Orthodox Fasting Seasons

The Orthodox Church has set aside the following prescribed fasts:

• Every Wednesday and Friday unless some important feastday takes precedence over the fast.
• Great Lent
• Holy Week
• The Christmas Fast (November 15 through December 24)
• The Fast of the Theotokos (August 1 through August 14)
• The Fast of the Holy Apostles (Monday after All Saints Day through June 28)
• The Elevation of the Holy Cross (September 14)
• The Eve of Theophany (January 5)
• The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (August 29)

Fasting is not an end in itself but a means to an end. For a Christian there is no food that is ritually clean or unclean. Jesus said, "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make a person ritually unclean" (Mt. 15:18).