Food and Sex, Fasting

and Chastity:
Goods of the Body, Goods of the Soul

Catechesis of fasting
By Adam A.J. DeVille

■ In April of 2002—during what Fr. Richard twenty years ago. Such spirituality in the West
John Neuhaus has called the Long Lent of has dealt what he called “a death blow to fast-
2002—the cardinals of the Roman Church in ing, penance, mortification. Today among
the United States went to Rome to meet with contemporary religious one hears more of
Pope John Paul II to discuss the unfolding sex gourmet cooking than of fasting—a striking
abuse crisis. The pope called for the crisis to counter symbol to anyone even superficially
yield fruit in a holier priesthood, holier epis- acquainted with the spiritual literature at the
copate, and holier Church. While such a pro- origins of religious life.”1 Given such a con-
cess of theosis and sanctification has myriad text, is it any wonder that many simply imag-
manifestations, I am convinced that there are ine that fasting has been abolished—or, if it
few better ways to do that than through the has not been, then it should be since we mod-
ancient and venerable practice of fasting. erns are too busy to subject ourselves to such
In our day, we have become so estranged discipline. Others think that simple abstinence
from this practice that the very word is often a from certain foods—usually flesh meats—
source of complete bafflement to many. Fast- once a week is really all that is meant or re-
ing is more often misunderstood and simply quired. There is, then, widespread ignorance
ignored than we realize. Most Christians today about fasting, and we need to undertake anew
in the West are radically estranged from the an entire “catechesis of fasting,” so to speak.2
theology and spirituality of fasting, and it is The consequences of the downplaying, or
rarely, if ever, mentioned in the churches today. outright destruction, of such ascetic practices as
Gone is the necessary eschatological horizon fasting are not to be underestimated in the life
against which fasting makes sense. Today we of the soul and, perforce, of the Church at large.
seem to prefer a much more “incarnational Many of the leaders of the churches today seem
spirituality,” as the pre-eminent Byzantine still to believe in a “Christianity Lite,” premised
liturgical historian, Robert Taft, S.J., argued upon the fiction that everybody is so busy these
6 HOMILETIC & PASTORAL REVIEW
days that we cannot possibly propose to them a If we look to Orthodoxy for guidance on fast-
serious, disciplined, time-consuming religion: ing, what do we find? The Eastern Churches
better to give them a little bit and let them get of the Byzantine tradition—in addition to fast-
on their way. We have proposed minimal de- ing each Wednesday and Friday,7 since Christ
mands and therefore achieved minimal, often was betrayed on the former and died on the
spectacularly pathetic, results. The paradox is latter—know four major fasting periods of the
this: ask a little, get less, but ask a lot, and get year: the pre-Christmas fast, popularly known
more.3 People want to be challenged; people are as St. Philip’s fast (on the evening of whose
waiting, sometimes eagerly, to make what Pope feast it begins), which lasts for forty days prior
John Paul II calls the “total gift of self.” They to the celebration of the Nativity of Christ; the
simply need to be asked—and if they are not Great Fast of Lent, the longest, most solemn
asked then alternatives are awaiting them, and and important of the fasting seasons, begin-
they are almost invariably deleterious. The as- ning at Forgiveness Vespers prior to Pure
tonishing growth of, e.g., Mormonism—with Monday, lasting for 40 days prior to Palm
its serious disciplines and demands—and other Sunday, and then being supplanted by a still
cults is proof enough of this.4 more rigorous observance for Holy Week it-
Recovery of the practice of fasting in a self; the Apostles’ Fast, beginning after Pen-
Western context will not be easy—and not tecost and leading up to the celebration of Sts.
simply because obesity is rising at alarming Peter and Paul on June 29th; and the Dormi-
rates in North America. An entire “catechesis tion Fast beginning in August and lasting until
of fasting,” so to speak, needs to be undertak- the celebration of the Dormition of the Theo-
en anew to reacquaint our people with this tokos, August 15th (the feast the West calls the
highly valued and valuable ascetic practice. Assumption of Mary). The particular details
Let us begin with some history of fasting be- of each fast vary both from church to church
fore looking at some of the related concerns (e.g., the Copts are among the most strict, and
that need to be addressed and then conclud- have additional requirements over and above
ing with some practical reflections. the Byzantine tradition) and from place to
Where do we turn to find a renewed under- place, but in general terms, taking the exam-
standing of fasting and all that it entails? ple of Great Lent, the following may be said.
In his recent book Christendom Awake: On In the first place, the most important lesson
Reenergizing the Church in Culture, the Eng- about fasting is that taught by Christ in the gos-
lish Dominican scholar Aidan Nichols argued pels: fasting is not to make us gloomy! It is not
that since so many practices and teachings of a bitter, excruciating ordeal: “And whenever you
the West have been lost or deliberately de- fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites . . .
stroyed in the last forty years especially, there But when you fast, put oil on your head and
is a need to turn ad Orientem and look to the wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen
Orthodox Churches,5 which have preserved not by others but by your Father” (Matt. 6:16-
both right doctrine and sound practices: 17). Already the note is sounded: fasting, while
At the present time, the Catholic Church, in many a form of self-denial, is nonetheless a cause of
parts of the world, is undergoing one of the most our joy and it is this joy, rather than the fast, that
serious crises in its history…. This crisis touches we should manifest to the world. As the late
many aspects of Church life, but notably theolo- Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann
gy and catechesis, liturgy and spirituality, Reli-
gious [sic] life and Christian ethics at large. Ortho- wrote in his For the Life of the World:
doxy is well placed to stabilize Catholicism in The Church is in time and its life in this world is
most if not all these areas.6 fasting, that is, a life of effort, sacrifice, self-denial

