WHY CELEBRATE THE 318 FATHERS A WEEK BEFORE PENTECOST?
(Sunday, June 1)
We celebrate the 318 Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council one Sunday before Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the 50th day after Pascha. Why celebrate these Fathers right before Pentecost? For the same reason that we celebrate St. Nicholas, a participant in the 1st Council of Nicaea, every Thursday, called “Pempti” in Greek, i.e., the “Fifth” day of the week, which is also the weekday of the Apostles. It is to accentuate the continuity of the Church of the Apostles with the Church of the Councils.
What does the number FIVE that is significant both in the symbolism both of Pentecost (the 50th Day) and of Thursday (the 5th Day) symbolize? In the Bible it most often symbolizes God-directed and God-focused movement, along with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who makes that kind of movement possible. On the Fifth Day of creation, God made the fastest-moving creatures, the birds and the fish. He also made us with five senses and five fingers/toes on each of our feet and hands, which facilitate our capacity to move and act in productive, creative ways. We celebrate the Holy Apostles and the Fathers as those who moved to gather together from the ends of the earth to discern important faith-related matters, and to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I’ll note that in the hymns of this Sunday of the Fathers, there is not a single word about the 20 “canons” issued by this Council, nor do the terms “canonical” or “canonicity” occur at any point. The hymnography is only about the faith proclaimed by this Council (and other Councils), along with many words condemning by name the heretics.
In our time of church-paralysis or crisis, we do not move to gather together for something like a Council on the Pan-Orthodox level, and/or don’t busy ourselves primarily with spreading the Gospel or discerning faith-related matters or heresies. Instead, we seem focused on bashing over the head certain other Orthodox Christians, who believe in the exact same faith as do we, but don’t agree with our notions of “canons” and “canonicity.” Because of this, I’m thinking we might celebrate the Sunday of the 318 Fathers with a sense of repentance. And by “repentance” I don’t mean morbid self-reflection, discouragement, or other crippling emotions that prevent us from moving forward. I mean, “repentance” in the literal sense of “metanoia” that means a change of mind or a change of focus. We can change our focus, blessed as we are with changeability, thanks to our physical bodies. As John of Damascus notes in his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, human beings are blessed more than the angels, precisely because of our capacity for change, thanks to our physicality and our above-mentioned five senses and hands and feet. The angels, as bodiless creatures, get stuck in their once-chosen course of action (whether they once followed Satan or decided to stay with God), because their bodiless-ness makes them less changeable. But I digress.
Let us celebrate the Sunday of the 318 Fathers and their moving forward, moving together, to proclaim the faith in our One, common to all of us, Lord Jesus Christ, one-in-essence with the Father and Holy Spirit. Help us, Lord, by their prayers, also to move forward and to move together, changing us by Your Holy Spirit
