Why the Church fasts before Christmas
The Church does not keep a feast without preparing for it. Pascha has Great Lent, Christmas has the Nativity Fast, and the feasts of the Apostles and of the Dormition have theirs. Fasting before a feast is how the Church makes room for it: the body is quieter, the day has more silence in it, and attention goes to prayer and to people.
It is sometimes called Philip's Fast because it begins right after the feast of the holy Apostle Philip (27 November on the civil calendar). Its Western parallel, Advent, is an old relative, but it is not identical in shape or rule.
The dates
In 2026 the fast begins on 28 November and ends on the night of 6 January, with the Nativity Liturgy on 7 January. On the Church calendar the same days are 15 November to 24 December. It is 40 days long, in the biblical number of preparation.
The last days of the fast are marked by services that look ahead to the feast: the Sundays before Nativity commemorate the forefathers and the fathers of the Old Testament, and the Eve of the Nativity, 6 January, is a strict day.
What the rule asks
The usual rule is no meat, eggs or dairy through the whole fast. Fish is permitted on Saturdays and Sundays until 2 January, and on certain feasts such as St Nicholas. On weekdays the rule is stricter, and from 2 January to 5 January it is stricter still, with no fish. On the Eve, the Church traditionally asks for the strictest fast and, for those who are able, no food until the first star. Exactly what is allowed on a given weekday (oil, wine) is set out in the fasting page and varies a little between traditions.
This is the general rule. Practice differs between parishes and families, and the Church does not ask the sick, the elderly, children, pregnant and nursing mothers or those who travel to keep it as strictly. The most important step is to talk to your priest and ask him what your rule is, and then to keep that rule faithfully. See the fasting page of this site for the daily rule.
What changes in church
The services take on a different colour: the hymns and the readings look toward the feast, and from 2 January (20 December on the Church calendar) the Church sings the Forefeast hymns of the Nativity. The Sunday before Christmas is the Sunday of the Holy Fathers. The Sacraments of Confession and Communion are especially encouraged during the fast, so that one comes to Christmas reconciled and receives the Eucharist on the feast.
Keeping it without losing the point
The Fathers are firm that fasting is not only a matter of food. If you give up meat and gossip is unchanged, you have missed it. A simple way to keep the fast in proportion is to add something along with what is taken away: a daily prayer, a short reading from the Gospels, a visit to someone who is lonely, a gift to the parish or to someone in need.
If a rule is too heavy, a smaller one that is kept is better than a strong one that is dropped in the second week. Begin with what is possible, and ask the priest to bless it.
