Fasting in the Western Christian Tradition

The Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness

By Bp. Joseph Will Boyd (Ancient  Church of the West) 

The Western Orthodox practice of fasting is focused on prayer and giving to the poor, cultivating self-discipline and resulting in a thorough preparation for the work of the Holy Spirit through self-emptying, called “Kenosis” in the Bible.

Fasting is a biblical discipline of abstaining from food, to focus on prayer and to experience voluntary discomfort, that reminds us of our true condition of fallenness and death. Christ fasted in the wilderness, and by doing so, he showed us that we should fast as well. Early Christians continued to keep this practice of fasting and prayer, and these developed into communal practices where food was saved during certain seasons and given to the poor. 

The four great fasts of the year are Lent, Holy Week, Dormition and Advent. Of these four, Holy Week is the most intense, leading up to Easter Morning, with many people trying to eat one meal a day or drinking only water. In this way we enter into Christ’s suffering, and memorialize the Passion of Christ for our salvation. The second most intense is Lent, which is remembered by vegetarian fasting, eating smaller meals, and generally avoiding pleasurable foods such as sugar, oil and wine. During this time, we remember our mortality, repent of our sins, and prepare for the Pascha of Our Lord. The third most intense fast is Advent, which focuses on preparing for the Return of Christ and the Celebration of Christmas. This is generally a fast that avoids red meat, but allows fowl, fish, wine and oil. It is also not necessary to avoid all sweets, unless one feels so called. The last fast of the Western Orthodox calendar is the Dormition fast, between August 1st and 15th, which is kept like Advent, and is in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s falling “asleep” in the Lord, called “Dormition” in Greek. Unlike the pious Roman practice, the Orthodox hold that the Blessed Virgin did die, but that her body was taken up into heaven, like Moses of the Old Covenant. 

We fast from red meat on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, except during Christmastide and the forty days of Pascha. We also have four Ember Days or “Rogation Days” that the East does not have, and you may consult our Church’s calendar for these.