The Nativity Fast
With this fast we prepare to welcome the commemoration of the birth of the Lord Jesus in the flesh. In memory of what we were before his birth – living in the sorrow of sin, the darkness of ignorance and slavery to the devil, with creation humbled and awaiting salvation – we fast, repent and confess, so as to be purified in soul and body and become worthy to welcome the commemoration of the birth of the Redeemer, the Word of God made flesh; just as Moses fasted before receiving the written word of God, that is, the Law of the Old Covenant.
In the past this fast lasted forty days; some Churches have shortened it, including the Maronite, Syriac and Melkite Greek Catholic Churches.
In the wider Eastern tradition it is still kept by some religious orders and individuals.
In the Maronite Church, the “Christmas abstinence” begins on 13 December and ends on Christmas Day, 25 December.
Among the Orthodox, the Nativity Fast begins on 15 November and lasts forty days.
“The importance of the feast of Christmas for our salvation naturally calls for this fast as a preparation, so that we are ready to welcome into the manger of our hearts Christ ‘who comes’ from the East to give us back what we had lost, that is, eternal life.”
“Fasting safeguards every virtue; it is the beginning of the struggle and the crown of those who practise self-control; it is the start of the Christian life and the mother of prayer” (Saint Basil the Great).
Come, Jesus, and dwell in our homes; bless our families and have mercy on us sinners.
Have a blessed fast!
