Saint Philip's Fast / Nativity Fast

- Resources

The Pre-Christmas Fast, or Saint Philip’s Fast (Filipovka) is connected to Saint Philip the Apostle because his feast day is forty days before Christmas, and forty days has a repeated biblical significance.
The fasting is designed to help us to prepare to see Christ come into the world, and the beginning of His public ministry on Theophany (January 6).

The Nativity and the Theophany are two sides of one coin. So, when we arrive at Bethlehem on December 25, we should begin to prepare for the Baptism of the Lord. Our enjoyment of Christmas should drive us forward to see the Theophany. With Theophany, the mystery of God is fully revealed to us. The mystery long awaited in the Old Testament comes true in Jesus Christ.

Philip is a perfect choice for meditating on Christmas. He asks Jesus to help the apostles see God the Father, which gives Jesus the opportunity to explain His relationship with the Father during the Last Discourse in John’s Gospel. He brings Greek pilgrims, who wish to see Jesus, to Andrew, and together they bring them to the Lord (John 12:21-23). At his calling, when Jesus says “Follow Me”, Philip not only follows Him immediately, but also brings along Nathaniel/ Bartholomew. So, he fits in quite well for starting the meditation as to who Jesus is to us, do we wish to see Him, do we truly want to be His disciples, and are we willing to bring others to our Church and the Faith?

What we do know for certain is Saint Philip came from Bethsaida, and had been a disciple of St John the Baptist (John 1:44). He is always listed fifth in the apostles, after the sets of brothers Peter and Andrew, James and John. We know that he was married, and had children, due to the ancient testimony of Clement of Alexandria. It is presumed that he spoke Greek, since he brings Greeks to Jesus in John 12.

Various non-canonical gospels and legends present him as an evangelist in Greece and the Near East, usually with Nathaniel, and ending with martyrdom in Hierapolis. The ancient church still stands among the ruins of Hierapolis, complete with the first-century tomb of the apostle and the original martyr’s shrine dedicated to him.