Fasting for Lent: 6 Differences between the East and West
The Catholic faith has many different customs and traditions when it comes to observing the season of Lent, some of which differ between the different Rites within Catholicism. While there is much to be written about this topic, for the purpose of this article, we will look at some of the main differences between how the Eastern Catholic “Great Lent” is celebrated versus the Roman Catholic Lent of the West.
For starters, many people associate Lent with an ashy cross placed upon the forehead or the local parish Fish Fry on Friday. Whatever sparks the memory, the Catholic Lenten season is filled with traditions as Catholics worldwide now prepare their souls for the 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during Lent prior to Easter Sunday.
Did you know that Eastern Catholics celebrate Lent a bit differently than those of us in the West?
Although Roman Catholics and Eastern Catholics are in full communion with one another, because Eastern Catholics are much smaller in number, many Roman Catholics are unfamiliar with the differences within our unique practice of the Faith.
While this list is certainly not exhaustive, below are six examples to help increase your knowledge and understanding of our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters who use, more specifically, the Byzantine Rite.
Fasting for Lent: 6 Differences between the East and West
1.) In the East, it is called “Great Lent”
Eastern Catholics like to use a whole array of descriptions when referring to feast days and holy people. An example of this is, instead of calling the feast day on August 15th “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” you might see those of the Eastern Rite refer to it as “The Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.” Beautiful, right? And what’s not to love about a little extra embellishment of history and sacred theology?
It’s similar with the name of Lent. “Great Lent,” as it’s referred by in the East (and also alternatively referred to as the “Great Fast”) is the way Byzantine Rite Catholics describe their period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving before the great Church feast of celebrating Christ’s Resurrection.
While the East’s traditions during “Great Lent” differ in some ways from the Roman Catholic observation of Lent in the West, it is helpful to know that “Great Lent” is not referring to a different liturgical time period.
2.) Byzantine Catholics have a period of preparation
Each Sunday during Great Lent has a specific commemoration associated with it, beginning with what is called Zacchaeus Sunday. The five Sundays before the Great Fast begins also have specific commemorations to help the Byzantines properly prepare their hearts for the upcoming penitential season. These Sundays recall particular scenes of Scripture that fit within the theme of repentance and humility. For example,
- On Zacchaeus Sunday, the East recalls how Zacchaeus turned away from his sinfulness and welcomed the Lord;
- The following Sunday reminds believers of the story of the Publican and the Pharisee, which ultimately encourages all of us to focus on humility and contrition;
- Next, the Sunday of the Prodigal Son inspires us toward repentance in our relationship with God the Father as well as to deepen this relationship;
- Meatfare Sunday, also known as Judgement Sunday, reminds us of Christ’s Second Coming and the Last Judgement. This is the last day before “Great Lent” that Byzantines eat meat;
- The next Sunday is Cheesefare Sunday, also known as “Forgiveness Sunday.” This day includes a beautiful service called Forgiveness Vespers, during which each member of the congregation asks forgiveness of one another. This is a very pertinent and touching way to start the Great Fast with a clean heart towards neighbor, which begins the very next day.
3.) Byzantine Catholic fasting looks different
Roman Catholics in the West abstain from meat on Wednesday and/or Fridays during Lent, often making fish dishes instead. Moreover, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting in addition to abstinence, where the amount of food eaten is limited.
The Lenten fast for Byzantine Rite Catholics looks quite different. Traditionally, the East’s entire Lenten fasting period is focused on abstaining altogether from meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, and olive oil. Now this takes discipline! But is such a beautiful display of sacrifice and penance during Lent.
While fasting is a very private spiritual matter, for which guidance from a spiritual director is most always recommended, spiritual fasting is for everyone. However, children are not expected to fast in the same way that adults are. Furthermore, if someone can’t keep the full traditional fast for whatever reason (i.e. medical, psychological, or spiritual reasons), that’s not a problem. Spiritual fathers are usually well aware of a person’s need in that regard – and God Almighty certainly knows the needs of each person. A well known adage or maxim kept is … to keep our eye on our own plate. This helps all of us focus on our own duty of humility and reliance on God in addition to prayer, fasting, almsgiving.
