Nave of St. Josaphat Ukranian Catholic Cathedral in Parma, Ohio. / Credit: Nheyob, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Nov 24, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Like the Christian West, the various Eastern rites of the Church observe the weeks before Christmas with spiritual preparation and prayer. In Western Christianity this is called Advent — a word derived from Latin for “coming, arrival,” a translation of the Greek “parousia.” But among Eastern Christians — both Catholic and Orthodox — this season is known as the Nativity Fast. 

So while Advent begins on Dec. 1 this year for Catholics, the Byzantine custom is observed from Nov. 15 to Dec. 24. It is also known as Philip’s Fast because it begins on the day following the feast of the apostle St. Philip on the Eastern liturgical calendar, Nov. 14.

The fast, which is one of four penitential seasons in the Eastern rites, calls on Christians to practice abstinence and almsgiving. This means abstaining from meat and fish, dairy, and other animal products on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and wine and oil on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Fish is permitted on Saturdays and Sundays but no other animal products. 

In the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church, of which there are several dioceses in the United States and Canada, the fast may be observed voluntarily, partially, or entirely. 

In a letter to the faithful, Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Diocese of Parma, Ohio, wrote: “Let us pray for one another, let us enjoy the spiritually rich days ahead during this fast, and let us pause appropriately during this penitential time to give thanks to God in the generous spirit of our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra.”

There are several holy days during the fast: the Entry of the Theotokos (Mother of God) into the Temple on Nov. 21, the feast of St. Nicholas of Myra on Dec. 6, and the Maternity of Holy Anna (Conception of the Theotokos) on Dec. 8 or 9. Therefore, many Christians mitigate the fasting with celebration. St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus, is especially revered among Eastern Christians. During the fast, several prophets, including Daniel, are also commemorated as saints.

The final day of the fast, Dec. 24, is especially strict. Christians fast until after vespers and Divine Liturgy (Mass) and afterward share a meal called the Holy Supper, which is a festive but meatless meal featuring traditional foods.

“This is a season of repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving,” Byzantine Ruthenian priest Father John Russell from Allen Park, Michigan, told CNA in an interview. “It’s a time of meditation on the incarnation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. God became man so that we can become God.” Here Russell referred to the theological concept of divinization or theosis, which is the transforming effect of grace from God.

“Jesus taught us to fast, give alms to those who ask, and recommit ourselves to regular prayer. This season is an opportunity to commit ourselves to Christ,” Russell said while underscoring that these are practical actions that foster the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

“We need these actions in order to grow into what we are supposed to be,” he said. “It is an opportunity to commune with God, and grow in faith and hope.”

“Fasting is a way to free us from passions, to teach our bodies that just because they have a yearning doesn’t mean that we always indulge and succumb to it,” he continued. “There is nothing wrong with eating food, but when we train ourselves not to eat food when our bodies want us to, it teaches us not to do things that are sinful. When our bodies cry out to the sins of the flesh, we will be strengthened to resist those calls.”

Russell likened the practice of penitential fasting to a doctor’s prescription to regain health.

During the fast, Russell said Christians are called to imitate Jesus Christ and his “kenosis”: the emptying and sacrifice of himself. St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians says that “although he was in the form of God, [Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2:6-7).

By emptying ourselves through sacrificial giving, Russell said, we become more like God, adding that grocery bills should go down as Christians refrain from eating some meals, allowing them to spend the equivalent amount on almsgiving.

“It is a tool to set us free from the enslavement of the passions of the flesh,” he added.

Russell said he finds the Holy Supper of Christmas Eve to be especially poignant, saying that it is a “paradoxical fasting feast and symbolic meal” that is meatless and simple. A loaf of bread symbolizes Christ, the Bread of Life, for example, and a burning candle stands in for the Star of Bethlehem. 

Father Alexei Woltornist, a priest of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, said in an email to CNA that “fasting is not about punishing oneself.”

“This is a common misconception where some will consider a fast’s success based on how miserable it makes them,” he said. “This goes directly against Christ’s instruction to not disfigure our faces when we fast with outward signs of fasting … We should exude joy as we are fasting.”  

He continued: “When we fast, it is also essential that we increase our prayers. If we do not pray along with our fasting, we become like the demons, for they do not eat but they also do not pray. All this is so that we may properly order our lives so we may be spiritually strengthened by God so we may fulfill the Gospel. Many Christians will focus on fasting, but they need to take the feasting even more seriously. If someone cannot see after Christmas that we are full of joy of the theophany of God revealed as coming to us in the form of a baby, then we are fasting wrong.” 

Paraphrasing a book from the second century A.D., “The Shepherd of Hermas,” Russell encouraged Christians, saying: “A good fast is one where you take what you would have eaten and give it to those who need it. It is not enough to not eat. The purpose of fasting is to create an excess that can be given away. Fasting enables almsgiving, and almsgiving is a purpose of the fast in the first place. It is so that you have more to share.”