FEBUARY 2004 7
 because it leads to the light of the Risen Christ,
but it is sad because we are called upon to weep
over our sins and do penance for them. Fasting,
then, is not only a cause of joy but is undeniably
an act of penance—but a penance never under-
taken out of guilt or loathing, but only in joy.
Penance in the East is understood different-
ly than it has been in the West, where a more
juridical mentality has often been prevalent.
(There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of Eve-
and dying. The Church’s very mission is to be- lyn Waugh carrying around a small kitchen
come all things to all men. But how could the
Church fulfill this mission, how could it be the scale during Lent in the 1950s to weigh all his
salvation of the world, if it were not, first of all and meals to ensure he did not infringe on the reg-
above everything else, the divine gift of Joy, the ulations then in force in the Roman Church!)
fragrance of the Holy Spirit, the presence here in Penance, as Schmemann has said by way of a
time of the feast of the Kingdom?8
reflection on the Prodigal Son, is less an act of
Schmemann expands on the joy of fasting reparation for infractions committed than it is
in his later book, the short but very rich Great a “deep desire to return, to go back, to recover
Lent: Journey to Pascha. In what Eastern the- that lost home.”12 If sin, as Schmemann has put
ologians regard as an antinomy—one of many it, is “the deviation of my love from God, pre-
that marks out the Christian life as one of ferring the ‘far country’ to the beautiful home
paradox—fasting, Schmemann argues, “rather of the Father,”13 then penance is that therapia
than weakening us makes us light, concentrat- which helps me come to my senses and realize
ed, sober, joyful, pure.”9 what I have lost and what I need to do to re-
This note of joy resounds throughout the cover it. Penance, in the final analysis, heals
Byzantine liturgical texts of Great Lent. Un- us in order that we might forget about our-
like the West, where the Gloria and the allelu- selves. In Taft’s words, penance is “not a turn-
ias are suppressed during Lent, the Byzantine ing in on self, not a concentration on self-dis-
tradition re-doubles its singing of alleluias10 cipline as some sort of spiritual athletics, but
because it finds joy in the fast, but, more to the an openness to new life, and through it open-
point, finds joy in the goal of the fast: risen life ness to others, the end to which it is all sup-
in and with Christ. In the Triodion, the major posed to lead.”14
liturgical book of Great Lent, we are exhort- Precisely to open us to new life, the Church
ed thus: “Let us receive the announcement of has always recommended fasting in a variety
Lent with joy! The time of Lent is a time of of forms. Some clarification of terms is here
gladness! With radiant purity and pure love, needed. First, when the Eastern Churches
filled with resplendent prayer and all good speak of fasting, that often means two things.
deeds, let us sing with joy!” Lent, like Chris- First, it includes abstinence, i.e., refraining
tianity properly so called, is incompatible with from eating certain types of foods—usually
a morose sadness; the only sadness we can flesh meats. Abstinence from meat is the tra-
have—that over our sins—is tempered by the ditional rule on almost all Wednesdays and
joy that knows no end, the joy that Christ Fridays of the year.15 During the four fasting
wants to give us abundantly.11 periods, however, abstinence can also include
Such a joy has led Schmemann to dub Great all animal products whatsoever, and thus in-
Lent a time of “bright sadness.” It is bright clude dairy—as well as oil and alcohol. The

