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Orthodox Fasting Practice

Greetings, all, from D.J. King, your resident Cybergeek here at VegSource, as well as a member of St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church (click here to visit St. Michael's).

Our Winter Lenten season is approaching, and we at VegSource are hosting a special page of recipes for our Orthodox friends.

Friday, November 15, marks the first day of the Orthodox Church's "Winter" or "Little" Lent, also know as the "Nativity Fast." In the west, this special time is known as Advent. In Orthodoxy, the "Little Lent" is considered a 'long, relaxed fast', meaning that it is neither as strict as Great Lent, nor does it have the liturgical support of Great Lent. Fasting, by the way, does not mean we eat no food whatsoever, but that we try to lessen or limit our regular daily caloric intake and restrict the foods that we eat.

The reasons behind fasting are several.

• First and foremost, it is a self-imposed discipline. We do it in order to learn how to say "no" to our impulses. You can think of it like the training done by an athlete.

• Second, fasting is consciously intended to lower our energy level. The less energy we have, the less energy we have to "sin." (I put that in quotes because in Orthodoxy we have a very dynamic concept of "sin." It doesn’t mean the same thing it means to most people.)

• Third, the lower energy level makes it much easier to pray.

• Fourth, we want to remember the poor, and the experience of fasting helps do this. (In fact, we are to use the money we save as "alms"-- not to be given through and to institutions, but to be given personally to disadvantaged persons.)

The variable fasts all vary based upon the date of Easter, which is almost never celebrated on the same date as it is in the West. The calculation is that Pascha (Easter) falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox after the Jewish Passover. This last requirement is why Orthodox Pascha varies from western Easter; it can cause Pascha to fall from one to four weeks after western Easter. (The West used to calculate Easter using the same formula, but has dropped this part of the calculation.)

"Strict Orthodox fasting" consists of: no meat, no wine or other alcohol, no (olive) oil, no dairy, (technically, little or no spices,) about 1 ½ normal meals per day (plus, in many places, no TV, radio, music, movies, parties, entertainment, etc.) Interestingly, under the strict fast, shellfish and octopus are allowed. (Why? Beats me, but I suspect that it's an artifact of the original occupation -- fisherman -- of most of the Apostols. In any case, this has been the case since at least as early as about 150 AD.)

"Relaxed Orthodox fasting" is like strict fasting, except that on some days (generally, 'holidays') either wine, or wine and oil, or fish, wine and oil are allowed... though almost never on Wednesday or Friday. Did you get that?

The above is generally the rule, and in most monasteries the rule is followed pretty strictly. In regular parish practice, though, the rule is often pastorally modified to meet the specific spiritual need of each person. For example, I know of an individual who, on a Friday in Great Lent, was ordered by his priest to go get a six-pack and drink it. This is generally considered a big no-no, but if your priest orders it, you do it. (I can attest to the wisdom of the priest’s order in this instance -- I was the individual!)

The main point is that fasting in parish practice is a pastoral matter; it should always be done in consultation with one's pastor or spiritual father.

The monastic rule is generally held up as the ideal that folk should (and in practice usually do) strive towards. The rule gets pastorally modified based upon the circumstances.

Your pastor is going to become pretty upset if you’re making a 3 hour daily commute in heavy traffic in a seriously hypoglycemic state. In fact, he’s not going to let you do it no matter what the season or day of week. It’s your pastor’s job to figure out when you’re ready to move forward (or backward) in your fasting. Go beyond his recommendations, and you can end up in pretty serious problems, physically and spiritually. (Take it from one who learned the hard way, and got royally chewed out, to boot.)

In the cold winters in Russian villages, in rural Greece and Palestine, it was far easier for people to observe a strict fast than it is for 20th Century American people who live very fast paced active lives.

There are some 'universal' circumstances where fasting is prohibited. These include pregnant or nursing mothers, small children (below the age of anywhere from three to five -- another pastoral decision), the aged, and the sick. In fact, each of these conditions is considered a 'God imposed' ascesis.

These are just a few points relating to Orthodox fasting. (The book that describes the ideal, as well as information on other Orthodox matters, is 1400 pages of very small print. Someday it may even be accurately translated into English from the original Greek and Slovanic.)

Below are categories of foods that are appropriate for fasting seasons. These recipes have been prepared by Kira Sampson at VegSource. Click on the category to go to a list of dishes for each. If you have specific recipe questions, or are seeking specific kinds of recipes, please feel free to post your question on the VegSource Recipe Board.

Bon appetit.