In the forty days Christ handed over the doctrines of the Church to His disciples
In the forty days
Christ handed over the doctrines of the Church to His disciples
When Christ appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection, they were in a state of extreme psychological exhaustion. The Jews were pursuing them along with everyone who belonged to Christ. Therefore, they were afraid and had locked themselves in the Upper Room… and they had not yet received the power that would come upon them from the Holy Spirit. They were also surrounded by fear, sorrow, and doubt after the events of the Crucifixion and what the authority of darkness had done to their great Leader and Teacher, the Worker of miracles and wonders.
Therefore, they were in need of an external power that would restore to them confidence and reassurance, and fulfill for them the promises the Lord had given.
It was as though an angel had stood at the door of the tomb in which Christ was buried, chanting and saying:
Rise, destroy Satan
Rise, strengthen the faith of the shepherds
And forgive Peter his weakness
And reveal Your wounds convincingly
Leave no remainder for his dominion
And gather the scattered flock
And wipe away Magdalene’s tears
For Thomas’ temptation is strong
Thus the Lord Christ rose and appeared to Peter, who had denied Him three times during His trial, and He also appeared to Mary Magdalene, who doubted His Resurrection three times (Jn 20). And He appeared to Thomas, who had said: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25). And He appeared to the rest of the apostles, who were in fear and doubt.
It was necessary that by His appearance He strengthen the faith of these leaders who would spread the faith throughout all the earth.
These who doubted, even when He appeared to them at first, for they thought Him a phantom or a spirit (Lk 24:37). So much so that He said to them: “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?… Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Lk 24:38–39). And He did not settle merely for appearing, but spent forty days with them, establishing their faith, and handing over to them the teaching they would preach after the Holy Spirit came upon them.
We previously explained how He opened their understanding so that they might comprehend what was written about Him in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms (Lk 24:27, 44–46), whether concerning the sacrifices, or the symbols, or the prophecies.
Likewise, He delivered to them in that period the Church’s sacraments, and all the doctrines, regulations, and rites of the Church.
And the apostles practiced these teachings and left them in the life of the holy Church, passed down from generation to generation. The apostles preferred oral missionary work more than writing, as St. John the beloved said: “Having many things to write to you, I would not write with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face” (2 Jn 12), and he repeated this in (3 Jn 13–14). And as St. Paul later said: “And the rest I will set in order when I come” (1 Cor 11:34).
Among the examples of the doctrines Christ handed to His apostles in that period was the manner of practicing the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and the spiritual preparation required for this sacrament. He had given them this sacrament on Great Thursday, saying to them: “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Lk 22:19). But He did not tell them that day how to perform this act. Surely, He explained it to them during the forty days… but they did not write it for us; rather, they taught it to the Church through practice.
And because the Apostle Paul was not one of the Twelve, and did not receive this teaching during the forty days—because he was then against the faith—the Lord delivered this sacrament to him later, after his conversion and apostleship. Thus St. Paul says in one of his epistles: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My Body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me’… For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Cor 11:23–26).
St. Paul explained the importance of worthiness for receiving Communion, and the danger and punishment of receiving without worthiness.
He said that whoever receives unworthily is guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, and is not discerning the Lord’s Body, and eats and drinks judgment upon himself. And he added: “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” And he instructed that a person must examine himself before partaking… (1 Cor 11:27–30).
All this was practiced by the believers before Paul’s epistle through apostolic tradition without writing.
They had already received it from the Lord. For it is inconceivable that the Lord would deliver to Paul what He had not delivered to the rest of the apostles. And if Paul received it after his conversion, surely the Eleven had received it all, and more, during the forty days the Lord spent with them.
Likewise, in that period they received the Sacrament of Priesthood and its authority in forgiveness, teaching, and baptism…
This was when the Lord appeared to them and said: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (Jn 20:21). And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:21–23). We notice that this authority was not granted by the Lord to all believers, but only to the apostles, and naturally to their successors also, so that the apostolic ministry might continue in the Church. Likewise, He handed them the authority to teach and to baptize when He said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19–20; Mk 16:15).
Naturally, He explained to them how to practice the sacrament of baptism.
All these things were not fitting for our fathers the apostles to explain in detail in the Gospels or epistles, which were intended to spread the basic foundations of the faith. As for rites and practical application, the apostles delivered them through tradition and practical life within the Church.
