by Rev. Fr. Dr. Chirathilattu Biji Markose
There are a number of fasts in the Syrian Orthodox Church [1] and often many
questions are asked from the part of the believers as to the dos and don'ts in
the fasts. There are many doubts regarding the beginning, duration, and ending
of the fasts also. One example is the question, why forty days fast is observed
in reality for forty-nine days. Bar Ebroyo was well aware of this situation. So,
both in Ethicon and Nomocanon, [2] he narrates in minute details the number and
days of the fasts observed in his Church. He quotes from the Canons of Apostles,
the fourth century Synods of Gangra and Laodicea, the strict Syrian Orthodox
canonist Jacob of Edessa (AD 640/5-708) et cetera also to describe the
traditional rules of the Church and then gives his own interpretations and
opinions by means of his directions (Hoodoye), [3] so that everything will be
clarified.
According to Bar Ebroyo, fasts until noon cannot be considered as fasting but
those until the evening is the true fasting. [4] All the believers have to fast
on Wednesdays and Fridays. [5] Quoting the ninth century Patriarch John III, he
says that those who eat meat on Wednesdays and Fridays should be prohibited from
the Church. [6] In his directive following it, Bar Ebroyo prohibits egg, milk,
and cheese also on these days and says that no believer should eat the
prohibited food before the sunset. He thinks that it is best that one does not
break the fast in the evening also. Instead, fast till the morning of the next
day. The reason behind this directive is that it is confirmed in the texts that
God has begun the creation not from the darkness but from the light.
[7]
Quoting Jacob of Edessa, Bar Ebroyo says that the Holy Apostles have not
entrusted us anything regarding observing Friday by abstaining from the job and
from the handwork. But only fast, prayer service, and reading of the holy books
are suggested on Fridays and Wednesdays. [8] Bar Ebroyo mentions that the
Patriarch Cyriacus has exempted the believers from the fast on Wednesdays and
Fridays during the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost, [9] but rejects it
in the directive following it in the Nomocanon, and asserts that, in his time,
except in the one week immediately following Easter, nobody broke it.
[10]
References
[1] For the Church's official instructions on these fasts cf. IGNATIUS ZAKKA:
Das Fasten, pp. 14-25; AYDIN: Das Mönchtum, pp. 142-146; KONATTU:
Prarthanakramam, pp. 9-16 and 376-377.
[2] Ethicon (ed. TEULE), pp. 92-96; Nomocanon (ed. BEDJAN), pp. 52-61.
[3] Cf. Ethicon (ed. TEULE), p. 94, 95, 96 etc. provide us with examples for his
ways of quoting these authorities, whereas Nomocanon (ed. BEDJAN), p. 53, 54, 55
etc. exemplify his use of directions.
[4] Nomocanon (ed. BEDJAN), p. 53.
[5] Ibid., p. 52, 54, and 55; Ethicon (ed. TEULE), p. 92 and 94.
Surprisingly,
Bar Ebroyo does not explain why the fasting on Wednesday and Friday are
ordained. Today in the Church, it is interpreted that the most ancient practice
of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, which existed in the early Christendom,
was taken over by the Syrian Orthodox Church. Cf. IGNATIUS ZAKKA: Das Fasten, p.
20.
Didache exhorted the Christians to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays without
mentioning the reason for it. Later they got associated with the passion events
of Jesus and Canons were made in the earlier church regarding their practice
(e.g. Canon 3 of Ignatius of Antioch). The Apostolic Constitutions explain that
the fasting on Wednesday is there, because on that day, the process of Jesus'
passion
began with the betrayal promise of Judas and the Friday fasting is ordained
because it was the day of Jesus' crucifixion.
[6] Nomocanon (ed. BEDJAN), p. 55.
[7] Ibid., p. 55.
[8] Ibid., p. 60.
[9] Ethicon (ed. TEULE), p. 96; Nomocanon (ed. BEDJAN), p. 54. These days are
known as "the days of Pentecost" in the Church and Bar Ebroyo also calls these
days so.
[10] Nomocanon (ed. BEDJAN), pp. 54-55. Even though Bar Ebroyo rejects it, still
today these fifty days are considered by the Church to be free of the
restrictions of the fasting.
Source: Chirathilattu Biji Markose: "Prayers and Fasts according to Bar Ebroyo,
A Study On the Prayers and Fasts of the Oriental Churches", Lit Publischers,
Münster, 2004
Cf. GROW: The Liturgical
Portions of the Apostolic Constitutions, p. 50.
Cf. HALL and CREHAN: Fasten /
Fasttage III; Biblisch, pp. 52-53;
VARGHESE: Canonical Fasts, pp. 89-92 for more
on the practice of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays in the ancient Church.
See Also:
The Number and Days of Fasts - Part 2
Other than the fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, there are five more Fasts in a
year. The The Holy Lent begins on the Monday coming closer, before or after the
full moon between second February and eighth March.
The Material
Benefits of Fasting
In accordance with the fact that Bar Ebroyo himself was a doctor, he
underlines through a quotation from the doctors of his time that
fasting improves the health of the body.
The Efficacy of Fasting and
the Different Categories of Fasting.
According to Bar Ebroyo, the fasting may be defined in terms of time, of the
kind of food or in terms of both time and food, and they are the
three different categories of fasting.
The Holy Lent in Syriac
Orthodox Church of Antioch
During the period of the The Holy Lent and other periods of fasting
throughout the year, an individual makes a special attempt or
connection to reach our God, and evaluate his calling as a
Christian, to listen to the voice of the Gospels and heed its
commandments.
Lent
- An Explanation for Children
Fasting, prayer, confession, reconciliation, Holy Communion, charity and capping
with love are the steps to reach and experience the resurrected Jesus in person.