Written by the previous Webmaster, Joe M. -updated by
Mike B.
The Eastern Catholic Churches have always fasted in an austere fashion, down
to the present day. However, American society - no, even the modern world - has made it difficult for a good-natured individiual to fast faithfully; our calendars lack days of voluntary fast, and popular piety has, to an extent, decreased worldwide. This is not only a Catholic (Eastern or Western) phenomenon; Christian Churches around the world of all denominations are rapidly losing members to sects which are at best superficially spiritual. To add a further difficulty, that of fasting, to true-believing Christians sounds ludicrous. But one must keep in mind that for almost nineteen centuries the Church has kept up
rigorous and defined fasts. Could we offer a fast, perhaps, not for a political or other purpose (supplications really being reserved for prayer) but quite simply, to loosen the muscles of our sinful bodies so that they may be transformed into temples of the Holy Ghost? This person thinks so. In our lethargic age, perhaps a good lot of fasting is what we need.
While a good number of Eastern Catholics know how to fast very well, days of fast and abstinence to the younger Eastern and other Catholics are sometimes a mystery. An attempt to discover the fasting practices among the older members of the Church is rather difficult, and sometimes the priest is a bit too busy to discuss a fasting practice when he has to attend to three baptisms and two funerals that day. Sometimes attempts to discover the tradition of fasting lead to dead ends.
Occasionally one hides behind a modern American Roman Catholic practice, and abstains from meat on Friday during Lent, fasts two days a year, and assumes that is all. This is due in part to a few of the older members of our Eastern Catholic Churches themselves; such austerity, perhaps, would scare away the youth, or worse, some would simply prefer the newer, more lax practice of the Latin Rite. In this case a "self-latinization" has occured; since the Roman practice is easier (due in part to the fact that the Roman Rite is much larger and therefore leaves more room for the diverse practices of Western nations) many Eastern Catholics have willfully abandoned their own practice, or, isolated from members of their own Rite, forget their tradition. It is for these and other reasons that I have decided to compile the Byzantine fasting regulations from the 1944 prayerbook of the Exarchate of Pittsburgh (now the Metropolia).
Since many of these practices have been forgotten in this country, it should be mentioned that many of the abstinence days are optional. Such fasting really depends on your spiritual director to decide whether or not to fast by the older method. It is not easy to follow fasts perfectly, and understandably, one should check his spirituality with a priest,
lest his fasting become an object of pride and self-love, which we must all avoid.
A last note: Fasting in the Eastern Catholic Churches is, to a large degree, what Romans view as "abstinence." Because of this, I am retaining the use of the word abstinence for clarity. For further information on these fasts, the 1944 prayer book suggests the book "The Epistles and Gospels in the Catholic Church of the Greek Rite", pages 401-448. I am guessing, however, that this book, like the prayerbook, is out of print; so it would be best to discuss these matters further with a priest. I am only a sinful copyist. I have also replaced a few Latin
terms (such as "Epiphany") with their Byzantine names ("Theophany") where I
was aware of them. A final note: Sunday is NOT a fast day.
Days of
Fasting/abstinence
There are four main periods
of fasting/abstinence during the year:
The Great Fast (Lent) —
begins seven weeks before the Resurrection (Pascha)
The Fast of the Apostles —
starts on Monday eight days after Pentecost, and ends June 28th (July 11th),
the eve of the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul; in length varies between one and
six weeks
The Dormition Fast — last
two weeks, from August 1st to 14th (August 14th to 27th)
The Nativity Fast (Advent) —
lasts 40 days, from November 15th to December 24th (November 28th to January
6th)
In addition to these four chief periods, all Wednesdays and Fridays — and in
some monasteries Mondays as well — are fast days (except between the Nativity
and Theophany, during Bright Week, and during the week after Pentecost). The
Elevation of the Cross, the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, and the eve of
Theophany are also fasts.
Specific Fasting Days:
Vigil of Christmas (12/24) Vigil of Theophany (1/5) Great
Friday Holy Saturday The Beheading of Saint John the Forerunner (8/29) Exaltation of the Holy Cross (9/14)
Days of
Abstinence
Forty days of the Great Lent. Three weeks before the Feast of
Saints Peter and Paul (6/29) Two weeks before the Feast of the Dormition (8/15) From the Feast of St. Philip the Apostle (11/14) until Nativity, or "Philip's
Fast." All Wednesdays and Fridays of the year except Fast-free days listed
below.
Fast-Free days
From Nativity until the vigil of
Theophany.
Bright Week, the week following Great and Holy Pascha (Easter). The
Week following Pentecost. The week following the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
(Twenty-two days before the first Monday of the Great Lent.)
Talk to your parish priest/spiritual father for guidance as your
family begins to fast, and ask him to explain the Church’s guidelines for
fasting.
The Eastern Catholic Churches have always fasted in an austere fashion, down
to the present day. However, American society - no, even the modern world - has made it difficult for a good-natured individiual to fast faithfully; our calendars lack days of voluntary fast, and popular piety has, to an extent, decreased worldwide. This is not only a Catholic (Eastern or Western) phenomenon; Christian Churches around the world of all denominations are rapidly losing members to sects which are at best superficially spiritual. To add a further difficulty, that of fasting, to true-believing Christians sounds ludicrous. But one must keep in mind that for almost nineteen centuries the Church has kept up
rigorous and defined fasts. Could we offer a fast, perhaps, not for a political or other purpose (supplications really being reserved for prayer) but quite simply, to loosen the muscles of our sinful bodies so that they may be transformed into temples of the Holy Ghost? This person thinks so. In our lethargic age, perhaps a good lot of fasting is what we need.