The fifty days from Pascha to Pentecost plus the week-long observance of this latter feast have been times of celebration, roughly coinciding with times of celebration in our secular society as well – Mothers’ Day, Memorial Day, graduations, and the like. But to remind us that our Christian feasts are about the Lord Jesus and His Holy Spirit, not about the pleasure of celebrating, we now return to our ordinary Christian life: exchanging celebration for more intense prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
The time from Pentecost to the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) is called the Fast of the Apostles. Since the date of Pentecost depends on when Pascha falls, this Fast may last as long as a month or as little as a few days. In Melkite practice this Fast is usually observed for no more than ten days, from June 19-28.
The Fast of the Apostles in the Home (PDF, 756KB, 12 pages)