Fasting (religion)

Post Value

In Christianity, fasting is the best time and means to prepare for a higher union with God in the sacrament of the Eucharist , a form of religious asceticism , exercise of spirit, soul and body on the path to salvation within the framework of a religious view; voluntary self-restraint in food, entertainment, communication with the world. Corporal fasting is a restriction in food; mental fasting - limitation of external impressions and pleasures (solitude, silence, prayer concentration); spiritual fasting is a struggle with one's “bodily lusts”, a period of especially intense prayer.

The most important thing is to realize that bodily fasting without spiritual fasting brings nothing to save the soul. On the contrary, it can also be spiritually harmful if a person refraining from food is imbued with a consciousness of his own superiority and righteousness. “The one who believes that fasting is only abstinence from food is mistaken. “True fasting,” St. John Chrysostom teaches, “is a removal from evil, curbing the tongue, putting off anger, taming lusts, stopping slander, lies and oath-crimes.” Fasting is not a goal, but a means to distract from the delight of your body, to concentrate and think about your soul; without all this, it becomes just a diet.

The most strict posts in Orthodoxy and in Islam , in Catholicism and Anglicanism are few in number. The most ancient and widespread custom is Friday observance of the fast, which is already mentioned by Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian .

Fasting in the Christian Church has various, often complementary, meanings:

• Repentance . The practice of repentance with fasting has been known since Old Testament times. Thus, King David fasted after the prophet Nathan convicted him of sin ( 2 Sam. 12 ). The Ninevites imposed a strict fast upon the preaching of the prophet Jonah ( Jon. 3 ).
• Petition . There was a practice of fasting for the sake of asking God for something. Thus, the book of Acts reports ( Acts 27 ) that travelers, having gotten into a storm, fasted (both Christians and Gentiles), and this is described as a completely obvious thing that does not require special explanation.
• Fasting of the baptized, and for them . In the ancient Church, the baptism of new members of the Church was not a private requirement, but a matter for the whole community (however, the same practice is now in the Catholic Church, when baptizing adults). Baptism was usually performed on great holidays, primarily on Easter . For some time before the baptism, the enlightened fasted. Members of the Church also prayed for them and fasted. This is considered one of the grounds on which Great Lent arose.
• An example of Jesus Christ. Another reason for the 40-day Lent was the imitation in this of Jesus, who fasted in the wilderness for 40 days . The Church rightly judged that if the sinless Christ considered it necessary to fast, all the more so for the sinful members of the Church.
• Fasting in the days of tribulation . This type of post is also known since ancient times. Already in Didahi , an early Christian work of the 1st century, one speaks of fasting on Wednesday and Friday of the whole year, as days associated with the Savior's cross sufferings . Over time, the Eastern Church held both of these fasting days; in Roman Catholic practice, one day remained - Friday. Great Friday stands out as a particularly strict fast, as the day on which Christ suffered the crucifixion . In the Orthodox Church, the days of fasting also include the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (another recollection of the Savior's crucifixion) and the Beheading of the Head of John the Baptist .
• Ascetic post . Another meaning of fasting is ascetic , that is, fasting for the sake of cleansing from passions , the ability to restrain one's carnal desires, etc.
• Fasting before the holidays . There was also a custom to fast on the eve of the great holidays , so that it would be better to prepare for the celebration.

Feats of fasting (austerities)

• Moses , while receiving the Tablets and Commandments of the Sinai Testament , “didn’t eat bread and drink water” for 40 days (apparently, this post was repeated immediately after Moses went down from the Mountain and saw the sin of Israel’s idolatry, broke the Tablets and returned again 40 days to the Mountain to intercede for the people and receive the new Tablets of the Covenant).
• John the Baptist spent his whole life as an ascetic-fasting, wore rough clothes made of camel hair and girdled with a leather belt, ate wild honey and acridas.
• Jesus Christ fasted (did not eat anything) for 40 days during his temptation in the wilderness .
• St. John the Postnik , Patriarch of Constantinople “for six days did not eat any food, but in the seventh, he ate a few garden fruits: either melons, or grapes, or figs. That’s how he ate during the whole time of His Holiness. ”
• Saint Severin “He observed forty-day fasting, reinforcing himself with food only once a week, and, nevertheless, his face always shone with quiet joy” ^[1]

