Keeping the Great Fast

Feasts falling during the Fast

During the Great Fast, a feast which falls on a weekday is often "transferred" to a day on which the Divine Liturgy can be celebrated. (Some of the Sunday commemorations of saints are actually "transferred" from their original days in the calendar of saints when those fall during the Fast.)

However, if the feast of the Annunciation falls during the Great Fast, it is not transferred; neither is the Divine Liturgy of the feast celebrated during the morning on a weekday. Instead, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the evening of the feast day itself, preceded by Vespers. Thus, the Church celebrates the great feast of the Annunciation with full solemnity, but in such a way that the daily fast is not broken until the evening.

Keeping the Fast

To keep a good fast, we should begin with the things that the Church points out to us in the weeks that precede the Fast: a desire for God; humility before Him; a desire to return from the exile into which our sins have drawn us; a remembrance of the Last Judgment, and our Lord's words, "Whatsoever you have done for the least of my brothers, you did for me"; and a desire to forgive, and be forgiven.

The Church presents us with a required minimum of bodily fasting, and traditional recommendations that go beyond these. Any fasting, of course, is best done under the guidance of a spiritual father; it must take into account our own capacities, and must be done in a way that minimizes pride in our own "accomplishments", as well as any tendency to pay attention to what others do. We can also remove unnecessary distractions from our lives to "make room for God."

We can attend the Church's services, on weekdays as well as Sundays, listening to the readings and prayers. We can receive the Mystery of Repentance, and also take advantage of opportunities to be nourished with the Bread of Life in the mystery of Holy Communion.

Perhaps even more important, we can take time to foster our own personal prayer. We can learn what it is that God asks of us, and ask Him for the strength and courage to do it. Regular reading of the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, can be a great aid in this process.

Finally, by Lenten spiritual reading, through missions, homilies and sermons, and by paying attention to the Church's services as well as God's voice in our hearts and our lives, we can come to appreciate and make our own the "bright sadness" of the Lenten springtime of the Great Fast, which leads to Pascha.

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.)

Feasts falling on a weekday during the Great Fast are often transferred to a day when the Divine Liturgy can be celebrated.

The feast of the Annunciation is not transferred if it falls during the Great Fast.

One initial desire the Church points out is a desire for God.

We should also remove unnecessary distractions from our lives to "make room for God"

Regular reading of the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, can be a great aid in understanding what God asks of us.