In the Greek Church fasting is kept with great se- verity. There are four principal fasts. That of Lent, commencing according to the old style ; one, begin- ning in the week after Whitsuntide, and ending on June 29, so that it varies in length, and is called the Fast of the holj' Apostles ; one, for a fortnight before the Assumption of the Virgin (August 15), which is observed even to the prohibition of oil, except on the day of the Transfiguration (August 6), on which day both oil and fish may be eaten ; and one forty daj'S be- fore Christmas.
III. Protestant Churches. — In these, fasting is not made imperative as a term of membership in the Church, but is generally recommended as a Christian duty, especially under circumstances of national or individual aflliction.
1. Church oj Fnfand. — " In the reign of queen Eliz- abeth there was a royal ordinance for fasting; not, however, so much with a religious view as for the en- couragement of the fisheries. The Church has only so far recognised the custom in its ecclesiastical law as to retain the fast-days and prayers, but has pre- scribed no regulation of diet. Abstinence from food is not, therefore, the duty which it enjoins on its mem- bers, but whatever each finds to be best adapted for self-discipline, and most suitable under his circum-
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stances for a repentant spirit. INFention is made of abstinence in tlie ' (Collect for the first SnncLy in Lent ;' but it is not the abstaining from food, or par- ticuhir kinds of food, but such abstinence as shall sub- due the tlesh to the spirit, i. e. the abstaining habitu- ally from excess" (Eden). No legal distinction is drawn between fasting and abstinence ; so Wheatlej', (On Common Prayer, ch. v, § 4): "In the Church of Home, fasting and abstinence admit of a distinction, and different daj'S are appointed for each of them. But I do not find that the Church of England makes any difference between them. It is true, in the title of the table of vigils, etc., she mentions 'fasts and daj's of abstinence' separately ; but when she comes to enumerate the particulars, she calls them all ' days of fasting or abstinence,' without distinguishing the one from the other. Nor does she anywhere point out to us wliat food is proper for such times or seasons, or seem to place any part of religion in abstaining from any particular kinds of meat. It is true, by a statute still in force, flesh is prohibited on fast-days ; but this is declared to be for a political reason, viz. for the increase of cattle, and for the encouragement of fishery and navigation. Not but that the statute allows that abstinence is serviceable to virtue, and helps to subdue the body to the mind ; but the distinction of clean and unclean meats determined, it says, with the Mosaic law ; and therefore it sets forth that da3'S and meats are in themselves all of the same nature and quality as to moral consideration, one not having any inherent holiness above the other. And for this rea- son it is that our Church, as I have said, nowhere makes any difference in the kinds of meat; but, as far as she determines, she seems to recommend an entire abstinence from all manner of food till the time of fasting be over ; declaring in her homilies that fast- ing (\iy the decree of the six hundred and thirty fa- thers, assembled at the Council of Chalcedcn, which was one of the four first general councils, who ground- ed their determination upon the sacred Scriptures, and long-continued usage or practice both of the prophets and other godly persons Ijefore the coming of Christ; and also of the apostles and other devout men in the New Testament) is a withholding of meat, drink, and all natural food from the body for the determined time of fasting." The fixed days appointed by the Church of England for fasting and abstinence are the fol- lowing : 1. The forty days of Lent. 2. The Ember Daj'S at the four seasons, being the Wednesday, Fri- day, and Saturdaj' after the first Sunday in Lent, the feast of Pentecost, September 14, and December 13. 3. The three Rogation Days, being the Monday, Tues- day, and Wednesday before Holy Thursday, or the Ascension of our Lord. 4. All the Fridays in the 3'ear except Christmas Day. These days are mention- ed in 2 and 3 Edward VI, c. 10, and in 5 Elizabeth, c. 5 ; and bj' 12 Charles II, c. 14, January 30 is ordained to be a day of fasting and repentance for the ' ' mart^r- dom" of Charles I. But an act passed in 1859, the 22 Vlctorin, repeals all enactments requiring special Church service to be observed on January SO, May 29, November 5, and October 23. Other days of fasting are occasionally appointed by roj-al proclamation (J£n- cyclopojdia Metro]wlitana, s. v.).
2. Lvtheran Church.- — Luther by no means rejected or discountenanced fasting, but discarded the idea that it could be meritorious (Comm. 07i Matt, vi, IG). The Avgshur;! Confession (art. xxvi) repudiates "diversity of meats" and other traditions; but adds, "The charge, however, that we forbid the mortification of our sinful propensities, as Jovian asserts, is groundless. For our ■writers have always given instruction concerning the cross which it is the duty of Chri.stians to bear. We moreover teach that it is the duty of every jnan, by fasting and other exercises, to. avoid giving any occa- sion to sin, but not to merit grace by such works. But this watchfulness over our body is to be observed