What’s The Deal With Fasting?
The Rev. Michael K. Templin / Lent, 2023, Issue 6
Perhaps for many of you, fasting ordered by the Church is a new thing! In the Old Testament, there were many times when fasts were ordered for God’s people, and sometimes they were undertaken by communities that were not God’s covenant people (i.e., Book of Jonah). Jesus and his followers were accused of feasting and not fasting by the Pharisees, but Jesus told the Pharisees it was not right to fast while the Bridegroom was there, but when the Bridegroom was taken away, then will they fast (Mark 2:18-20). Jesus compared his earthly presence to a “wedding feast”; therefore, on days when Holy Communion is ordered (festivals and Sundays), the Church does not normally fast but celebrates the “wedding feast of the Lamb.”
Part of Jesus’ response does indicate that there will be a time when the Bridegroom is taken away (i.e., his death and ascension), and the Church would then begin to fast again. Moreover, Jesus gives us a glimpse of these coming fasts when he fasted for forty days in the wilderness (Mark 1:12-13). By the end of the First Century, the apostolic communities had taken on a weekly fast on Wednesday and Friday (Didache, chap. 8), and prior to Holy Baptism (Didache, chap. 7). In the Council of Nicea 325 AD, the Church had a universal season of fasting called Lent (Canon 5). This fast eventually became a forty-day endeavor in the Western Church - starting on Ash Wednesday through Easter Eve, not including Sundays. This forty-day observance is what we find in the Book of Common Prayer (1928 BCP, p. Li).
E.M. Green in her classic The Archbishop’s Test (1914) describes the traditional Anglican understanding of what constitutes a fast and what does not:
My Lord Archbishop, I feel that I must write to tell your Grace what has happened. Till this year I acquiesced in the idea that it was impossible really to fast during the forty days of Lent, and I imagined that I did all that was needful by abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, giving up my pipe, and a few other things. But your desire that the Prayer Book should be obeyed showed me that I had no more right to put my own ideas on fasting in the place of the rules of the Prayer Book than I had to reason that parochial visitation could take the place of the Daily Offices. So I just took fasting to mean what it used to mean and I had one meal a day. Of course at first it was not easy, but I got along all right.”-(Chap. 5).
Thus, a traditional understanding of fasting for Anglican Christians is to refrain from two meals per day and eat only one. Some have made this meal meatless, some only eat bread, others with fish, while others eat whatever they’d like in the evening. The main objective is to fast from food so you can indulge in prayer. Our 1928 BCP directs fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the forty days of Lent, the Ember Days of the four seasons, and every Friday in the Christian year (except between Christmas and the Epiphany). Often, people give up smoking, alcohol, chocolate, social media, etc. While these things are really good to let go of, we must remember that obedience to the original meaning of the Prayer Book really expects food to be given up during the day. If giving up two meals a day is too much, try starting out with one, or even eat light snacks instead of meals. It should be noted that little children, nursing mothers, those who labor, people on special medicine, and the very aged are not expected to fast in the same way. Do what you can safely do in those situations, and perhaps the earlier mention of fasting from “things” rather than meals might be more appropriate. The ultimate goal is to pray more and to spend less on food and things so you can give alms to the poor - ultimately, fasting leads to prayer, Christian charity, and a deeper reliance on God.
Finally, I’d like to return to the theme of the “Domestic Church.” The Prayer Book calls for “extraordinary acts and exercises of devotion” on these fasting days. We have a wonderful resource in the Daily Offices (1928 BCP, pp. 3-34) that can help accomplish that. If you’re already praying the offices, then spend time contemplating the readings afterward. Join a bible study, help out in a ministry, volunteer at the food pantry, go to confession, or show up for midweek Eucharists, etc. The sky is truly the limit - but remember the goal is not to “do more”; rather, these things help us foster a holy love for Christ and his bride. Make it a holy habit to spend time in prayer each night with your family. Use the Family Prayers (1928 BCP, pp. 587-593) to your advantage. As you gather each night for dinner, prepare simpler meals than usual. This is a great way to introduce the concept of fasting to your children (and to yourself!). Moreover, explain the “whys” to your kids - we don’t want empty rituals. As you have your bible time with your family, focus on scriptural stories that are about perseverance in faith, repentance, forgiveness, fasting, almsgiving, and even hardship. It’s good to remind ourselves and our families about the cost of discipleship.
O LORD, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday in Lent)
The Rev. Michael K. Templin serves as assisting priest at St. Benedict’s Anglican Church and serves at the Reformed Episcopal cathedral Church of the Holy Communion in Dallas Texas.