8 HOMILETIC & PASTORAL REVIEW

latter two, however, are permitted on week- er, is not how much is demanded, but how
ends—when fasting is forbidden but absti- much we can give. Each person considers his
nence still pertains—and certain feast days, own circumstance and, with spiritual counsel,
such as the Annunciation. decides what to observe. As one author has put
Second, “fasting” includes both abstinence it, “the main thought which runs like a thread
as well as limiting the intake of food to one throughout the pages of the Typicon is wise
meal a day. Thus, under the shorthand of “fast- discretion—the highest of all the virtues ac-
ing,” the strict, traditional rule for Great Lent16 cording to St. Anthony the Great.”18 There is
in particular mandates both an abstinence room for the maximalist and the minimalist,
from all animal products (only fish, without a and everyone in between as our conscience
backbone, may be eaten) together with a fast directs. As the hieromonk Seraphim Rose has
whereby one eats usually only one meal a day observed, the fast is not to be a “straight-
which is simple in its preparation (i.e., should jacket” for us but, rather, the “gold standard”
involve a minimum of cooking so that the against which each individual can measure his
time saved can be devoted to prayer and the own progress in all humility.
poor) and not eaten until after 3:00 p.m. (the The Eastern Church has never expected
hour of Jesus’ death on the Cross). However, that everyone will undertake this fast, and in
insofar as one is able, one should not eat until many cases, people positively should not
after the Lenten Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified undertake the fast if, e.g., they are sick or
Gifts, typically held in the early evening, like pregnant. In addition, Tradition has always
the Vespers service it basically is. As fasting counseled that what is most important in
makes such demands on us, the Church offers determining how to fast is to consult with
us the celestial food of the Divine Eucharist one’s spiritual father or mother and to seek his
more often during Great Lent to sustain us on or her direction and follow that rigorously. For
our journey toward Pascha. pride can often lurk behind our desire to fast.
This is the strict, traditional rule—fasting Better to observe a small fast with much
and abstinence—but the Eastern genius has humility and under obedience than a large one
always been to allow much diversity and free- with great pride. As the Triodion memorably
dom, tempering also the “rule” with a spirit of puts it, “In vain do you rejoice in not eating,
oikonomia that takes account of human weak- O soul! For you abstain from food, but from
ness.17 This fast, then, is not juridically im- passions you are not purified. If you have no
posed in all its rigor. Many people today will desire for improvement, you will be despised
only observe abstinence from meat on Wed- as a lie in the eyes of God.”
nesdays and Fridays, and both abstinence and In addition to a fast from food, the Eastern
fasting on Pure Monday (the day Great Lent tradition has also counseled the purification of
begins, typically occurring—for those on the our passions through a “fast” for the other sens-
Gregorian paschalion—two days before the es. Inter alia, Schmemann counsels a fast to
Western Ash Wednesday) as well as Great and “control our speech”19 so that we can recover
Holy Friday. More strict observance is typi- a measure of silence in our spiritual life with-
cal in monastic communities, as well as in out which we cannot hear the voice of the Lord.
parts of some Slavic countries like Ukraine— Fr. Lev Gillet mentions other fasts and their
as well as the Middle East (especially among rationale in his The Year of Grace of the Lord:
the Copts in Egypt). Is it possible to keep one’s attention concentrated
At first glance, the traditional fast looks on Jesus, to look towards him, if one turns to danc-
overwhelming. The point to consider, howev- ing, the radio, television, films, the theatre or nov-

