An Orthodox Christian Guide to Fasting (by a Layperson)

The Orthodox Christian Church observes a season of fasting from November 15 to December 24 each year in preparation for the Nativity of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. “Fasting” for the Church means abstaining from normal eating habits: eating less, and more simply. Specifically, for all those who are able, we give up all meat and dairy products, resulting in a plant-based plus shellfish diet for forty days.

The primary reason to fast is to draw closer to God. To this end, fasting as the Church prescribes confers many benefits, both spiritual and physical. Eating less food, and lighter food, heightens focus and alertness, allowing us to become more spiritually aware of ourselves and our areas for improvement.

Fasting is difficult, and a good exercise in self-discipline. By prescribing a fast, the Church is helping us strengthen our willpower. He that is faithful in a little will be faithful in much, and so, by denying ourselves something little, we increase our ability to accept greater and more serious sacrifices for the sake of Christ, if and when we should find ourselves in such a position — which, truthfully, is ever more often.

We do not fast in isolation, but along with the Church around the world. Orthodox Christians in every country take this podvig upon themselves. This is a shared experience across cultures and centuries.

Fasting is an icon, or image, of what we will be like in heaven and what we were like in the Beginning – in the Garden of Eden, when man and woman ate only green plants, no animals. Likewise, it is a vehicle for mercy-giving, as it allows us to simplify our food budgets, and give the leftover money to those who need it.

Fasting pairs well with silence and abstention in other areas of our life. Perhaps we will limit our consumption of podcasts or music, our time on screens or social media.

In general, the call to fast is a call to simplify — to throw off the sin that so easily ensnares us, and to free ourselves from the shackles of our addictions to pleasure and comfort. For freedom Christ has set us free, so let us not return to our yoke of slavery.

Everyone without exception is invited to participate in this spiritual-physical exercise, to the best of their ability. No one who is unable to keep a full fast should feel pressured to do any more than his or her body will allow. Mothers most likely need to consume animal fats and proteins to nourish growing children in the womb or at the breast, as do the children themselves. (As a rule of thumb, children are invited to participate in these more adult spiritual practices, such as fasting or Confession, around the age of six or seven — about when they would start formal studies at school.) Family members with particular dietary needs or habits may require flexibility as well.

That being said, here is an example of how to fast. This can be strived towards and scaled down as necessary.

Meal planning is essential, as is planning for variety amidst simplicity. One way I would like to implement this principle this year is by having a regular weekly meal plan, in which the bare bones of the meal remain the same (rice and beans, salad) but the flavorings change every week. Use what you already have in your pantry — the fast is a great chance to use up those non-perishables that never seem to make it onto the weekly meal rotation otherwise — rice and beans, lentils, grains, and spices. Don’t go overboard on gluten — you want to feel light and free, not groggy and bloated. Rice and beans feed two-thirds of the world on a daily basis, and are gluten-free and a complete protein. Bake homemade bread if your family tolerates gluten well — use a bread maker if you need to save time.

Sample Weekly Meal Plan:

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal with flavorings. Experiment with cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, citrus zest, chopped nuts, cacao powder, fruit, maple syrup, canned pumpkin

Lunch: Green smoothie with coconut water, banana, nut butter, maca powder, spirulina, greens (kale or spinach), honey, vanilla, bee pollen

Dinner: Rice and beans (rotate through flavor profiles)

Tuesday

Breakfast: Quinoa with fresh or frozen fruit added halfway through cooking

Lunch: Smoked oysters on crackers

Dinner: Rice and dal

Wednesday

Breakfast: Smoothie – coconut milk base; pineapple, peach, banana or mango; berries; citrus juice; nut butter; honey

Lunch: Hummus and cucumber sandwich on sprouted grain bread

Dinner: Vegetable bean soup

Thursday

Breakfast: Toast with peanut butter, banana, and honey drizzled on top

Lunch: Raw veggies and crackers with hummus

Dinner: Salad with grains and beans — rotate salad greens, grains, beans, toppings, and dressings

Friday

Breakfast: Homemade granola with almond milk

Lunch: Apple slices with peanut butter

Dinner: Canned soup or a frozen entree from Amy’s Kitchen

Saturday

Breakfast: Toast with jam (experiment with different kinds of jam)

Lunch: Salad with grains and beans

Dinner: Seafood stew

Side note, speaking of seafood: why is shellfish allowed, unlike every other type of animal protein? I believe the answer lies in simplicity. My husband has recently fallen in love with crab fishing and mussel and clam harvesting. If you live by the sea as we do, it is so easy to just pick mussels off a rock, dig up clams, or lure some crabs into a hoop net. It’s even easier to boil them up, crack them open and eat them. In Italy, they call seafood “frutti di mare,” fruit of the sea. Much easier than slaying a cow or pig, plucking a chicken, or even cleaning a fish.

Sunday

Breakfast: Fast from midnight before receiving the Lord’s Supper

Lunch: Agape meal after church or potluck with friends

Dinner: Something nice from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen or Fasting Food (another Mediterranean fasting cookbook)

Snacks for anytime: fresh or dried fruit; dates (stuffed or plain); nuts and seeds (roasted and seasoned); banana chips; dairy-free dark chocolate

As you meal plan for each upcoming week, set aside time to go grocery shopping to make sure your pantry and fridge are well stocked. Set aside time each week to prepare these foods so you are never “hangry.” Try not to substitute vegan meat or dairy products, as these are unhealthy, and take away from the seasonal and spiritual quality of eating in a set-apart way during this time of the year.

There are many feast days and even civic holidays which fall during the Nativity Fast. The primary way to observe these should be to attend Church services. However, above and beyond that, we can create family traditions in our own homes. Here are some ideas especially from the Eastern Church (and a few from the West as well) for ways that we can do that during this time—some, but not all, food-related.

On Thanksgiving, pray the Glory to God for All Things Akathist.

On November 24 (Slavic observance) or 25 (Greek observance), read some Church Fathers in honor of St. Catherine, who converted 500 pagan orators to Christianity who had been sent to convince her to apostatize. Or, bake a St. Catherine’s Heart cake.

For St. Barbara on December 4, decorate a gingerbread tower (house) with three windows, or make a pancake tower.

On December 6, sing a carol for St. Nicholas. (Sheet music here) You can also bake Speculaas cookies, and, of course, set out shoes for the children the night before.

On December 7 (St. Ambrose), make plant-based Milanese minestrone soup for dinner, and serve a spoonful of honey, or honey on a slice of freshly baked bread, for dessert. St. Ambrose was the bishop of what is now Milan (Mediolanum back then), and is known as the “honey-tongued.”

On December 12, make loukoumades (Greek donuts) for St. Spyridon of Trimythous (A.D. 348). (Here’s a beautiful children’s book about St. Spyridon!)

On December 13, make spruce tree-shaped cookies for St. Herman, who brought Christianity to the Alaskan Natives in the 18th century, and lived on Spruce Island in Alaska. (Here’s a beautiful children’s book about St. Herman.) December 13 is also St. Lucy’s feast day, so you could also do the Swedish custom of baking gingersnaps or pepperkakor (you could use almond milk and margarine to keep them “fasting”).

On December 24, have a Holy Supper. This is a beautiful and beloved Carpathian tradition.

What are your most favorite symbolic traditions around food during this season, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior?

Curious to learn more?

Learn more about the Orthodox Christian practice of fasting: Fasting for Non-Monastics by Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov

More resources on Orthodox Christian Advent: Orthodox Advent Blogs on Ascetic Life of Motherhood

My favorite cookbooks for cheap, healthy, (mostly) vegetarian recipes:

Good and Cheap
Good Enough
The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen