The Shepherd, February 2005
FASTING AS PRACTISED IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, 2
Examples of the observance of fasting in the Old Testament Church, both general as well as individual, are innumerable. Among them, an especially striking example of a community fasting is to be seen in the repentance of the people of Nineveh (Jonas 3:5-10), to whom the Prophet Jonas was sent by God with the warning that unless they repented, they would be punished by God. The prophet writes of this event: The men of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, and put on sack-cloths, from the greatest of them to the least of them. And the word reached the King of Nineveh, and he rose off his throne and took off his raiment from him, and put on sack-cloth, and sat on ashes. And proclamation was made, and it was commanded in Nineveh by the king and his great men, saying: let not men, or cattle, or oxen, or sheep, taste anything, nor feed, nor drink water…, and they turned every one from their evil way (Jonas 3:4-10). In such wise did the Ninevites fast for forty days, and were forgiven by God.
Moses and Elias are known to us, these pillars among Old Testament prophets, who although renowned and great in other virtues and good deeds, and possessed of great courage, nonetheless when they wished to approach God and speak with Him, in so far as this is possible for man, resorted to fasting and thereby were raised up to God. The first, we recall, spent forty days in strict fasting, tasting neither bread nor even water on Mount Sinai, during his communion with God, and received the commandments from Him (Ex. 34:28). But the man who fasted more than all others was John the Baptist, the greatest born of woman, the prophet who had the wilderness for a mother, and fasting for father and guide (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6).
The New Testament, too, corroborates the necessity for us to keep fast for the sake of our salvation, and Our Lord Jesus Christ sanctifies it by His example (Matt. 4:2; Luke 4:2). He also commanded His disciples to keep it (Matt. 6:16-18; 9:14-15; 17:21; Luke 2:27 & 5:33-35). In His Sermon on the Mount, He speaks about fasting to be practised from time to time as an indispensable factor in a religious and moral life, characterising and defining the true meaning and genuine Christian spirit of its fulfilment and attainment (Matt. 6:16-18).
The disciples of Christ, having kept what was commanded them, always prepared in advance for their ministry by fasting and prayer (Acts 9:9; 13:2; 14:23). They constantly remind us of this commandment in their epistles (Cor. 1:7, 5 & 2 Cor. 6:4-5), as well as in the Canonical Laws of the Apostles.
It is necessary to point out that, although the disciples of Jesus Christ during His earthly life did not fast at all, He defended them for this from the severe attacks of the Pharisees and from the disciples of John the Baptist; yet He Himself had indicated that after His departure to the Father, during the days of sorrow, fasting should again be practised by His followers as being a natural and indispensable effort in the pursuit of moral perfection and salvation (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:20; & Luke 5:35).
If we continue further observation of the life of early Christians, we see that fasting was laid down for them for specially important occasions of life, from the very beginning of the existence of their communities (Acts 13:1-3; 14:23). St. Paul the Apostle, referring to fasting as one of the most common and prominent undertakings in his peripatetic life of preaching (2 Cor. 6:5 & 11:27), speaks of it as being known to all, as a general practice in the Christian communities founded by him.
Moreover, not only was fasting known and practised in the Ancient Church, but besides this, the Church considered it as a commandment and ordinance of God, and watched strictly and exigently the fulfilment of this ordinance, enjoining each member, whether clerical or lay, to adhere to it during the periodic times decreed by the Apostles and Fathers of the Church; in cases of breaking the rule, the clerics might be punished by losing their dignity, and the laymen by excommunication from the Church’s life and communion. Such severity had arisen from the awareness of the unity of the Church organism as the Body of Christ, demanding for this reason one general law for all members, the non fulfilment of which does in fact excommunicate the transgressor from the general unity.
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