Fasting seasons: the rhythm of the Orthodox year

The Orthodox year moves in a rhythm of feasting and fasting. Four longer fasts prepare the faithful for the great feasts: Great Lent before Pascha, the Nativity Fast before the Nativity of Christ, the Apostles' Fast, and the Dormition Fast in August. Most Wednesdays and Fridays are also kept as fast days.

Fasting in the Orthodox tradition is not a diet and not a punishment. It is training of the will — a way of loosening the grip of habit so that prayer, almsgiving, and attention to others have room to grow. The Church's guidance is a common standard, applied with discernment: children, the sick, travelers, and those new to the faith are guided gently by their priest.

The fasts are also profoundly communal. Parishes serve special services — the Presanctified Liturgy in Great Lent, the canon of Saint Andrew of Crete — and families share simple meals. What begins as discipline ripens into joy: the feast is brighter for the fast that came before it.