Nativity Fast

[Anhelyna]

I ~think~ not very sure I'll admit since I'm Julian , that we are now into the New Calendar Advent Fast.

I was in a New Calendar EC Church on Sunday and the Priest was speaking very pointedly about the Fast and what it entailed.

With that in mind I hope that you all have a good prayerful Fast - meditating on the Great Feast which will come.

 

[ArmyMatt]

blessed Fast to all!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I swear I'm so dang blasted confused about these fasts! I've been Orthodox since 2012 and I'm STILL confused LOL. I think the Nativity Fast started the 15th on Julian, right? And is it vegan? Ugh. Totally confused because my app isn't showing a darn thing about fasting!?

 

[~Anastasia~]

Lots of fish allowed in the early weeks. I'm a little fuzzy on other details. It started on Sunday for us. (I just realized after I posted that maybe the fish is a Greek thing? Might not be the same for everyone?)

Blessed fast, all! I'm actually kind of excited. After clearing it with my priest, I have guidelines from my SF so that I can finally participate - hopefully. I'm not sure how well I'll do ... but it feels very good to be embrace this part of the faith, or at least try.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I swear I'm so dang blasted confused about these fasts! I've been Orthodox since 2012 and I'm STILL confused LOL. I think the Nativity Fast started the 15th on Julian, right? And is it vegan? Ugh. Totally confused because my app isn't showing a darn thing about fasting!?

I thought you had been much longer, Gurney? Is that a typo - three years? Either way, God bless you and Many Years!

 

[gzt]

For the "Old Calendar" it's the 28th. It's the usual type of fasting, though as already mentioned there are a few more fish days.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

I swear I'm so dang blasted confused about these fasts! I've been Orthodox since 2012 and I'm STILL confused LOL. I think the Nativity Fast started the 15th on Julian, right? And is it vegan? Ugh. Totally confused because my app isn't showing a darn thing about fasting!?

Yes it started the 15th. And the Fasts are always basically the same - just that quite a few days allow for fish during the Nativity Fast. Do you have a calendar that the Serbian dioceses use? I have the OCA one and it's probably the same, but you never know. Today, tomorrow and Friday are regular fasts. Saturday is a Feast Day, so it allows for fish, wine & oil.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

Have a blessed fast dear brethren, may God bless you with spiritual fruits.

 

[truefiction1]

What we have read about the Nativity fast is that fish is aloud on Saturday and Sunday, oil and wine are aloud on Tuesday and Thursday. On certain feasts or saint days falling within the fasting period the fasting could also be relaxed according to jurisdictional guidelines. This we found in the book "These Truths We Hold", written by monk of the Church, at St. Tikhon' s monastery.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Oh, it's different by jurisdiction then.

The Greek calendar I have shows fish days (still strict fast on Wed/Fri) but fish allowed until Dec. 10. After that, there are some wine/oil days, some strict fast, with all strict starting on 12-21. Thanksgiving is a fish day.

But I'm getting my guidelines from my SF, who is Antiochian. I'm hoping he will give me the ok for Thanksgiving though - I hear Antiochians do. If nothing else, I've been invited, and my priest says in that case, you give thanks and graciously eat what's set before you, making no mention of a fast.

I'm actually very interested in the way this changes the Christmas season into a sense of looking forward to Christ's birth in anticipation, instead of what it has become from the sense of my childhood understanding. I'm just getting an inkling of how the Church understands and moves in these things, but it's very beautiful and I feel so blessed to be taking part of it, even in a limited sense.

 

[gzt]

Frankly this season has very little in way of preparation, liturgically. They have a nativity canon as katavasia at matins from 11-21, two Sundays before nativity they start with the forefathers.

 

[truefiction1]

Oh, it's different by jurisdiction then.

The Greek calendar I have shows fish days (still strict fast on Wed/Fri) but fish allowed until Dec. 10. After that, there are some wine/oil days, some strict fast, with all strict starting on 12-21. Thanksgiving is a fish day.

But I'm getting my guidelines from my SF, who is Antiochian. I'm hoping he will give me the ok for Thanksgiving though - I hear Antiochians do. If nothing else, I've been invited, and my priest says in that case, you give thanks and graciously eat what's set before you, making no mention of a fast.

I'm actually very interested in the way this changes the Christmas season into a sense of looking forward to Christ's birth in anticipation, instead of what it has become from the sense of my childhood understanding. I'm just getting an inkling of how the Church understands and moves in these things, but it's very beautiful and I feel so blessed to be taking part of it, even in a limited sense.

Yes, from December 21st onward there is supposed to be strict fasting (you just reminded me that I'd read this also). The OCA is heavily Slavic, as many of us are probably aware, which is likely why the book I read doesn't prescribe fish for a lot of days at the beginning of the fast period. And I hope that you find the Church's version of the Feast of the Nativity to be the way that it would best be experienced by all believers.

