The purpose of this brief essay is to reflect on how the Orthodox Church might receive the proposed document on fasting to be taken up for official proclamation by the forthcoming great and Holy Council in Crete, scheduled for June 19-27, 2016.
Among the topics on the agenda of the forthcoming Great and Holy Council is fasting: “The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today.” The draft document published by the Synaxis of Orthodox primates in January 2016 establishes the practice of fasting as an ancient institution required by God (no. 2). Besides the testimonies to communal fasting during the apostolic age, the paradigmatic fast was and remains Jesus’ own forty days of fasting in the desert following his Baptism in the Jordan (no. 2, citing Lk. 4:1-2). The document also refers to Jesus’ authoritative teaching on fasting from the sermon on the Mount, along with its connection with prayer and almsgiving (no. 2, referring to Mt. 6:16-18).
The proposed instruction is a pastoral exhortation to the faithful to observe the fast as the traditional method “for the spiritual life of a man and his salvation” (no. 1). Fasting is the sibling of repentance and unceasing prayer (no. 3), and the exhortation draws from patristic witnesses to show that fasting is not exclusive to food, but also requires action in works of mercy and refraining from gossip (no. 3, referring to St. Basil’s instructions on fasting). In other words, fasting is about changing one’s ways for the sake of the other; one dies to excesses and indulgences in one’s life to become aware of the other and his needs, and to rehearse loving the other.
With this emphasis, the proposed exhortation on fasting presents the received tradition of fasting and teaches it to the Church anew. This teaching is particularly valuable for Orthodox people who are new to Orthodoxy and are unfamiliar with its communal rituals, especially those permeating family life. This pastoral exhortation on fasting offers Orthodoxy an opportunity to reflect on how the Church might receive this teaching, especially since conciliar statements are not designed to propose every possible method of reception.
For example, one might raise the question of how to observe the fast. The document refers to the traditional Orthodox practice of eliminating certain foods (customarily, meat, dairy, oil, wine, and fish on fast days) (no. 3). For those who put this teaching into practice, sometimes the result is an attempt to prepare complicated vegetarian meals which are often more costly on account of the variety of ingredients required. Furthermore, we now have much more knowledge about food allergies and irritants. Many people cannot tolerate certain foods without the risk of illness or even danger to one’s health. The document does not account for the flexibility of the Orthodox tradition of fasting: it is broad and enough to permit one to accent eating less frequently or emphasizing simplicity in one’s application of fasting.
The document also teaches that fasting is a means to the end of “deification by grace” (no. 5). The teaching exhorts faithful to practice fasting as an act of obedience to a commandment (no. 5). In receiving this teaching, faithful might view one of the blessings of fasting as obtaining a renewed awareness of God as the divine provider for humanity: when we eat whole grapes and olives instead of drinking wine and using oil, we receive the gift of God in its original wholeness. This reception can contribute to an increased awareness of God as the giver of food and stimulate a spirit of ecological stewardship within communities. The cultivation of such ecological awareness would also connect fasting with the ecological imperative in the document titled “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in the Modern World” (no. E, 10).
The document does not relate fasting to the use of electronic devices. Electronics are work tools, toys, and even devices used for less worthy purposes. All Christians are aware of the problem of electronic fixation and its distraction from engaging others in the community. A worthy fast could include abstaining from devices and instead investing in the others around us, to cultivate a spirit of awareness.
Finally, a word about the absolute fast, especially the one preceding participation in the Divine Liturgy, which the document addresses briefly in nos. 2 and 9. Those who observe this absolute fast eventually break it, first through Holy Communion and then with a meal. A renewal of absolute fasting could become a potent component of liturgical rebirth in encouraging the Church to participate in the Divine Liturgy and receive Holy Communion more frequently. But we might also add that repentance requires lament about sin. Lament is a fixture of the process of repentance in liturgical spirituality, as manifested by the hymns and rites beginning Lent. A community oriented towards the needs of the other will become capable of lamenting the grave injustices of the world which permeate our neighborhoods: violence, terrorism, human trafficking, and discrimination, manifestations of evil mentioned by the document on “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in the Modern World” (no. B, 2). One might hope that the Orthodox Church of the twenty-first century would lead efforts to publicly lament social sin and catalyze repentance in our communities. I can think of no better way to lament than to call for a one-day absolute fast devoted to quiet prayer and intercession. Orthodox communities which observe one-day fasts of lament would faithfully receive this proposed conciliar statement.
In conclusion, the proposed conciliar teaching on fasting presents the received tradition to us anew. May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to receive that tradition to generate lament, repentance, awareness, and love for the other.
Postscript: I highly recommend the article on the council recently written by Archdeacon John Chryssavgis.
Coming soon: a commentary on the preconciliar document on “The Sacrament of Marriage and Its Impediments.”
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