4.) Great Lent starts the Monday before Ash Wednesday
Many Roman Catholics are surprised to learn that Byzantine Rite Catholics do not celebrate Ash Wednesday. But there’s actually a good reason for this. Ash Wednesday initially developed as a custom in the Christian West; while the Monday that begins the Eastern Christian Great Lent is called “Clean Monday.”
Clean Monday is the custom of the East which simply means to clean out one’s pantry of all non-fasting foods. This tradition helps to begin grounding oneself in the upcoming weeks of discipline as well as to call one’s heart and mind to the necessity of keeping oneself clean from all sin. In so doing, a soul is free to enter into this most sacred liturgical season with a pure mind, heart, soul … and stomach(!) … with a firm disposition to focus on God and God alone. Simply stated, by the time the United States celebrates Ash Wednesday Byzantine Rite Catholics have already been observing Great Lent for forty-eight hours.
However, this is not always the case which brings up the next point …
5.) Easter can land on different days
In the United States, the vast majority of Eastern Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar so that Roman and Eastern Catholics celebrate Easter (or Pascha) together on the same day. However, a few Byzantine Rite Catholic parishes in the USA and almost all Byzantine Rite Catholic parishes abroad follow the Julian or Revised Julian calendars, which calculate the day of Easter differently. This ends up being the same day that Eastern Orthodox Christians in the United States and around the world also celebrate Easter.
This means that, for most years, those following the Julian or Revised Julian calendars celebrate Easter (and therefore start Lent) a week after Roman Catholics do. However, some years Easter will serendipitously fall on the same day on all calendars, and some years the Julian/Revised Julian Easter will be almost a month behind.
Catholic Popes and Bishops over the years have tried to work out a way to find a common date for Easter so that all Christians around the world could finally celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection on the same day every year. But until that happens, some Byzantine Rite Catholics will continue to celebrate Resurrection Sunday on a different day.
6.) Great Lent includes a special liturgy
Perhaps one of the most beautiful parts of Great Lent is attending the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, sometimes just called “Pre-sanctified Liturgy.” This takes place on certain weekdays throughout the Lenten Season.
This beautiful and ancient Liturgy originated because Byzantine Rite Catholics don’t celebrate the anaphora or Eucharistic prayer at Divine Liturgies during Lent, except on Sundays. Because the Divine Liturgy is such a joyful celebration of the Resurrection, it wasn’t considered in keeping with the somber and penitential attitude kept during Great Lent. So, Divine Liturgy itself was only to be celebrated on Sundays for the East. However, more frequent reception of holy Communion was still desired during the Lenten season and so the Pre-sanctified Liturgy came into being.
The structure of this Liturgy is different from the usual Divine Liturgy and the reception of Communion is the result of the consecration of the Eucharist from the previous Sunday kept in the tabernacle. It is truly a beautiful and unique liturgy that increases one’s appreciation for the Lenten Season.
There is no end to the depth of learning within our beautiful Catholic faith. It truly is an endless sea of history and sacred theology in every Rite. As we continue to search for deeper meaning of our faith in every passing year, do make it a point to visit the Eastern Church’s liturgy; and vice versa to the Western Rite if you are from the East.
Just a note …
It should be noted that Roman Catholics are welcome to visit any Eastern Catholic parish (and vice versa), and are permitted to receive holy Communion at any of their parishes. Attendance at an Eastern parish also fulfills the Sunday obligation. Being in communion with one another is a great gift so that our differences can be mutually celebrated and respected. In understanding the Byzantine Rite observation of Great Lent more fully, it is our hope that it will make us in the West observe our Lenten fast a little more in-depth (and sacrificially!) as well as with all its rich historical beauty.
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