by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
The practice of the Orthodox Christian faith consists of two complementary activities: fasting and feasting. The primary, essential act of participation in Holy Communion at the Divine Liturgy, the marriage feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9; 1 Cor. 5:8), is celebrated by the faithful who are fasting (Carthage, Canon 41; Quinisext, 29). The weekly succession of days beginning with and giving way to the Lord’s Day of Resurrection (Sunday) includes two days of fasting, Wednesday and Friday (Didache, 8), commemorating the betrayal of Christ by Judas and His Crucifixion (see Matt. 26:14-16; Jn. 19:31). The monthly succession of the year consists of fasting seasons culminating in various feasts: Lent and Pascha, Advent and Christmas/Theophany, etc. In combination, fasting and feasting supply a constant genuine rhythm to the Christian life.
“This profitable observance, dearly beloved, is especially laid down for the fasts of the Church, which, in accordance with the Holy Spirit’s teaching, are so distributed over the whole year that the law of abstinence may be kept before us at all times. Accordingly we keep the spring fast in Lent, the summer fast at Pentecost, the autumn fast in the seventh month (Lat., September), and the winter fast in this which is the tenth month (Lat., December), knowing that there is nothing unconnected with the divine commands, and that all the elements serve the Word of God to our instruction, so that from the very hinges on which the world turns, as if by four Gospels, we learn unceasingly what to preach and what to do.
“Let us remember that we owe love first to God, secondly to our neighbor, and that all our affections must be so regulated as not to draw us away from the worship of God, or the benefiting our fellow slave…For in abstaining from malicious envy, from luxurious and dissolute living, from the perturbations of anger, from the lust after vengeance, [the worshiper of God] will be made pure and holy by true fasting, and will be fed upon the pleasures of incorruptible delights, and so he will know how, by the spiritual use of his earthly riches, to transform them into heavenly treasures, not by hoarding up for himself what he has received, but by gaining a hundredfold on what he gives.” (St. Leo of Rome, Sermon 19.2, 3 On the Fast of December; italics mine)
One day in particular illustrates the true nature and relationship of fasting and feasting, namely, the Exaltation of the Cross (Sept. 14), which is simultaneously a fast and feast day. Here the meaning and purpose of both fasting and feasting converge in a single observance, importantly at the Cross of Christ. Fasting and feasting are not opposites; rather, they are complements perfecting the same reality together.
Saint John Chrysostom explains: “How is fasting not to fast? When someone abstains from foods but does not abstain from sins. How is not fasting to fast? When someone enjoys nourishment but does not taste sin. This fast is better than that, not only better, but the lightest” (Against Those Getting Drunk [at Pascha]). The ultimate meaning and purpose of fasting is to abstain from sin, that is, “by the Spirit [of Christ] you put to death the deeds of the body (the works of the sinful flesh)” in order to practice righteousness (Rom. 8:9-13; Gal. 5:16-25; see Mk. 8:34-9:1).
Similarly, Saint Paul writes: “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8). The ultimate meaning and purpose of feasting is to put on the new life of Christ and His righteousness. “[F]or the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife (the assembly of the baptized) has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:7-8; Eph. 5:25-27; see Gal. 6:14-15).
So it is possible to fast from foods and feast at the same time as at the Exaltation of the Cross precisely because the purpose of true fasting is abstaining from sins, not just foods. Likewise it is possible to feast while at the same time fasting from foods because the purpose of true feasting is to taste and experience the incorruptible gifts of grace in Christ nourishing us unto eternal life, not just to indulge in foods which satisfy bodily desires.
Saint John of the Ladder writes: “The Jew rejoices on Sabbaths and feast days; and a monk who is a glutton on Saturdays and Sundays (i.e., non-fast days). He counts beforehand the days till Pascha, and he prepares the food for it several days in advance. The slave of his belly calculates with what dishes he will celebrate the feast (once the Lenten fast is finished), but the servant of God considers with what graces he may be enriched” (Step 14.7; italics mine).
The practices of fasting and feasting expose the goals leading Christians to be who they are and do what they do. If the goal of fasting is to abstain from sin, then abstaining from all or certain kinds of foods and drink is an exercise in deliberately putting away sensual, carnal attachments leading away from the faith and love of God. Thus fasting should also include putting away sensual attachments other than just food and drink, for instance, lewd images, sights, and sounds which only excite the sinful passions. Fasting includes putting away all coarse speech, profane jokes, gossip, malicious talk, and inciting gestures.
If the goal of feasting is to taste the new and divine life of Christ, then tasting the good gifts of this life (e.g., foods and drink) comes after first tasting the good Gifts of the life to come, namely, the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Thus feasting should also include preparing to receive these Gifts in repentance, prayer, and love, cleansing the spiritual palate to rejoice in the worship of God in faith. Feasting includes taking on goodness, kindness, patience, and thanksgiving, understanding how to use the material gifts of this age as instruments of spiritual virtue transformed in Christ (see 1 Tim. 4:4).
Throughout the history of the Orthodox Church, various “rules” for fasting and feasting have differed from place to place and time to time. The Church historian Socrates Scholasticus catalogues several differences for the season of Lent and Pascha: a 40-hour fast, a three-week fast, a 40-day fast, a fast of seven or eight weeks in length, some not fasting on Sundays; some abstained from all animal flesh, some allowed fish and chicken, some allowed dairy, etc. In the early centuries, Pascha itself was kept by churches in Asia Minor on the same day as the Jewish Passover, while other churches only kept Pascha on Sundays after the Jewish Passover. He concludes: “The aim of the apostles was not to appoint festival days, but to teach a righteous life and piety” (Church History, 5.22). In most Orthodox churches today, the week following Pascha (Bright Week) is fast-free, but they subsequently resume the Wednesday and Friday fasts the week after that. However, the nun Egeria records that the practice of the 5th century Church in Jerusalem was to remain fast-free for the entire 50 days from Pascha until Pentecost (Diary of a Pilgrimage, 41).
Genuine Christians must fast, that is, abstain from sin in the regulation of the faculties of both body and soul. This activity is not optional. “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things…But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:25, 27).
Genuine Christians must feast, that is, have communion with God in Christ taking on His righteousness through participation in the Divine Liturgy and mysteries of Christ. This activity is not optional. “And [the baptized] continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and in the communion, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers…they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:42, 46-47).
Orthodox fasting and feasting have become standardized in terms of dates, seasons, and other conventional, canonical regulations regarding food and drink. These standards are sign-posts reminding us to keep on the road of Christ if we are ever to reach the final destination established by God. Orthodox Christians participate in the conventions of fasting and feasting according to their ability in pursuit of the spiritual dominion (kingdom) of God which is the ultimate standard of the Faith (Matt. 5:6; 6:33).
