Do Eastern Catholics fast like the Orthodox?

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It probably doesn’t help much, but the way I understand it (please note I am not Eastern Catholic or Orthodox but Roman Catholic: but I love the East and it’s theology and tradition and I research a lot) is that some do, and some don’t.
I would also say, that the way I understand it, most Eastern Catholics fast like the Orthodox at least in regards
to the Eucharistic Fast and the great Fasts during the year (like the Apostle’s Fast or something). Wednesday and Friday, I don’t know what they do 😃

I think more people ought to take a leaf out of our Eastern brothers’ book with regard to
fasting, abstinence, almsgiving, and penance of the like.

Roman Catholic requirements are completely lax compared to the East. But that doesn’t mean these practices are forbidden or abolished.
And the suggestion to do some of the more “hard-core” penance remains. So…anyway…

Sorry for yapping 😛 God bless you!
 
SpiritFire said:
It probably doesn’t help much, but the way I understand it (please note I am not Eastern Catholic or Orthodox but Roman Catholic: but I love the East and it’s theology and tradition and I research a lot) is that some do, and some don’t.
I would also say, that the way I understand it,** most Eastern Catholics fast like the Orthodox at least in regards
to the Eucharistic Fast and the great Fasts** during the year (like the Apostle’s Fast or something). Wednesday and Friday, I don’t know what they do 😃

I think more people ought to take a leaf out of our Eastern brothers’ book with regard to
fasting, abstinence, almsgiving, and penance of the like.

**Roman Catholic requirements are completely lax compared to the East. But that doesn’t mean these practices are forbidden or abolished. **
And the suggestion to do some of the more “hard-core” penance remains. So…anyway…

Sorry for yapping 😛 God bless you!
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I agree with what you’ve said:), bolding mine.

There is a lot of great writing on fasting from the Eastern perspective. One writer I like on this is +Fr. Alexander Schmemann of blessed memory. You can see a section of his writing on googlebooks “The Two Meanings of Fasting” (contents-> pg 490) from his wonderful book Great Lent (used $4.42… buy it 👍)

My parish uses the same calendar as the OCA. This includes that the majority of Wednesdays and Fridays are “pink”/fasting, tho some are fast free (in the few fast-free weeks) and some allow fish, oil, wine. The calendar is posted on our website and we each receive wall calendars to take home at the end of the year, from St. Tikon’s Seminary Press. How one specifically approaches practices is between you and your spiritual father.
 
I’ve heard it said more than once that the seemingly “extreme” fasting “requirements” of the Eastern Churches (Catholic or Orthodox) are the “ideals” that one strives for…but may not necessarily be obliged to follow to the letter after consulting one’s Spiritual Father. The seemingly extremely "lax Latin requirements, on the other hand, are the absolute bare minimum…with more, at least in theory, encouraged. In the Latin Church it also varies somewhat from country to country. In England and Wales, for example, (Scotland is a separate jurisdiction), the bishops have recently reinstated mandatory abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays. I sincerely hope that the Canadian bishops follow this example in time…
 
I don’t know if Eastern Catholics do but Roman Catholics are asked two twice a year. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday which are both required days of fast and abstinence. :highprayer: It is encouraged by not required on all other Fridays of the year to abstain from meat and do some form of fasting whether it be food,computer, or some act of self-denial. Hope this helps some!🤷
 
Rome_Always said:
I don’t know if Eastern Catholics do but Roman Catholics are asked two twice a year. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday which are both required days of fast and abstinence. :highprayer: It is encouraged by not required on all other Fridays of the year to abstain from meat and do some form of fasting whether it be food,computer, or some act of self-denial. Hope this helps some!🤷
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The problem with “not requiring” is that people won’t fast in such a case. Fasting is spiritual medicine and Bishops are Pastors and 'spiritual physicians" of our souls.

They have no business unprescribing needed spiritual medicine like fasting that will result in nothing but our detriment.

Rules, once in place, can be mitigated through our spiritual Fathers and priests in confession.

But then the onus is on us to “explain” why we don’t fast, rather than what would be a blanket absolution from fasting altogether.

Alex
 
Rome_Always said:
I don’t know if Eastern Catholics do but Roman Catholics are asked two twice a year. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday which are both required days of fast and abstinence. :highprayer: It is encouraged by not required on all other Fridays of the year to abstain from meat and do some form of fasting whether it be food,computer, or some act of self-denial. Hope this helps some!🤷
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It must be noted that all Fridays remain a day of abstinence under the universal law of the Latin Church. Many (most?) episcopal conferences have, with permission of the Holy See, dispensed the faithful from this requirement. As I noted earlier, in England and Wales, the bishops have recently decided to reinstate mandatory abstinence on all Fridays during the year. I sincerely hope that other countries will follow. As Alexander just pointed out, people tend to do nothing at all if not obliged. It must also be noted that even where abstinence is not strictly required, the Church does ask us to substitute some other form of penance on Fridays - Friday is always a day of penance, unless a feast of the Lord or a solemnity happens to fall on a Friday.
 
We Melkite Eastern Catholics are supposed fast during all of Pascha. And we are also supposed (not obligated) to fast two days out of the week.
 
OrdinaryMelkite said:
We Melkite Eastern Catholics are supposed fast during all of Pascha. And we are also supposed (not obligated) to fast two days out of the week.
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You mean Great Lent? Ordinarily Pascha means “Easter”, and fasting is normally forbidden then, during Bright Week.
 
(I’m sure that’s what you meant; I just wanted to clarify for the Roman Catholics here. We don’t fast on Easter!)
 
Rome_Always said:
I don’t know if Eastern Catholics do but Roman Catholics are asked two twice a year. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday which are both required days of fast and abstinence. :highprayer: It is encouraged by not required on all other Fridays of the year to abstain from meat and do some form of fasting whether it be food,computer, or some act of self-denial. Hope this helps some!🤷
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For the Latin Church, the November 18, 1966 norms of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on penitential observance for the Liturgical Year continue in force since they are law and are not contrary to the code (canon 6).

From Nov 18, 1966:

“3. Among the works of voluntary self-denial and personal penance which we especially commend to our people for the future observance of Friday, even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence as binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday, we give first place to abstinence from flesh meat. We do so in the hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to Church law.”

nccbuscc.org/norms/norms.htm

Canon 1251 – Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Canon 1253 – It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

trosch.org/for/the/abs-clws.htm

vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19660217_paenitemini_en.html
usccb.org/norms/12521253.htm
 
I’ve heard that in the East, they give the ideal and a spiritual father can ‘soften’ it for those who aren’t able to follow it… in the West, they give the minimum but we are expected to do more than that. So the approaches are different but the result is supposed to be similar. (if it’s not, that’s through lack of catechesis). In my understanding I’d say the Eastern Catholic approach to fasting is like the Eastern Orthodox approach… as they have kept the Eastern liturgies and traditions.

God bless!
 
Monica4316 said:
I’ve heard that in the East, they give the ideal and a spiritual father can ‘soften’ it for those who aren’t able to follow it… in the West, they give the minimum but we are expected to do more than that. So the approaches are different but the result is supposed to be similar. (if it’s not, that’s through lack of catechesis). In my understanding I’d say the Eastern Catholic approach to fasting is like the Eastern Orthodox approach… as they have kept the Eastern liturgies and traditions.

God bless!
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Yep. 👍
 
I would rename this thread to read: Do Eastern Catholics fast UNLIKE Latin Catholics? 🙂

Alex
 
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