An Overview of the Byzantine Catholic Great Fast

The Great Fast

The Great Fast (Slavonic Velikij Post', or Svjata Chetyredesjatnica, "holy forty days") is our annual preparation for the feast of Pascha. In English, it is often referred to as Holy Lent, from the Anglo-Saxon word for springtime, Lencten.

The Church's hymns and prayers for the Great Fast, as well as for the preparatory weeks leading up to it, are found in the liturgical book called the Triodion. Thus, the Great Fast and the weeks before it are sometimes called the Time of the Triodion.

The Great Fast begins on Monday of the seventh week before Pascha; it lasts for forty days, ending on Friday of the sixth week of the Fast. (The forty days of the Fast are shown in light purple in the table below.) The following eight days (Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday, and the days of Great Holy Week) are not counted as part of the Great Fast.

Historical note: The 40-day fast was originally "counted back" from the Friday before Pascha (Great and Holy Friday), since the following day (Great and Holy Saturday) was the day for solemn baptism. In Constantinople, the home of the Byzantine Rite, the usual date for solemn baptism was moved a week earlier, to Lazarus Saturday, and the Fast was also moved a week earlier, to its present position in the calendar.

The Great Fast as our annual renewal

In the early Church, baptism of new believers was celebrated solemnly on certain days of the year; the time leading up to these baptismal days was used for the instruction and spiritual preparation of the candidates for baptism, who were called catechumens. In the second century, Saint Justin Martyr wrote:

Those who believe in the truth of our teaching, first of all, promise to live according to that teaching. Then we teach them how to pray and entreat God with fasting for the remission of their sins; and we (the faithful) pray and fast with them, too. (I Apology, 61).

This preliminary fasting lasted for a few days, or a week, but was fixed at forty days by the fourth century AD. 

Renewing our baptismal commitment

In both the Old and New Testaments, the number forty has important associations of purification and preparation:

• In the time of Noah, the Lord sent forty days of rain to wash away the wickedness that had entered the world (Genesis 7:11-12). 
• The people of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness, being prepared by God to enter the Promised Land, and Moses went up Mount Sinai for forty days, "without eating or drinking", to be given the details of the Covenant (Exodus 34:28).
• The prophet Elijah walked for forty days, fasting, to Mount Horeb, in order to come before God (1 Kings 19:8). 
• Our Lord fasted in the wilderness for forty days beween his baptism and the beginning of his public ministry (Matthew 4:2). 

Al these make a forty-day fast eminently suitable for a time of preparation for baptism - and for those already baptized to reflect on and renew the commitment to their baptismal covenant with God.

Renewing our understanding of the Old Testament

During the forty days before baptism, the catechumens received daily instruction in the Faith - particularly readings from the Old Testament, with an explanation of God's works among the Jewish people, their expectation of a Messiah, and how this expectation was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. They were taught how to pray, and how to conduct themselves according to Christian ideals. The rest of the faithful were encouraged to take part in these spiritual exercises as well.

This is why the Great Fast is not only a renewal of our respect for baptism, but also of our connection with the Old Testament. Each day, at Vespers, we hear lessons from the historical and wisdom books of the Old Testament (particularly Genesis, Exodus, and Proverbs). At the Sixth Hour (noonday prayer), we listen to prophecies of the Messiah (from Isaiah and Job) and his suffering and eventual glorification. During Holy Week, the Church will show us more ways in which our Lord's suffering, death and Resurrection are the fulfillment of the plan of salvation begun under the Old Covenant.

The three aspects of the Fast

According to Byzantine tradition, the discipline of the fast consists of three parts:

1. Corporal (bodily) fast, by which we give up certain foods, drinks and amusements, in order to break the hold that such things may have over us. See Fasting and Vigils in the Life of the Church.
2. Spiritual or internal fast, by which we seek to turn from any sin, wickedness or evil habits in our lives, so that we may come into God's presence well-prepared to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection and our redemption.
3. Spiritual renewal, by which we seek a greater practice of the virtues, a deeper life of prayer, repentance for our sins, and a greater conversion (metanoia) of heart, which manifests itself in good works. All of these are oriented to a deeper union with God – theosis.

The Lenten discipline is summarized in the Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, which is recited by the clergy and faithful at the weekday services in the Church's fasts, including the Great Fast:

Lord and Master of my life,
spare me from the spirit of indifference, despair,
lust for power, and idle chatter.

Instead, bestow on me, your servant,
the spirit of integrity, humility, patience, and love.

Yes, O Lord and King, let me see my own sins
and not judge my brothers and sisters; 
for you are blessed forever and ever. Amen.

This prayer is often accompanied by prostrations - deep bows to the ground, made after each section of the Prayer of Saint Ephrem, or once at the end.

Source: https://mci.archpitt.org/liturgy/Great_Fast.html

Recommended Reading

• The Great Forty Days Fast (Great Lent) - A Traditional Custom of the Byzantine Rite. Byzantine Leaflet Series, No. 13. (Pittsburgh: Byzantine Seminary Press, 1979).
• Father Alexander Schmemann. Great Lent. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1969.)
• Father Basil Shereghy. The Liturgical Year of the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite. (Pittsburgh, PA: Byzantine Seminary Press, 1968.) 
  
• A Monk of the Eastern Church (Father Lev Gilet). The Year of Grace of the Lord. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001.)

The forty days of the Great Fast begin on Monday of the seventh week before Pascha and end on Friday of the sixth week before Pascha. Sundays are included in the count of forty days. The subsequent eight days, including Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday, and the days of Great Holy Week, are not counted as part of the initial forty-day fast.

The Great Fast is also known as Velikij Post' (Slavonic), Svjata Chetyredesjatnica ("holy forty days" in Slavonic), and Holy Lent (from the Anglo-Saxon word for springtime, Lencten). These names highlight the duration of the fast and its association with spiritual purification and the renewal of spring.

Originally, the 40-day fast was counted back from the Friday before Pascha (Great and Holy Friday) because the following day (Great and Holy Saturday) was the traditional day for solemn baptism in the early Church. The fast served as a period of spiritual preparation for those about to be baptized.

Forty days of rain during Noah's time to wash away wickedness. Forty years the people of Israel spent in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. Moses spending forty days on Mount Sinai to receive the Covenant.

The three aspects of the fast in Byzantine tradition are: corporal fast (abstaining from certain foods and amusements), spiritual or internal fast (turning away from sin and evil habits), and spiritual renewal (increasing virtuous practices, prayer, repentance, and good works leading to theosis).