Category Image As Western Lent Approaches


I was asked for some information on fasting from an Anglican. Here was my response, cleaned up a little bit:

Often for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the norm would be for a strict fast.  Pretty much nothing except water all day (Monastics would use hot water to stave off the hunger pangs), or at least until after Vespers.  Modern Catholic discipline has become pretty watered down, so that it becomes a matter of simply having, I think, one small meal and one large meal or something like that.  I remember thinking that the rule fit my usual day, so I couldn't tell what the point was.  The strict fast was sort of old school.  I just gave away most of my good books on traditional Anglican practice, so I don't have a good resource to look at.  Of course, there are no formal rules, as fasting is not part of any routine discipline within the Anglican Church. The other piece of modern Catholicism is that fish Friday is only for the Friday's of Lent.

The rest of Lent, then, is an exercise in moderation, or giving up of something.  I suspect the last vestiges of the ancient fasting practices in the West are the usual giving up of sweets by children.  Since many "sweets" are really high fat items, like cookies, cakes, and milk chocolate, this reflects the ancient fasting practices which you still see in the Orthodox Church.  In fact, Carnival (goodbye to meat) and Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) also reflect those old practices.  In Orthodoxy, we fast for the 6 weeks of Lent, then Holy week, following an Orthodox "strict" fast, which is pretty much a vegan diet, also without wine or harder liquor, and the cessation of marital relations (think 1 Cor. 7:5).  Notice how Carnival lasts a week?  Well, we have the week known as Meatfare, which is the week before the first week in Lent (we don't do Ash Wednesday, so Lent begins on Clean Monday).  This makes the fast from meat last 8 weeks, and the full fast last 7.  Sundays during Lent are non-Fasting, meaning we can have wine and oil :).  The rules don't relax entirely. There are two days where we can actually have fish, which is the Annunciation and Palm Sunday.

When I used to teach a class on fasting in the Episcopal Church, I was fond of saying that you need to approach fasting very prayerfully, which is true.  However, as an Orthodox, I've come to understand that the real goal is to get a spiritual Father to guide you.  Fasting can be the source of many problems.  For some, it is a source of pride.  In an effort to avoid pride, those of us who like our steaks will use that as an excuse to enjoy some meat.  Excessive legalism is another risk.  I have a friend who was raised with precious few vegetables, and thus has an extremely hard time with Lent - trying to be strict by the rules can actually lead to despair.  I'm not totally sure what his discipline is, but he is under the guidance of the Abbot at a Monastery in Arizona.  The other risk is meaninglessness.  So, for a vegan, most of the fast would be pointless.  A spiritual father would be able to guide them into an appropriate fasting regimen.

At any rate, the point of fasting is to limit the control of our passions on ourselves. It is an effort at growing in holiness. As the passions lose their control over us, we should be able to behave in a more Christian fashion. It is interesting that the Church of England is promoting Lenten practices that don't seem to acknowledge the need for fasting as a means of growing in holiness. They apparently find it easier to just skip that part, and ignore the received tradition of the Church. Its not that I disagree with trying to go without gossiping for a day, but with the fast, we are supposed to struggle to go without gossiping, even when we're grumpy for not having had our sweets and steak. I find the wisdom of the Church better than the fads of the C of E.

Posted: Tuesday - February 05, 2008 at 11:57 PM          

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