Before and After. This Sunday is the afterfeast of the Dormition, but just what does that entail? We look in the calendar (or at least we ought to) and see forefeasts, afterfeasts, and occasionally an apodosis; this week we’re going to talk about what each of these is, means, and requires of us. A forefeast, as the name implies, is the time that comes before major feasts of the Church, in which we’re anticipating the festival. It can vary, but most forefeasts are between 1 and 5 days, and not all feasts have them, e.g., feasts from the Pentecostarion (Pascha, Ascension, and Pentecost) and the Lenten Triodion (Palm Sunday) don’t have forefeasts, while those from the Menaion (basically the rest of them) do. Most (but not all) feasts that feature forefeasts will also feature an afterfeast and a leavetaking, so let’s get to them…
An afterfeast is the period of time following most (but again not all) feasts of the Church, beginning the day after and concluding on the leavetaking. The longest of these is the Afterfeast of Pascha, which lasts 38 days and has its leavetaking on the Wednesday before the Ascension. The shortest two are 4 days each, for the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple. An apodosis is a term interchangeable with “leavetaking,” and is the final day to celebrate a particular feast in the Church. Pascha and most 1st and 2nd class feasts (as well as 4 3rd class feasts - more on those next week) have leavetakings. So now when you see them in the calendar you’ll know what they are!