There are four main periods of fasting during the year:
 | The Great Fast (Lent) — begins seven weeks before the
Resurrection (Pascha) |
| The Fast of the Apostles — starts on Monday eight days after
Penetcost, and ends June 28th (July 11th), the eve of the Feast of SS. Peter
and Paul; in length varies between one and six weeks |
| The Dormition Fast — last two weeks, from August 1st to 14th
(August 14th to 27th) |
| The Nativity Fast (Advent) — lasts 40 days, from November 15th to
December 24th (November 28th to January 6th) |
In addition to these four chief periods, all Wednesdays and
Fridays — and in some monasteries Mondays as well — are fast days
(except between the Nativity and Theophany, during Bright Week, and during the
week after Pentecost). The Elevation of the Cross, the Beheading of St. John the
Baptist, and the eve of Theophany are also fasts.
Talk to your parish priest/spiritual father for guidance as
your family begins to fast, and ask him to explain the Church’s guidelines for
fasting. (The “fasting rule” may also be found in many Orthodox service
books and prayer books, and on Orthodox wall calendars.)
Taken from Bishop Kallistos Ware’s, The Orthodox
Church, New Edition, New York: Penguin Books USA, 1997, p. 300.
©
1999-2000 by Orthodox Family Life and the original author(s).
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