 

[truefiction1]

Frankly this season has very little in way of preparation, liturgically. They have a nativity canon as katavasia at matins from 11-21, two Sundays before nativity they start with the forefathers.

I feel that the very climatic changes that always occur during this season go a long way in helping me to be better prepared for spiritual movement in Liturgy. Cooler temps, more darkness, and an overall large reduction in the amount of outdoor activity all seem to be conducive to a more spiritual and meditative mindsett. This is not always so with Pascha when it arrives close to summer, even with its far greater level of liturgical preparation.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Yes, from December 21st onward there is supposed to be strict fasting (you just reminded me that I'd read this also). The OCA is heavily Slavic, as many of us are probably aware, which is likely why the book I read doesn't prescribe fish for a lot of days at the beginning of the fast period. And I hope that you find the Church's version of the Feast of the Nativity to be the way that it would best be experienced by all believers.

Well, I still have to have some modifications, but I am very thankful to my SF. He was able to give me guidelines such that I shouldn't have to worry from a medical standpoint, yet it is not "easy" for me. Up till now I haven't had something that so suited me.

I'm trying to ignore billboards and TV commercials and everything else that comes in visually to be tempting ...




What I really do appreciate is the kind of flip-flop of attitude. I'm sure many of us are familiar with the "Christmas season" at least from a modern American standpoint. I always tried to have a rather low-key season and focus on the birth of Christ in as many ways as I could, but it was still a rather indulgent, celebratory season, culminating in Christmas Day. While my own household never worked this way, I have shared the holiday with my sister, and they typically unwrapped gifts on Christmas Eve (that was the highlight once there was a new generation of children) and there would be a feast dinner on either Christmas Eve or, at latest, Christmas Day lunch. The tree was usually on the curb by Christmas evening, and all reference to the holiday purged.

What I see now is the reverse in many ways. Instead of being indulgent, we are fasting. Instead of celebrating, there is a penitential atmosphere, everyone is encouraged to come to confession, examine ourselves, pray more, cleanse ourselves to be a more fitting reception for our coming Lord. There is a sense of anticipation, not for gifts, but for the birth of Christ. Christmas Day (His Nativity) is not the ceasing of all celebration, but the cause to begin it. It all seems SO MUCH more fitting.

(Ironic, because last year I got my tree finished on Christmas Eve/Day, iirc - and this year I do plan to put it up earlier for the sake of others, in spite of this new way of looking at things. And I'll probably play and sing Christmas carols during "the season" for the same reason - but I plan to keep them after as well, for me.)

Anyway, that's what I'm suddenly aware of, that was really lost on me last year after my baptism, since I was traveling so much and so newly Orthodox.

 

[ZaidaBoBaida]

So what do you guys do about Thanksgiving?

 

[prodromos]

So what do you guys do about Thanksgiving?

What's Thanksgiving? (Australian humour)

 

[ZaidaBoBaida]

Okay - what do the Orthodox in America do about Thanksgiving? Especially those of you who are the only Orthodox in the family.

 

[truefiction1]

Okay - what do the Orthodox in America do about Thanksgiving? Especially those of you who are the only Orthodox in the family.

I'm scheduled to work 6 am to 6 pm Thanksgiving day. The mill manager is said to be be bringing us dinner. The Church has indicated that it is better to eat what is brought under these circumstances than to bring attention to your fasting in this way. I'll eat with much moderation.

 

[gzt]

There is usually a dispensation for it.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I have read the Antiochians specifically allow the celebration of Thanksgiving, since it is a holiday focused on giving thanks to God and is considered a family event.

My priest (Greek) has said many times that if one is invited somewhere that one should give thanks and eat whatever is served, and not mention one's fast. I have heard the same from other priests.

Being as I am the only Orthodox in my family, I was also told to be sensitive to those who do not share Orthodoxy. In the case of Thanksgiving, if I were cooking at home, I would take that to mean I should cook the things expected and open the house for hospitality, inviting others and serving food they enjoy for the feast. To pull a long face and say, "sorry Family, this is a fast day in my Church, you're going to have to forget about your beloved holiday!" would not be gentle or kind.

I was invited to dinner with a lady from Church, and my husband invited with me. For his sake, I asked if she planned to prepare a fasting meal, and she said no - Thanksgiving was important to them. It is allowed by the Church, so we are all good.

(Eta I asked her several days after I accepted, and after I had already asked to help, etc - it sounds awful as if I based my answer on what she was serving! But I wanted to know in advance to be sure my husband wouldn't be disappointed, and possibly have reason for bitterness against the Church - I suppose I would make him another dinner for himself at home if she wasn't having "Thanksgiving foods")