What are the laws of fast and abstinence in the Byzantine rite?
In the Melkite Church fasting means to abstain from all foods from midnight until noon, while abstinence means to abstain from meat for the entire day. It is custom to keep the fast on (a) the eves of Christmas and Theophany, (b) daily (Monday through Friday) during Lent, (c) all of Holy Week. It is also the tradition to abstain from all meat and dairy products throughout Lent and Holy Week. On Wednesdays and Fridays it is the practice to abstain from meat except for the weeks after Christmas, after Pentecost and the days of Eastertide. The Church also recommends fasting from midnight before receiving Holy Communion. Having said this, it is necessary at once to recognize that the Eastern Churches do not view fasting in legal terms. In practice, in our modern culture, this discipline is greatly relaxed. All who wish to follow the Churchs plan for fasting are encouraged to keep these days, but there are no laws concerning them.