An example of this is how priests and bishops are ordained.
With the spread of Christianity everywhere, there was a need to appoint ministers in every region, city, and village. Thus the Apostle Paul says to his disciple Titus, bishop of Crete: “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Tit 1:5).
But the apostle did not mention the method of ordaining priests.
Surely this matter was known in the rites of the Church and in its practical life. The apostles practiced it and left it to their successors. Likewise the ordination of bishops, as St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: “I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim 1:6). Naturally, the laying on of hands was accompanied by prayers and a specific rite, which he did not mention because it was known in the life of the Church, left by the apostles as they had learned from the Lord Christ.
St. John the apostle speaks about the sacrament of anointing.
He mentions it in his first epistle (1 Jn 2:20, 27). From where did this teaching about the anointing come? We conclude that he received it from Christ during the forty days, then wrote it in his epistle, and the Church practiced it…
All this and more concerning the things related to the Kingdom of God, which Christ spoke of with His disciples during the forty days, were not written in the Gospels and epistles, but came to us through tradition…
This period was a time of joy, but not for all.
For the chief priests, elders of the Jews, and their teachers among the scribes and Pharisees were not joyful—especially when the disciples later went out to preach the Resurrection of Christ and His teachings. But because it was a period of joy for the disciples, we do not fast in it, nor perform metanias, for they are days of feasts and joy in the Resurrection and in being with the Lord… to the extent that when a relative of ours dies in this period, his body enters the church with the hymns of joy.
Yet some say that their spirituality becomes lukewarm during the fifty days because there is no fasting nor metanias!! So what do we advise them to maintain their spirituality?
The first remark we make is that spirituality does not depend on fasting alone. There are many spiritual means, and we have issued a book for you about them… In any case, we can present some advice in this regard:
1 – Increase your prayers—not only the prayers of the Agpeya, but add personal prayers from the depth of your hearts, speaking with the Lord who spoke with His disciples during that period. You may also add some beautiful psalms not used in the Agpeya, such as “Bless the Lord, O my soul” (Ps 103), and Psalm 39, among others, and some prayers of the fathers and prophets.
2 – Besides increasing prayers, you can increase spiritual readings as well, whether in the Holy Bible or in spiritual and ascetic books and the sayings of the fathers, for they energize spirituality and supply the mind with beautiful contemplations.
3 – Among what strengthens spirituality in this period and in others: spiritual exercises to acquire certain virtues or to resist particular weaknesses.
4 – I also wish to say that the Holy Fifty Days are days of non-fasting, not days of indulgence. Some people suddenly move from the intense asceticism of Holy Week to indulgence in non-fasting food starting from the Feast of Resurrection, and continue that afterward. My advice to all of these is to continue self-control, and this does not in any way conflict with the joy of the Fifty Days.
Our joy is spiritual joy, and may it be connected with self-control.
Eat non-fasting food, then—but restrain yourself concerning quantity, the abundance of types, the desire for food, and timing, especially eating between meals and at all times without restraint!!
And know that this is beneficial for you not only spiritually, but also for your health.
5 – The forty holy days are a period of joy in being with God. Do you feel your being with Him during them?
Or do you settle merely for not fasting and refraining from metanias, without paying attention to the reason for which we do this, which is the delight of being with the Lord, a mutual presence? Remember Augustine’s saying about his life before repentance: “You were with me, O Lord, but because of my misery I was not with You…”
6 – Thus, among the exercises fitting for the spirituality of the Fifty Days is the exercise of being with God—or at least the exercises of repentance, for we cannot feel being with God while we grieve Him with our sins and lack of repentance.
Therefore, care for the Fifty Days spiritually, not merely bodily: concerning what the body eats and drinks, or its bowing in metanias.
7 – As for metanias, if you lose the bowing of the body, care for the bowing of the spirit before God, with contrition of soul.
Remember your sins, and offer for them heartfelt contrition, for this compensates you for bodily metanias. And remember what David the prophet said in the Psalm: “My soul clings to the dust” (Ps 119). The clinging of your soul to the dust compensates for the clinging of your body to the dust.
Finally, may the Lord grant you, and grant me with you, an acceptable spiritual period before Him…
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