Fasting

As an Orthodox Christian I have been giving a lot of thought to fasting recently since it is the middle of Great Lent.

I thought I had been managing the fast fairly well…all things considered. : )

Then last night, for the first time, I really felt overwhelmed by all the fasting requirements and began to doubt whether I could continue to sustain the fasting throughout the remainder of Great Lent.

So I spent some time today reading some helpful articles and essays on fasting and Great Lent.

Here is a good general introduction to fasting in the Orthodox Church.

Here is a good essay on fasting and Great Lent from Bishop Kallistos and Mother Mary from the Lenten Triodion.

Here is an excellent essay on Lenten fasting found at the Orthodox Christian Information Center.

And finally, for whatever it's worth, here are the results of a scientific study on some of the effects of Orthodox fasting.