Early Christians

Christians fasted more often than Jews, but the image of their fast was almost the same, that is, bore the usual signs of lamentation. The essential rule of fasting was not to eat more than once a day - in the evening, to refrain from wine, sweet and nutritious, to spend the day in solitude and prayer. The book “Shepherd”, highly respected by the ancients, says that on the day of fasting in the morning you must go to prayer, not eating anything but bread and water, and give out to the poor the excesses of their property. Indeed, charity was always connected with fasting. The post itself served as a means of reducing some of the daily consumption. Drinking before dinner was considered a violation of fasting. One of the saints, going to torment, rejected the drink that he was offered to strengthen his strength, saying that it was not yet time to break the fast. It was Friday at 10 a.m. In the first centuries, the church fasting among Christians was the one that preceded Easter , that is, Great Lent ( Tertullian , “On Fasting”). The Church observed it in memory of the suffering of Jesus Christ , attaching to itself what He said: “When the Bridegroom is taken away from them ... then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15). Other fasts were then arbitrary (Tertullian, “On Fasting”): fasting on Wednesday and the heels of every week, like Great Lent, was based on the sufferings of Jesus Christ, because on Wednesday the Hebrews compiled a council against Him, and on heels He died.

These posts differed in duration, which was threefold. Fasts on Wednesday and heels lasted until the 9th hour, or ours until three in the evening, which is why they called them half-posts. Fasting at the Fourteenth Day ended with Vespers, that is, at six o’clock by sunset. There was also a pure fasting or complete howling when they spent the whole day without food. So they said on Great Saturday, some joined Good Friday, others spent three days like this, others four, some all six days of Holy Week — each as much as he could. This special post in Spain was observed every Saturday and, moreover, once every month, except in July and August. The reason why they fasted before the 9th hour was in memory of the hour of the death of Jesus Christ, and until the evening - in the memory of His burial (Tertullian, “On Lent”).

The degrees of abstinence were also varied. Some ate everything only in raw form, others kept dry food (Tertullian, “On Lent”), refraining not only from meat and wine, but also from fruits that were wine and juicy, eating only nuts, almonds, etc., and others, with bread. were content with bread and water. Dry-eating was favored especially during persecution, as preparation for martyrdom (Tertullian, “On Fasting”). Some, except Holy Week, did not eat anything for many days and often even until the 10th dawn, as Lucian says. These unusually long posts included Sundays, which were forbidden by law to fast. In the first centuries of Christianity, although there were still people in Greece and Rome who were engaged in various bodily exercises to strengthen the body, there were much more of those that were harmful to health and weakened the body and grew old early. However, amid the corruption that Egypt and Syria performed, great fasts appeared that lived much longer than other people. True, in warm countries fasting is not so burdensome, but there were unusual examples of abstinence in Gaul and even colder countries, moreover, more than 100 years later after the apostles, for many of the great ascetics followed the ancient image of worship. ^[2]

Christians, like the Jews, looked at fasting as if they were lamenting. True, the Jews often imposed it upon themselves in an expression of natural sorrow caused by the loss of a loved one or some other temporary disaster. But Christians, applying everything to spiritual things, used these external signs of lamentation to arouse in themselves the sorrow that creates salvation (2 Cor. 7:10), that is, repentance of sins. St. Cyprian teaches that the sinner mourned the death of his soul, at least as the loss of his beloved person (“On the Fall”), and saint. John Chrysostom in the word "On Tenderness" uses the same comparison. Moreover, fasting was considered useful for the prevention of temptations, as exhausting the body and subordinating it to the spirit. Therefore, fasting avoided all kinds of pleasures, even those allowed. More and more ordinary things became more solitary, more silent, more eager in the church, more diligent in prayer and reading. ^[2]

In Catholicism

The Catholic fast has two types - abstinence from eating meat products (“abstinence”, “abstinence”) and restriction of meals during the day, when only one hearty meal and two lighter ones are allowed (“fasting”).

