The Christmas Fast

Èêîíà Ðîæäåñòâà Õðèñòîâà

November, 15 – December, 24 (November, 28 – January, 6 (Gregorian calendar)

The rules of abstention, prescribed by the Church to follow during the Christmas Fast are as strict as those prescribed to follow during St. Peter's Fast. It's clear that during the Fast you mustn't eat meat, butter, eggs and cheese and mustn't drink milk. Besides that on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of the Christmas Fast consumption of fish, oil and wine is prohibited; it's only allowed to eat food without oil after vespers. On the rest of weekdays – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays - it's allowed to eat food with vegetable oil.  During the Christmas Fast it's allowed to eat fish on Saturdays, Sundays and on the Great Feast Days, e.g. the Presentation of the blessed Virgin, patron Saints' days and the Great Saints' days, if these feasts fall on Tuesdays or Thursdays. If they fall on Wednesdays or Fridays, only wine and oil are allowed. From January, 2 to the Christmas Eve the Feast become stricter; you mustn't eat fish even on Saturdays and Sundays.

We must devote the days of the Fast to the deeds of piety, so these days are like holidays. The Word of the Lord witnesses that “the fast… shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts” (Zach. 8, 19). But the days of the fast, however, differ from holidays and working days. On feast days the Church calls us to thank God and the Saints for good deeds; during the fasts – to be reconciled with God and to take part in the life, sufferings and the death of the Saviour and the Saints. Feasts dispose us to spiritual joy and hope, fasts – to contrition and tears. On feast days, according to spiritual joy, the Church blesses hearty meals, during fasts – prescribes frugal ones; the more, you should eat only lenten fare. By the Regulations of the Church both the time of meals and the quality of lenten fare are clearly displayed. Everything is strictly calculated to relax ardent carnal desires excited by hearty and sweet meals, not to weaken completely our flesh but to make it light, strong and able to be bent to the spiritual will and to keep it invigorated to the demands of the spirit.

The Church Regulations teach us what we must avoid during fasts – “they who keep the fast must strictly observe the rules on the quality of the fare, i.e. to abstain from eating some food. This food mustn't be considered as foul (let it not be!) but improper during the fast and not allowed by the Church. During fasts you must abstain from eating meat, cheese, butter, eggs, milk and sometimes fish, according to difference between fasts”.

There are five grades of strictness of fast abstention:

1)      complete abstention from meals,

2)      eating only dry food,

3)   hot food without oil,

4)      hot food with vegetable oil,

5)      eating fish is allowed.

When eating fish is allowed you may also eat hot food with vegetable oil. In Orthodox Christian Calendars vegetable oil is usually called “yeley” (“oleum”). If you want to keep stricter fast you need a blessing of your spiritual father.

The fast of the body without a spiritual one means nothing for the salvation of the soul; on the contrary, it may become spiritually harmful if a person abstaining from food is filled with a sense of its superiority. The true fast is bound up with prayers, penance, eradicating evils, forgiveness of offences, abstaining from passions and vices, matrimonial duties, entertainment and watching TV. The fast is not an object but is a means of restraining our carnal desires and cleaning ourselves of sins. Without prayers and penance fasting becomes only a “diet”. Keeping the fast of the body it's necessary to keep a spiritual fast: “Brethren, if we keep the fast of the body, let us keep a spiritual fast to save us from unrighteousness” – the Church prescribes us. The essence of fasting is expressed in one of church songs: “The soul of mine, abstaining from fare not from desires - in vain we seek consolation; because if fasting does not reform you, you will be conceived a hatred of God as false and liken to evil demons that never eat”.

The basis of fasting is the struggle against sins through abstaining from food, not through physical exhaustion. Therefore everyone keeping the fast should take account of his strength and the degree of his training to follow rules of keeping the fast. Fasting is an ascetic feat which needs training and gradualness. It's necessary to go into keeping the fast gradually, beginning from even abstaining from dishes containing meat and milk products on Wednesdays and Fridays during the whole year. Some people begin to keep extremely strict fast out of hand. Soon they will either ruin their health or, starving, get impatient and irritated – they become angry with everyone and everything; the fast becomes insufferable for them, and they finally end keeping it. To make our favour with the fast firm, we need gradual learning to keep the fast; we should learn to do it with great attention, step by step. Everyone should define how much food and potion is enough for him or her to eat round the clock; afterwards it is necessary to decrease gradually daily amount of food to eat to optimum (not for weakening himself or herself but to avoid lack of ability to work). The main rule given by the Lord is: let our hearts not to be burdened with gluttony and hard drinking. The people who want to keep the fast should consult an experienced priest, tell him about their spiritual and physical conditions and to ask him for his blessing to keep the fast.

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