2 vols. (Reeves and Turner, 1878; Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2006), 41191, 1193; William Smith and Samuel Cheetham, eds, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1875), s.v. “Apostles Festivals and Fast,” 1109-10, More generally, see Louis Duchesne, Christian Worship: Its Origins and Evolution (London: SPCK, 1903), 285-9; F. Cabrol, “Jeunes,” DACL 7:Col, 2481-2501, esp. 493-94, 2498; Thoms J Talley, The Origins of the Liturgical Year, 2 ed (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991), 57~ Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson, The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons in Early Onrstanty Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2011), ch. 8; Paul F. Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship, 2° ed, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) 182-3; Martin F. Connell, “From Easter to Pentecost,” in Passover and Easter: The Symbolic Structuring of Sacred Seasons ed, P.F. Bradshaw and L. A. Hoffman (Notre Dame: Univesity of Notre Dame Press, 1999), 94-106; Thomas K. Carroll and Thomas Halton, Liturgical Practice inthe Fathers (Dela- ‘ware: Michael Glazier, 1988), 293-320 4 ML 9:14-17/LK.5:33-S6/Mk, 2:18-20, Acts 1:14; 10:10; 122-3; 13:2-3; 1423; 279, 21, The pais tic glosses commonly cited by scholars are discussed ia section Il, below. See Emmanuel Fritsch, “Phe Liturgical Year and the Lectionary ofthe Ethiopian Church: Introduction tothe Temporal,” Warseawskie Studia Teologicene 122 (1999), 71-116, at 11. These references are ubiquitous in all Coptic Orthodox literature on the topic. An influential text has been al-Qummus [Hegomen] ‘Yubanna Salimd's a-La’ali” a-nafisa, 2 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat Mart Tis, 1909), 2386-7. Also sce Kyrills Kyrilus, Apwamand bayn amid wa albagir (Caito: a-Lajnd al-thagatiy® ft al- anisah, 1982), 78-108; Archbishop Basilos, “Fasting,” Coptic Eneyelopedia 1093-97, at 1093 though these discussions are fraught with historical inaccuracies. The Armenian Orthodox essen tially observed the same fasting period but ina different context: S. H. Tagizade, “The IranianFast ofthe Apostles in the Early Church and in Later Syrian and Coptic Practice 3 cited demonstrate the importance of fasting and prayer to the carly Christian community, they fail to demonstrate the existence of a specific post-Pentecost rogation. At best, the often-quoted Matthew 9:15, “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from,them, and then they will fast” (NRSV), advocates fasting but does not promote a specific fasting season, and it was in that general sense that most fourth- and fifth-century authors interpreted the verse.* On occasion, Latin patristic writings and medieval Coptic Arabic literature retained a variant reading of Acts 1:14 that sought to legitimize heterogeneous observances in those regions.” In both, after the Ascension, the followers of Jesus are said to have gathered secretly, “constantly devoting themselves to prayer and fasting.” As discussed in the following section, a few bishops in the west pressed this variant to promote a fast that was introduced after the feast of the Ascension, though that practice failed to gain acceptance. In Egypt, however, where that rea- ding is only attested in medieval literature, the application of that variant tradition consistently strikes a dissonant note. There, in every case encountered, the aug- mented verse—which describes the activities of the disciples between Ascension and Pentecost—is quoted to justify a post-Pentecost rogation (the FA); signifi- cantly, the Egyptian church consistently maintained the integrity of the fifty days Festivals Adopted by the Christians and Condemned by the Jews,” Bulletin of the School of Ori- ental and African Studies W03 (1940), 632-653; especially pgs. 644-47. 5 E.g. John Chrysostom, Commentary on Matthew, Sermon 30; F. Field, Joannis Chrysastomi homiliae in Matthacum, vol. 1 (Cambridge: In Oficina Academica, 1838-39), 422-23; NPNF 1.10: 201-2; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 21: J.B. Chabot, ‘S. Oprilli Alexandrini Commentarii in Lucam, CSCO 70 (Patis: E Typographeo Reipublicae, 41012); Latin translation by R.M. Tonneau in CSCO 140 (Louvain, 1953); R, Payne-Smith, A Commentary upon the Gospel According to S. Luke by Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, 2 vols. (Oxford Oxford University Press, 1859), 6 The addition “and fasting” is lacking in all biblical critical editions surveyed; NA 28, Horner's edi- ‘ions of the New Testament in the Sahidic and Bohairic dialects, along with the Latin and Ethio- pic versions of Acts. For a critical Ethiopic edition of Acts, see Larry C. Niccum, “The Book of ‘Acts in Ethiopic (with critical text and apparatus) and its Relation to the Greek Textual Tradi- tion” (Ph. D, Dissertation, Notre Dame, 2000). Tam thankful to Mr. Mazein Krawezuk for sharing, his reading of the pertinent Ethiopic verses and their critical apparatus with me, For the Coptic, see George W. Horner, The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the Southern Dialect, vol. 6 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911); idem, The Coptic Version of the New Testament in the North- ern Dialect, vol. 4 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905). 7 Imhis Book on Various Heresies, Bishop Filastrius of Brescia (d. 390 CE) quotes the variant as though it were scripture: V. Bulhart er al, eds, Opera quae supersunt: Diversarum hereseon liber, CCSL 9 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1957), § 149, p. 312: iefuniis et orationibus insistemtes: The gloss is frequent in the Arabic literature of the Copts, e.g. Kyrillus, Aswamand, 79, 85. While prayer and fasting are often linked in the New Testament (c.g. Acts 13:3 and 14:23), singular ref- erences to “prayer” are frequently rendered “fasting and prayer” in later manuscripts; cf. the manuscript tradition for Mk. 9:29 and 1 Cor. 7:5. 8 T.J. Talley, Origins, 62, 66-67; P.F. Bradshaw, Search for the Origins, 183; P.F. Bradshaw and M.E, Johnson, Origins of Feasts, 72; MF. Connell, “From Easter to Pentecost,” 99-101. In some cases, the fast was from Ascension to Pentecost, at others it was simply the resomption of the ‘Wednesday/Friday observance during those ten days.