The first type is prescribed by the Church on Fridays of the whole year, except when on Friday there is a holiday in the rank of Triumph (although in practice many restrict the observance of this fast only to periods of Lent and sometimes Advent ).

Another species is observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday .

Age restrictions for fasting of the first kind - from 14 years to the end of life, for fasting of the second kind - from 21 to 59 years, while for various reasons there can also be dispensations, that is, relaxation or even exemption from compliance. At the same time, the Roman Missal confirms the ban on sexual relations in fasting days in some religions: “He who, through bodily fasting, suppresses vice, ennobles the mind and acquires virtues and rewards.” Today's Catholics, in observance of fasting, are guided by the apostolic constitution “Paenitemini” promulgated by Pope Paul VI on February 17, 1966 , according to which forty-day Lent (40 days, excluding Sundays) is a period of repentance, and local bishops' conferences can change the terms of fasting and their form compliance where necessary.

In Orthodoxy

Clarifications on the fasts are given in the Typicon , Nomocanon , Mineas , Triodi, and the Hourglass . However, most of the rules are contained in the Typicon and Nomocanon .

The practice of Orthodox fasting is incredibly developed - according to the traditional church Julian calendar, in some years the number of fasting days reaches two hundred. They are dedicated to Orthodox holidays, forming an annual liturgical circle, and are divided into multi-day and one-day.

Under the post in these sources refers to complete abstinence from food during daylight hours. Therefore, the Saturdays and Sundays of Lent and the first three days of Holy Week , when the Liturgy and the meal after it are laid, are not considered as fasting days, despite the fact that these days are not allowed to eat fast food . For the same reason, the Liturgy of the blessed gifts , Liturgy of Holy Thursday, Great Saturday, Christmas Eve and Epiphany are connected with the evening (although they are currently served, as a rule, in the first half of the day, actually abolishing the post due to economy ).

According to the severity of the meal used (one per day, closer to its end, according to the monastery charter - after Vespers ), the posts have several degrees (cf. the concept of “abstinence” in Catholic practice):

• fasting with fish poisoning: vegetable food in any culinary processing is supplemented with vegetable oil, fish and fish products;
• post "with the venom of welding with oil": hot vegetable food with vegetable oil;
• fasting post: hot vegetable food without oil;
• post with " dry eating ": cold undigested vegetable food without oil, unheated drink;
• strictest fast: complete abstinence from food, only water is permissible.

In addition to these posts, weekly fasts are also observed on Wednesdays (the day of remembrance of the betrayal of Judah and the arrest of Jesus) and Fridays (“heels”) (in memory of the suffering of the Cross and the death of the Savior) all year. But on some Wednesdays and Fridays, fasting is canceled, that is, it is allowed to eat meat food all week. Such weeks are called “solid weeks”:

• Easter week - a week after Easter ;
• Trinity Week - the week after Holy Trinity Day ;
• Christmas time - from January 7 to January 18, that is, 12 days from the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany (Baptism), except for the last day - the Epiphany Eve;
• the week of the tax collector and the Pharisee - two weeks before Lent;
• Shrovetide (without meat) - a week before Lent.

There are also one-day fasts where food with vegetable oil is allowed:

• strict fasting on the Day of the Beheading of John the Baptist - September 11 ;
• strict fasting on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - September 27 ;
• Epiphany Christmas Eve - January 18 .

In the days of fasting, abstinence should be comprehensive: from everyday entertainments and amusements, drinking alcohol, violent manifestations of passions and negative emotions. The sacrament of marriage is not performed in the Church during fasting and fasting days, but not because of abstinence from marital relations (because according to the Apostle Paul, “husband and wife are their own judges”), but because of the impossibility of arranging a festive table with non-prayer dishes . In the past, theaters did not work during fasting, did not serve alcohol in taverns, did not give balls and receptions.

