Every year before Great Lent begins, I receive the same kinds of questions from our people at St. Mary’s. Some are from lifelong Orthodox Christians who want to be faithful but feel unsure about the details. Some are from catechumens who are trying to take the Faith seriously and do not want to misunderstand the Church. Others are from parents wondering what is appropriate for their children, or from parishioners navigating health concerns, work schedules, or mixed faith homes. Underneath almost every question is the same concern: How do I fast in a way that is faithful, but not frantic?
So before we talk about meat, dairy, oil, or fish, we need to talk about why we fast at all. Fasting is not about food first. It is about the heart.
From the very beginning of Scripture, humanity’s fall involved food. Adam and Eve were surrounded by abundance. They were not starving. They were not deprived. They were simply asked to restrain themselves from one tree. That restraint was meant to teach trust, obedience, and communion with God. When restraint was abandoned, communion was broken.
Throughout the Old Testament, fasting appears whenever God’s people are seeking repentance, clarity, deliverance, or mercy. Moses fasted before receiving the Law. Elijah fasted before encountering the Lord in the still small voice. The Prophet Joel calls the people not merely to an outward fast, but to return to the Lord with all their heart. The external discipline was always meant to reflect an internal turning.
And then Christ Himself fasted forty days in the wilderness before beginning His public ministry. He did not fast because He needed dieting. He fasted to reveal the pattern for us. Where Adam failed in a garden surrounded by abundance, Christ prevailed in a desert surrounded by hunger. He entered the wilderness to undo what we had done.
Fasting exposes what rules us. When we voluntarily restrain our appetite, we begin to see how often we live by impulse. We notice how quickly we reach for comfort when stressed, bored, or frustrated. We discover how much our mood depends on pleasure. We see how easily we justify indulgence. Fasting shines a light on that. It is not meant to shame us. It is meant to heal us.
But here is the key: fasting without prayer is just hunger. Fasting without repentance is just a diet. Fasting without mercy is just self-improvement.
The Church always ties fasting to prayer, almsgiving, confession, and worship. The goal is not to master your grocery list. The goal is to humble your heart and turn your attention toward God. When we fast properly, we become more attentive in prayer, more aware of our weaknesses, more patient with others, and more grateful for simple blessings.
The Approach of St. John Cassian vs. A Traditional Lenten Fast
This is why I find the approach of St. John Cassian so helpful.
St. John Cassian carried the wisdom of the desert fathers into the wider life of the Church. He did not reduce fasting to a legal code of permitted and forbidden foods. He spoke repeatedly about the purpose of fasting: purity of heart, watchfulness over the thoughts, and attentiveness to God. For Cassian, fasting was never an end in itself. It was a tool for spiritual clarity.
He emphasized moderation. He warned against extremes. He cautioned that one person might fast very strictly yet still be consumed with pride, anger, lust, or distraction. Another might eat more moderately yet guard his thoughts carefully and keep his attention fixed on Christ. The true battleground, for Cassian, was not the plate. It was the heart.
He taught that fasting should weaken the passions, not the body. It should sharpen prayer, not produce exhaustion. It should cultivate humility, not comparison. If a fast leads to irritability, spiritual pride, or constant judgment of others, then it has missed its purpose.
This is the spirit in which I approach fasting at St. Mary’s. We honor the tradition of the Church. We respect the ancient discipline. But we apply it pastorally, aiming at the healing of the heart rather than the perfection of a checklist. I would rather see a parishioner fast moderately with increased prayer and humility than fast rigorously while becoming harsh, anxious, or proud.
The traditional Orthodox fasting discipline during Great Lent and Holy Week calls us to abstain from meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or alcohol, and oil. Shellfish is traditionally permitted. Wine and oil are permitted on Saturdays and Sundays. Fish is permitted on the Feast of the Annunciation and on Palm Sunday.
This pattern teaches simplicity. It removes richness. It interrupts habit. It keeps Lent from becoming a season of indulgent substitutions. It trains us to live with less so that we may desire more of God.
At the same time, the Church is not a machine. The rule exists for healing. In many parts of the world historically, shellfish was inexpensive and common while fish was costly. In our own day, that is often reversed. Certain oils may be either unhealthy or financially burdensome. Strict elimination in those cases can become unnecessarily complicated or expensive.
For that reason, I do not press our parishioners to eliminate fish entirely during Lent. I also do not recommend obsessing over oil in a way that creates anxiety or financial strain. The spirit of the fast is simplicity and restraint, not legalism. The goal is to reduce indulgence, not to make grocery shopping a moral crisis.
Great Lent is not only about food. If the only change you make is on your plate, you have barely begun.
Increase your prayer. Even a simple daily rule kept faithfully is powerful. Attend the Presanctified Liturgies. Come to the Great Canon. Be present during Holy Week. Give more generously. Serve quietly. Visit someone who is lonely. Confess your sins. Guard your thoughts.
St. John Chrysostom reminds us that fasting is good, but better is giving to the poor. That is not a dismissal of fasting. It is a reminder of its purpose. If fasting does not produce mercy, it is incomplete. If it does not soften your heart toward those who struggle, it has become self-centered.
Fasting should make you gentler. It should make you more patient in traffic, more attentive to your spouse, more present with your children, more restrained in speech, more aware of your need for forgiveness. It should make you quicker to repent and slower to judge.
Lent is a time to simplify distractions as well. Consider reducing unnecessary entertainment. Guard your eyes and your speech. Fast not only from certain foods, but from anger, gossip, and complaint. The Fathers consistently remind us that fasting from sin matters more than fasting from meat.
Fasting in Real Life
Many of our parishioners live in circumstances that require discernment. Some are in mixed faith households. Some have demanding jobs in the military or law enforcement. Some are managing chronic health conditions. Some are caring for children or elderly parents. Fasting must be applied within real life, not in an imagined monastery.
If you live in a mixed faith home, you are not called to police everyone else’s plate. You are called to keep peace and to live your faith quietly and faithfully. Practice moderation when full abstinence is not possible. Eat smaller portions. Avoid indulgence. Keep your spirit calm. The goal is not to win an argument. The goal is to grow in humility and love.
If you have medical needs, take medication that requires food, or work in physically demanding circumstances, you may and should modify the fast. The Church does not ask you to harm your body. The body is a gift from God. If health requires adjustment, keep the spirit of the fast by reducing excess and increasing prayer.
Children should be introduced to fasting gradually. They are not miniature monks. Teach them why we fast. Help them connect fasting to Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. Around age ten, many children can begin practicing more fully with parental guidance. Holy Week is often a powerful time for family participation.
Seniors should prioritize health and steadiness. A lighter fast focused on simplicity, prayer, and gratitude is entirely appropriate. The Church’s pastoral wisdom always takes into account age, strength, and circumstance.
Our Approach at St. Mary’s
At St. Mary’s, I am asking our parishioners to approach the fast in a way that reflects the mind of the Church and the wisdom of St. John Cassian. That means seriousness without severity. Discipline without drama. Simplicity without scrupulosity.
The fast should lead us together into deeper prayer, more frequent attendance at services, greater generosity, and quieter repentance. It should bind us together as a parish family moving toward Pascha with one heart.
Do your best. Make a sincere effort. Do not obsess. If you fall, repent and continue. The fast exists to bring you to Christ, not to trap you in technicalities. Pascha is not a reward for perfect dieting. It is the gift of the Resurrection to those who have struggled, repented, and hoped.
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