FEBUARY 2004 9
els for one’s pleasure? And I am not speaking only bread to the hungry and welcome to our homes
of erotic novels or entertainments; even things those who have no roof over their heads.”
which, in themselves, are not bad…distract our
attention from the Saviour, and make us insensitive Of the additional prayer encouraged of the
to His presence. A saint can find Jesus everywhere, faithful during Great Lent in particular, none
but this is difficult for the ordinary Christian.20 is so beloved or well known as the Prayer of
St. Ephrem, recited several times a day with
In addition, there has been a pious tradition
full prostrations:
—at one time canonically required, at least of
clerics—for husband and wife to abstain from O Lord and Master of my life!
conjugal relations during some or all of Great Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-hearted-
ness, lust of power and idle talk
Lent. This is premised upon the belief not that But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility,
sex is bad (as the French Orthodox layman Paul patience and love to Thy servant.
Evdokimov once put it, “Under the grace of the Yes, O Lord and King!
sacrament, the sexual life is lived without caus- Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge
my brother;
ing the slightest decline of the inner life”) but For Thou are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.
precisely that it is a good to be freely, joyfully
given up for a greater good and larger share in “But give rather the spirit of chastity.” This
the joy God wants to bestow. prayer becomes all the more important in a time
In sum, as various scholars remind us, fast- of crisis for the Roman Catholic Church in the
ing, like all forms of discipline, “is not a pitting United States in particular. Permit me to con-
of the spirit against the flesh, but rather body clude with a personal example that I trust will
and soul united together against sin, body and make clear the link between sex and fasting that
soul converted together to the Lord. The whole I myself have learned and continue to learn.
man must cooperate with God’s grace. The A few years ago, when I first attempted the
whole man must love the Lord.”21 Far from full, traditional fast in all its rigor, I fully
being against the body—as many dime store expected that I would last, at most, for a day
commentators on Christianity would suggest— or two but no more. The prospect of no meat
true “Christian asceticism is a fight, not against (let alone no dairy or anything else) made me
but for the body.”22 The body is valuable and a almost want to weep. With Chesterton, I be-
precious gift of the Creator—who Himself of lieve that “Catholicism is a thick steak, a frost-
course took on human flesh—but its value is ed stout, and a good cigar,” and the idea of
only recognizable paradoxically when it is not giving up any of those was unbearably hard
pampered but denied, as in fasting: “fasting in enough even to think about. So I figured I was
Christianity is only truly itself when it realizes in for a fiendishly difficult time and would
the sacredness of the body.”23 scarcely make it through the first few days
In addition to the rigors of the various fasts, before throwing up my hands in disgust at my
especially those in Great Lent, the Eastern weakness. I was in for a surprise.
Churches also encourage those other crucial What I found in that fast, and have found in
concomitants of fasting, viz., prayer and works subsequent years, was a great gift. God gave
of charity. As Schmemann puts it, “fasting as a me the grace to undertake that fast and to stick
physical effort is totally meaningless without its to it. Far from crawling along, fighting every
spiritual counterpart: ‘by fasting and prayer.’”24 urge and hunger pang every hour of every day,
Moreover, the Triodion reminds Eastern Chris- the fast progressed with a serenity that I could
tians of their obligations not only to fast and pray not expect and did indeed make me much
but also to “loose every knot of iniquity, let us more—to borrow Fr. Schmemann’s words
tear up every unrighteous bond, let us distribute once more—”light, concentrated, joyful” and,

10 HOMILETIC & PASTORAL REVIEW

yes, “pure.”25 Indeed, on that latter point I dis- ing Son, may we receive the gift of fasting as
covered something I could learn no other way just such a practice that unites, purifies, and
except by fasting: the struggle to be pure and strengthens us as the one Body of Christ. In
chaste—especially as a single male in our our day more than ever, we need to make a
world, full as it is of temptations at every turn— resolution to fast and purify ourselves and the
has much to learn from the struggle to fast. For Church, in the process receiving the gift of joy
if one can give up food, which the body ab- and new life at Pascha, where we may sing—
solutely requires to stay alive, then one can cer- in the words of the paschal tropar so beloved
tainly give up the attachment to the sensual pas- by Eastern Christians: “Christ is risen from
sions—which, contrary to our world, one does the dead, trampling down death by death, and
not need to indulge to stay alive. (As Waugh on those in the tombs bestowing life!” ■
once wrote, “People today say you cannot be
happy unless your sex life is happy. That makes Notes
about as much sense as saying you cannot be 1
Robert Taft, Beyond East and West: Problems
happy unless your golf life is happy. It’s not
in Liturgical Understanding, 2nd revised ed. (Rome:
only nonsense, it’s mischievous nonsense.”)
Pontifical Oriental Institute, 2001), 73.
Pope John Paul has called on us to build a 2
For a general sociological overview of religion
holier Church, and in his 1995 letter Orien- and fasting, see Kathleen M. Dugan, “The Place of
tale Lumen, exhorted Latin Catholics in par- Fasting in the Christian Tradition,” Journal of the
ticular to learn from their Eastern brethren so American Academy of Religion 63 (1995): 539-548.
that the Church can again breathe with both For the biblical perspective on fasting, see Curtic C.
lungs. From the East, then, source of the ris- Mitchell, “The Practice of Fasting in the New Tes-