Before communion, believers observe a short fast - the observance, which is not directly enshrined in the Holy Scriptures or church canons. ^[five]

In order to observe, on certain days, according to the personal need of a more strict fast than is determined by the Church Charter, it is necessary to take a blessing from your spiritual father. For example, some pious Orthodox Christians, with the blessing of their confessors, do not eat anything all year long on Wednesdays and Fridays until three in the afternoon, that is, until Jesus on the cross gave His spirit into the hands of the Father. Others, in imitation of the monastic rules with the blessing of the priest, observed the fast on Mondays, called the “ angel fast”, since every Monday is dedicated to the angels in remembrance of the days of Creation.

Intending to get married is also recommended to abstain from “junk food” for a certain period. An additional post was observed if a secret or public penance was imposed on a believer, and sometimes for a long time, for example, for sorcerers, people who recently converted to Orthodoxy or former sectarians.

In the rules of the fasting of the Orthodox Church, indicated in the Typicon and Nomocanon , in most cases the severity of fasting is different for monks and laity.

You need to approach the post wisely. The laity should strive to comply with the rules, but in some cases there may be an indulgence, for which it is necessary to seek the blessing of the priest; and sick people, people engaged in heavy physical labor and travelers, the Church Charter made the necessary concessions. Pregnant and lactating women, as a rule, are released from fasting with the blessing of a priest (meals as directed by a doctor). So children under seven years old do not fast, but despite this, in Orthodoxy, parents are recommended to gradually accustom them to fasting (for example, from milk, sweets or fun games), so that when they reach the age of seven it is easier for them to start fasting.

The sources also recorded cases of repeated observance of public (“deliberate”) posts, to which the Russian Orthodox Church urged the laity during the years of hard times, when the country was struck by natural disasters, general diseases, crop failures, unrest, and war. For example, in 1395 , when the miraculous image of the Virgin of Our Lady was brought to Moscow to protect against Tamerlane , people began to fast everywhere. This tradition continued until the 20th century. - in August 1915 and in 1918 , during the new “turmoil” of the First World War , with the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Tikhon .

In ancient Eastern Orthodox churches

In the Armenian Apostolic Church

Each major church holiday in the Armenian Apostolic Church has its own Shrovetide, which always falls on the Sunday before the fasting, after which the fasting of the holiday begins ^[6]

In the Armenian church calendar , in addition to the fasting days of the week - Wednesday and Friday, there are special fasting days. ^[7]

• Great, or forty-day fasting - 7 weeks before Easter,
• Christmas post - from Dec 30 / Jan 12 Jan 5/18
• Advanced Fasting - The third week before Great Lent, Monday through Friday,
• Transfiguration Fast - the week before the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, from Monday to Friday,
• The Assumption Post is the week before the Assumption, Monday through Friday.
• The Exaltation of the Fast - the week before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Monday through Friday.
• Christmas Pentecost Fasting - Currently reduced to one week, Monday through Friday.

In addition to the above, there are weekly fasts during which Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are allowed to celebrate the days of remembrance of the saints. These include the following ^[7] :

• St. post Gregory the Illuminator - the week before the feast of the Recovering of the relics of St. Gregory (V c.), Monday to Friday,
• the post of the Varaga Cross - the week before the Feast of the Apparition of the Cross on rape Varag (623), from Monday to Friday,
• St. post Jacob - the week before the feast of St. Jacob Nisibian (+350), Monday through Friday.
• There is another weekly fast that coincides with the Lord's holiday. This is the Ilyinsky post - from the second to the sixth days of the Trinity.

