Lenten Fasting

Click here to download as a printable pdf.

Our Western Rite Vicariate in the Antiochian Archdiocese follows the Fasting Disciplines of the Orthodox West in the Ninth Century as standards.

Fasting Standards

Lenten Fasting begins at midnight on Ash Wednesday.

On all weekdays until Pascha (Easter), one full meal per day is allowed, and two snacks. The full meal is not taken until noon at the earliest.

Also, on all weekdays of Lent, no fleshmeat is eaten, nor the juice thereof. Fish is permitted, and this means fish of any kind. Eggs and dairy are permitted.

There is no fasting on any Sundays.

The Lenten Fast ends on Holy Saturday at noon.

If temporary illness makes following part of this Discipline difficult for a short period, do what you need to. If you have a chronic medical condition that interferes with fasting, discuss this with Father Cassian.

Abstaining from meat applies to those age seven and above. Eating only one meal and two snacks applies to those age twenty-one to seventy.

If you are pregnant or nursing, your child is too young to fast. So, eat whatever you need to provide for both your child and yourself. By nurturing a new child of God, you are already fasting from the world.

Father Cassian’s Advice

Take it seriously, but not legalistically. Try to decrease the total amount of food by eliminating what is unnecessary. Eliminating breads, pastas, and desserts while eating fish, eggs, and vegetables cooked in healthy fats can greatly reduce your quantity of food and your dependence on it, while preserving health and helping you to focus on Prayer and our Lord.

If you are completely new to fasting, try it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Also, unless you are going to PRAY MORE, do not even bother to fast. You can attend more prayer services at church, pray more at these services, pray more at home, pray more in your car, pray more anywhere or anytime. But fasting MUST be accompanied by an increase in prayer and love or it is useless to a Christian. Combined with prayer and love, fasting is a powerful tool for spiritual growth and spiritual warfare against sin and temptation. The demons do not want us to know how to say "No" to ourselves and "Yes" to God, because then we will know how to say "NO" to them!