Dear beloved in Lord Jesus Christ,

In the liturgical calendar, the Church has instituted five periods as canonical Lents, meant to that purify the sincere and while hearted observers. Christian life is a pilgrimage to eternal life in the kingdom of God, the eligibility criterion being our life unblemished, free from all sin and impurities. The lent is the time to look into ourselves, retreat from sin and enrich ourselves spiritually. In June we remember the great Apostles of Lord Jesus Christ by observing 13 days lent followed by a feast. As we commemorate the lives of the Apostles, including St.Paul, the Ambassador of Jesus to the gentiles, we should know their life contribution to the Church.

 The New Testament documents the fate of only two of the apostles: Judas, the betrayer who hanged himself, and James the son of Zebedee, who was executed by Herod about 44 AD (Acts 12:2). The other apostles went far and wide as heralds of the risen Christ. An early tradition says they casts lots and divided up the world to determine who would go where. They suffered for their faith and in most cases met violent deaths on account of their bold testimony on behalf of the Lord. PETER and PAUL were both martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord. ANDREW preached in Asia Minor - modern Turkey, and in Greece - where he is said to have been crucified. THOMAS was most active in the area east of Syria. Tradition has him preaching as far as east as India, where we, the ancient St.Thomas Christians revere him as the founder of our Church. He was martyred for Christ under the spears of pagans in Mylapore. PHILIP in his ministry in Carthage and Asia Minor converted the wife of a Roman Proconsul, who in retaliation, had Philip arrested and cruelly put to death. MATTHEW the tax collector and the writer of a Gospel, ministered in Persia and Ethiopia. Some of the oldest reports say he was not martyred, while others say he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia. BARTHOLOMEW made many missionary voyages according to tradition: to Armenia, Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. There are various accounts of how he met his death as a martyr for the Gospel. JAMES the son of Alpheus was stoned and then clubbed to death. SIMON the ZEALOT, so the story goes, ministered in Persia and was killed because he refused to sacrifice to their pagan god. Tradition sends MATTHIAS, the apostle chosen to replace Judas to Syria with Andrew and to death by burning. JOHN is the only one of the company who died a natural death from old age. He was the leader of the Church in the Epheus area and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of Jesus in his home. During Domitian's persecution in the middle 90's, he was exiled to the island of Patmos where he is credited with writing the last book of the New Testament--the Revelation. An early Latin tradition has him escaping after being cast into boiling oil at Rome.

 Thus the mighty covenant of reconciliation - the New Testament and Will -was handed down to the Church and entrusted to the hands of the eyewitnesses, the Apostles of Christ. They proclaimed the Orthodox faith in the True God and organized the new divine society in local churches for men to believe and worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One living Triune God. These Apostles are the first golden links in our Faith, which we today so firmly proclaim. The Lord sent them and the faithful accepted and honour them. St. Paul speaks of the hardship they faced in the ministry in their life (2Cor. 6: 3-10). These spiritual Fathers, who laid their life for Christ, should be a model and inspiration and let us live in the faith handed down by them and offer our life as a fragrant sacrifice to our Lord.

 May God bless you all,

Thomas Achen.