At the Coptic Orthodox Church

The Copts have 7 large posts, the most important ones are the 46-day Advent (“The Post of the Virgin”, it is believed that the Virgin Mary fasted just before the birth of Jesus), the Great and the Apostolic. XIV century Ibn Siba described the tradition of the Advent: “Fasting before the Nativity of Christ is what happens: when our Lady, Mother of the World, after the announcement of the fullness of salvation was already seven and a half months in the womb, the carpenter Joseph and other people reproached Her constantly by the fact that She claimed that she was a virgin, and yet she was pregnant. Since She was constantly accused, she began to fast for a month and a half, crying and mourning because of these insults. ” In addition, Copts fast on a weekly basis on Wednesday and Friday - such a post consists in abstaining from eating meat and dairy products. On some days it is forbidden to eat fish.

In the Syrian Orthodox Church

In the West Syrian Church , as well as in the East Syrian, there is a Christmas post dedicated to the Virgin Mary of Subbarg. The Maronites , in addition to Lent and its vestibule, also have a Suboro Christmas post, and there is a 14-day post before Assumption. In the Chaldean Church, the Assumption precedes a 5-day fast, while the Nestorians have a 7-day fast. Many posts in the Ethiopian Church. In addition to the weekly fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, there is Lent before Easter, Christmas, Apostolic (before the feast of Saints Peter and Paul) and the Assumption Lent.

In Protestantism

Martin Luther , a former Catholic, used the practice of fasting throughout his life. The Lutheran denomination recognizes two posts: Advent (the European equivalent of the Christmas post ) and Great Lent ^[8] , which lasts from Ash Wednesday to Easter . However, Lutheran posts are "meat-eating", as they do not imply a ban on the use of certain types of food. Believers are advised to moderate food and especially pious life at this time.

Jean Calvin criticized the Catholic practice of fixed calendar posts and pointed out the need for internal change, not external rites. At the same time, he emphasized that the whole life of a Christian should be a fast that includes “frugality and sobriety”. Ulrich Zwingli considered fasting Catholics hypocrites and defiantly ate sausage on the day of Lent . However, Protestant leaders sometimes resorted to the practice of public public fasting. So, Rev. Samuel Parris offered a post during the Salem events .

Fasting is an important practice in the Pentecostal movement . It is practiced by church members voluntarily and individually. The purpose of the post is “separation from the world” and “drawing closer to God”, as well as the act of intercession (intensified petition) for individual needs. Fasting is held along with prayer. The Assemblies of God have adopted a statement which indicates the power of fasting and its usefulness. At the same time, it is specified that fasting cannot be used “as a measure of righteousness”, personal merits or bargaining with God ^[9] .

There are several posts in Judaism. The most famous is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), when Allah forbids eating, drinking, washing, leather shoes, oiling and marital intimacy. This post, as well as the post of the Ninth of Av (Tisha be-Av) (which also forbids these five things), continues from sunset to the appearance of stars in the evening of the next day, that is, more than twenty-five hours.

Fasting of the Ninth Av is preceded by three mourning weeks, during the last week it is forbidden, for example, to wash with hot water and eat meat and wine.

Less strict fasting, when food and drink is forbidden, are celebrated on the 3rd Tishrei ( Gedalia Post ), 10 Tevet and 17 Tammuz . Before Purim , the post of Esther is marked in memory of the events described in the book of Esther (Esther), and before Passover there is a so-called post of the first-born . All these posts last from the morning dawn until the stars appear on the same day, that is, from dawn to sunset.

There are also a number of optional posts, for example, on New Year’s Eve, first-born post from sunrise to noon on Easter Eve of Nisan 14, three days on the lunar calendar on Monday, Thursday, Monday ^{[10] [11]} a month after the holidays ^[12] : Easter and Bush . The Torah is read publicly in the synagogue on Mondays and Thursdays (associated with the fast). Also, the prayer book contains special prayers for Monday and Thursday (associated with fasting).

The Talmud contains many tales of fasting. For example, p. Zadok fasted for 40 years so that Jerusalem would not be destroyed. The Mar Bar Rav Ashi fasted year-round, except for a few days, etc.

