Fasting

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Prayer, Fasting and Worship

25 questions

• QYour Grace had mentioned in your series of lectures about the Divine Liturgy that fasting is divided into first and second degrees. The first-degree fasting are: the Holy…
• QIs it dangerous to health to be on a continuous vegetarian diet with the aim of getting closer to God?
• QWhy is fasting with strict abstinence not allowed on Saturdays and Sundays?
• QWhen did the disciples fast immediately after Ascension and Pentecost?
• QIs it wrong to break fast at midnight after Wednesday and Fridays' Fast?
• QI pray, read the Agpeya and the Holy Bible. However, there are many things I don’t know but would like to learn about. When I asked many elderly people, all they did was…
• QIs it sinful for a man to sleep with his wife while fasting?
• QWhat should I focus on this year to benefit the most from the Holy Great Fast?
• QI want to fast but I think that fifty-five days of fasting are too long. What is your advice?
• QNotwithstanding the two different theories and beliefs concerning the first week, so called "Preparation Week" in the Holy Great Fast, I do not see any reason for adding…
• QWhy is eating seafood allowed during the Nativity Fast but not during the Holy Great Fast? Also, why do we fast extra fifteen days before the Resurrection Feast?
• QNon Copts often ask why is it that during some fasts, the church allows eating fish. Also, why has the church started this practice which did not exist before?
• QI have a serious illness that causes me to be tired. I am also taking strong medication which makes me even more tired. I am scared of becoming Orthodox and fasting…
• QIs it accepted by the church that we break our fast at midnight after any fast of the church? If not, then when can do so?
• QWhat is fasting in the Coptic Orthodox religion and why do we fast?
• QWith respect, may I ask—so many questions about fasting? There are so many fasts, how can one understand them all? 1. How does one begin? 2. How long does one fast—days,…
• QIf one has no real sense on how to start to fast in such a way that is not law, but spirit, how should I best begin?
• QIn the Old Testament, Moses fasted without food or water for 40 days several times. How is this possible? If we fast for even 3 days without water or food, we'll probably…
• QIf we are fasting and abstaining from food at a certain period of time, do we fast on Sundays if we did not go to Liturgy?
• QIf fasting is not permitted during the Holy 50 days, can an ordained Priest or Bishop start fasting effective the day after Pentecost? If so, does that cancel out the…
• QI might be wrong but I think we are taught that fasting is not permitted between Easter and Pentecost; but what happens if an ordination takes place during that time? For…
• QI want to fast; but when I fast, pride builds up in me. I now have two choices; either I do not fast and become unable to receive the sacraments, or I fast and fall into…
• QWhere in the Bible specifically does it say that it is a requirement for us to fast? Jesus did not require fasting as a part of Christianity: "They [Pharisees] said to…
• QMy son is in his early 20s and is asking what is the definition of fasting? Why does it have to be from food? Why can we not glorify God through hard exercise, like…
• QIs it wrong to eat at a buffet during a fast if I am only eating fasting food?

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.