One of the characteristics of the Eastern Church is her ascetical practice of fasting before major feasts. Since we are now in the period known as St. Philip’s Fast, I thought I would share some ideas about fasting, Eastern style. Our modern world has lost a sense of the meaning of fasting. In the East it seems that fasting turns out to be more like abstinence which typically deals with the elimination of certain foods from our diet rather than necessarily reducing the amount of food that we eat. Eastern-style fasting can, of course, also include reducing the amount of food intake.
St. Philip the Apostle
Fasting does not dispose God to love us more! Fasting does not buy us into the good graces of God! Fasting is not an act of penance for our sins, urging God to be merciful to us and forgive us! Penance is not something we do for God but, rather for ourselves! God doesn’t need our fasting! We don’t fast as a kind of personal punishment for our sins. We cannot pay God back for sins but we can only confess them to Him to receive forgiveness.
Fasting from foods is meant to dispose us to have a much deeper and fuller experience of communion with God. Each person is a unity of body and soul. A right spiritual diet and a discipline of fasting go together and strengthen each other. Just as prayer benefits not only the soul but also the body, so also fasting from foods benefits not only the body but also the soul. Fasting and prayer make us more sensitive to God’s personal presence. At important times in their lives, the Prophets fasted and prayed. So did Jesus, the Apostles, Saints and the Church Fathers.
Fasting, however, must be undertaken willingly and not by compulsion. Fasting with a willing spirit and not just with an attitude of fulfilling some religious obligation means that we keep the purposes of fasting always before us which are to (1) develop self-control and, of course, (2) remember God and His Kingdom. That way we fast not only in what we eat, but also in how much we eat, and also how we look at life and our neighbor.
Fasting is simplicity of eating! We leave the table not with loaded stomachs. Being a little hungry during the day becomes a constant reminder of God, of our true dependence on Him and of the fact that the Lord alone can give us food that lasts for eternal life (John 6:27). In fasting and prayer, God reveals Himself to us as our true food and drink.
St Symeon the New Theologian said: “Let each one of us keep in mind the benefit of fasting”. It can be a healer of our souls, since it can quiet the fevers and impulses of the flesh, assuage a bad temper and then stir up zeal and restore purity of mind. Fasting also tends to reduce anxious feelings and brings forth a sense of peace.