1. Meatfast the week before the beginning of Great Lent
2. Great Lent and Holy Week
Yearly Cycle:
1. Nativity (St. Philip’s) Fast Nov. 15 through Dec. 24
2. Apostles’ (Peter and Paul) Fast from the Monday after All Saints Sunday through June 28
3. Dormition (Theotokos) Fast Aug. 1 through Aug. 14
Fast Days:
1. The Wednesdays and Fridays of the Year, except for Fast-free Weeks
2. The Eve of Theophany Jan. 5
3. The Beheading of St. John the Baptist Aug. 29
4. The Elevation of the Cross Sept. 14
Fast-free Weeks:
1. Afterfeast of the Nativity of Christ to Theophany Eve Dec. 25 through Jan. 4
2. The week following the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
3. Bright Week the week after Pascha
4. Trinity Week the week after Pentecost, concluding with All Saints Sunday
Excerpt taken from These Truths We Hold — The Holy Orthodox Church: Her Life and Teachings. Compiled and edited by a monk of St. Tikhon Monastery. Copyright 1986 by the St. Tikhon Seminary Press, South Canaan, PA 18459. Reprinted with permission.
