Advent Fast

Christians have been fasting in anticipation of the Nativity since the fourth century. The practice has gone out of favor and in Roman Catholicism is nearly forgotten but has value yet in an era of extremism and excess. With humility and willingness, we embrace this time-honored tradition in our pursuit of health, personal sovereignty, and community.

Though practitioners can begin or end their fast at any time leading up to the Nativity, Bright Orthodoxy suggests beginning on November 15th, December 1st, or December 13th. The fast continues until the night of December 23rd, at sunset or midnight as the practitioner prefers.

This is not a diet nor is it a fast in the modern sense of the word. A few participants choose to incorporate short term total fasts into their practice but this is by no means the expectation. Practitioners begin their fast moderately, by setting down dietary habits or mindsets do not serve them just two days a week. On Wednesdays and Fridays, practitioners action theirfast but resume their usual routine the other days of the week. This short-term expectation gives practitioners a chance to “try out” their change before committing to it fully, averts the stress of an abrupt change in their lifestyle, and promises the resumption of the person’s comfortable routine in no more than 24 hours.

The dates given to begin are also dates to expand or intensify the fast, if desired. If giving up sugar, for example, after two weeks the “fast” from sugar might extend from two days a week to four. It is up to the individual to decide how and if they choose to acknowledge these inflection points, just as it is up to the individual to determine the specifics of their own fast. Bright Orthodoxy supports any approach that advances its mission, and it is for this reason that we fast as a community.

We cannot fast the way our ancestors did. We have been exposed to unhealthy and untrue sentiments about food and our bodies and for that reason we must not go alone. Bright Orthodoxy fasts as a community not for accountability to continue but for accountability in stopping. There is no penalty for deviating from an original fasting plan, and whatever your plan it must end or face review by January 1st.