In Islam , two types of posts are practiced: mandatory and recommended. Mandatory fasting is observed according to the Islamic calendar in the month of Ramadan (established by Sharia in 624), but it can be postponed if the Muslim is traveling or broke the fast and repented. Recommender posts can be observed every Monday and Thursday ^[13] ; the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of each lunar month (full moon days); in the first ten days of the dhul-hijah month; on the ninth, tenth and eleventh days of the month of Muharram on the six days of the month of shavval .

The specificity of fasting in Islam is that it does not limit the composition of food, but the time of its adoption (as in early Christianity): it is forbidden to eat from dawn to sunset. In addition, at this time, Muslims also refuse to drink and have sex ; in addition, such actions as swimming (which can lead to swallowing water), as well as taking medications, tablets, injections (other than those necessary for planned treatment, such as penicillin or insulin) and even blood transfusion (all this is formally considered food intake, are not recommended )

A well-known recent example of prolonged strict fasting, regarded as a manifestation of special grace, is the case of Prahlad Jani , a faithful follower of the goddess Amba , who claims that for his devotion he receives amrita from the goddess as a special nectar that allows him to live without food and water. His ability to stay healthy without food and water for 10 and 15 days was confirmed by observations of experts in 2003 and 2010. ^{[14] [15] The} Vedas speak of fasting every 11th day of the new and old moon, in Sanskrit - Ekadashi (eka - one, dasha - ten). This is the day of Lord Hari (Krishna-Caitanya, Vishnu, Narayana), therefore, intensified spiritual practice is prescribed at this time, and additional abstinence from food, even from cereals and legumes (depending on the type of fasting, meat, of course, especially cows, is categorically forbidden - on this day eating meat is similar to killing a saint / brahmana). See Ekadashi

Food restriction during the fasting period is a certain stress for the human body. The impact of this stress can be mixed, and the medical aspects are inevitably present in discussions of fasting. On the other hand, in medical starvation and short periods of fasting, some experts see the benefit and recommend as a remedy for certain diseases ^[16] . A study at the University of Southern California showed that a lean diet for three days can completely renew the human immune system ^[17] . As the “main treatment”, the fast was appointed by the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church to get rid of demonic possession . ^[18]

• Therapeutic starvation (alternative medicine)
• Zoyuezi is a Chinese tradition of restricting a woman who has given birth to food and activities

Orthodoxy

• Hmmm. Hilarion (Trinity) Page from the history of church discipline
• Solovyova V. All Orthodox posts - St. Petersburg: Astrel - St. Petersburg, 2007. ISDN 5-9725-0684-X
• Jean-Claude Larcher. The healing of mental illness. The experience of the Christian East of the first centuries. Translation from French .. - M .: Publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery, 2008. - 224 p. - (Orthodox theology). - ISBN 978-5-7533-0176-5 .

• Post - article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
• Gendin A., Osipov D. Food for the body, food for the spirit : gastronomic rituals of the leading world religions and pagan beliefs.
• Jewish posts. Review of articles

Orthodoxy

• Priest Konstantin Parkhomenko Orthodox fast: antiquity and modern practice
• Balashov B. Post
• All about Orthodox fasting
• Balashov B. The meaning of the post
• O Fasts and Meals .
• Osipova A. Post from the point of view of a doctor - Orthodox newspaper No. 23-24 (79) 1997
• Lenten table .
• Lenten menu - simple recipes
• Orthodox cuisine recipes
• Fasting: priests' answers to questions .
• Orthodox post
• Lenten Recipes
• Fast fasting - Lenten recipes
• Great Lent
• Christmas post
• Petrov Post
• Assumption Post
• Articles about a post on the ABC of Faith website
• Post on the site Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "Tree"
• Rev. Euphrosynus - patron of cooks
• How to fast

Islam

• Ramadan. Fasting on the Holy Month

Judaism

• Ki Comrade "The book of our heritage." Yom Kippur
• Ki Comrade "The book of our heritage." 9 av
• Yom Kippur. Ed. FREE
• "Between the Gorges." Posts 17 tamuz and 9 ava Ed. FREE