FEBUARY 2004 11
tament,” Bibliotheca Sacra 147(1990): 455-69; and tions of the Divine Liturgy, whose paschal charac-
Susan Mathews, “The Biblical Evidence on Fast- ter makes it inappropriate for the weekdays of
ing,” Diakonia 24 (1991): 93-108. For fasting in the Great Lent; it is celebrated only on major feasts and
early Fathers, see Joan L. Roccasivo, “Fasting in the weekends. In its place, the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanc-
Primitive Church,” Diakonia 30 (1997): 107-118; tified Gifts is offered instead—which is basically
and for fasting in early canonical sources, see Ioan Vespers with Holy Communion attached. Other
Dura, “The Canons of the Sixth Ecumenical Synod liturgical manifestations of a Lenten spirit include
Concerning Fasting and Their Application to the Pre- the use of different tones in the chanting of services,
sent Needs of the Orthodox Faithful,” Greek Ortho- the increase in both number and length of services,
dox Theological Review 40 (1995): 149-64. and a markedly different content to the lesser hours,
3
I have argued this paradox elsewhere. See my especially Sext and None, when the life of St. John
“When Sects Put us to Shame: The Enfeeblement Climacus is read in addition to extra Psalmody and
of the Church,” Catholic Insight, vol. XI, no.1 (Jan- Old Testament readings.
11
uary-February 2003): 36-39. Cf. John 15:11.
4 12
As Dugan puts it, “Paradoxically, as Christians Schmemann, Great Lent, 22.
13
fast less, we are meeting people who persist in this Ibid.
14
practice as an essential component of their devotions. Taft, Beyond East and West, 76.
15
The years fasts of Ramadan and Yom Kippur . . . There are four exceptions: meat on Wednes-
among Muslims and Jews . . . [and] the Buddhist and days and Fridays is permitted during Bright (East-
Hindu communities demonstrate their profound er) Week, Pentecost Week, Meatfare Week, and
response to the spiritual life in frequent and rigorous Christmas Week.
16
fasting.” Dugan, “The Place of Fasting,” 547. For more on this, see Andrwe Erastov, “The
5
Such a consideration of Orthodoxy is certain- Rules of the Typicon Concerning Fasting During
ly not undertaken in a triumphalistic or sanctimo- Great Lent,” Orthodox Life 43 (1993): 14-17.
17
nious manner since many Orthodox—in some For more on oikonomia, see Dura, “The
cases even more than Catholics—have also ne- Canons of the Six Ecumenical Synod Concerning
glected the tradition of fasting. Fasting,” 160-163.
6 18
Aidan Nichols, Christendom Awake: On Re- Erastov, “The Rules of the Typicon Concern-
energizing the Church in Culture (Grand Rapids: ing Fasting,” 15.
19
Eerdmans, 1999), 183. Schmemann, Great Lent, 104.
7 20
A practice for which some evidence is to be Lev Gillet, The Year of Grace: A Scriptural
found as early as the Shepherd of Hermas, c. 120 A.D and Liturgical Commentary on the Calendar of the
8
Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the Orthodox Church, trans. Deborah Cowan (Crest-
World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (Crestwood, NY: wood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2000 [1963]), 59. [original English edition: 1980], 240.
9 21
Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent: Journey Susan Mathews, “The Biblical Evidence of
to Pascha (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Semi- Fasting,”106.
22
nary Press, 2001 [1969]), 98. Schmemann, Great Lent, 38.
10 23
Liturgically, however, the Byzantine tradition Dugan, “Fasting for Life,”548.
24
manifests a Lenten spirit not by suppressing the joy Schmemann, Great Lent, 97
25
of the services but by “fasting” from full celebra- Schmemann, Great Lent, 98.

Adam A.J. DeVille, a sub-deacon in Eparchy of Toronto of the Ukrain-

ian Catholic Church, is a Ph.D. student at the Metropolitan Andriy Shep-
tytsky Institute for Eastern Christian Studies at St. Paul University,
Ottawa, Canada and the text editor for Logos: A Journal of Eastern Chris-
tian Studies. He was married in August 2003.

12 HOMILETIC & PASTORAL REVIEW