The Armenian words Dzom and Bahk (Fast and Abstinence) appear often in the Books of the Gospel, and they are often used to mean the same thing.  More strictly, Dzom means to abstain from any and all food intake, while Bahk means to abstain only from certain foods.  The broader meaning of both terms refers to an individual's staying away from extravagant living and sensual pleasures, for a certain period of time, and becoming reinforced spiritually through prayers and approaching God and truth.

Both fast and abstinence need to be accompanied by prayer, an evident truth that becomes revealed on reading the appropriate and designated passages from the Gospel.

It must also be pointed out that the ideas of fast or abstinence is not peculiar to Christianity.

Religions, from the earliest centuries, arising out of independent principles of faith, have inspired rules of behavior on their adherents.  Such rules have arisen generally from social, spiritual, intellectual, moral, health, and other concepts.

With us Armenians, abstinence, as a canonical religious mandate, calls for avoiding, abstaining from, the consumption of foods containing meat, fats, milk products, and eggs, of alcoholic drinks, and also of participating in merriment.  Instead, it is prescribed to eat vegetables, grains, and foods based on them, prepared with vegetable oil or olive oil.  Honey is also permitted.  Fasting or observing abstinence, by its very nature, not only calls for the faithful to be modest, but also to be mindful of the need to live a worshipful and moral life.  Also, doing so is looked upon as a means of reinforcing the faith, and as occasions for meditation and preparation.  Thus, instead of material and carnal pleasures, in exchange for undergoing certain deprivations, the emphasis will be put through prayers on life, beauty, and spiritual values.

Generally, then, abstinence or fasting is the means for man to be renewed and reinforced in the sense of the cleansing of the soul and of religious morality, apart form the fact that it also enables the development of piety and the strengthening of faith.

Even though fasting and abstinence are characteristic practices in all important churches, there is no uniformity in either the occasions and times for them, or in the rules or principles that govern the practice.

For example, the Roman Catholic Church permits milk products.  The Russian Orthodox Church permits fish.  The Armenian Church, more strict, forbids both of them.  On the other hand, the Evangelical churches have left the matter entirely to the choice of the faithful individually.

Different churches, besides having different rules on what may be eaten during fast or abstinence, also have different times.

The Armenian Church has approximately 160 days of abstinence, consisting of durations of one day, one week, and forty days.

One-day abstinence:  All the Wednesdays and Fridays of the year are days of abstinence, except for the week following Theophany, and for the seven weeks following Easter, when the Wednesdays and Fridays occurring then are "eating days," so called.

It is of significance that the Armenian Church has designated weeklong abstinences for the start of each of the four seasons of the year, as a means of promoting good health.

The times for the weeklong abstinences are the following:

• The week before Theophany

• The week of Catechumens (established by St. Gregory the Enlightener) which precedes the feast of St. Sergius

• The week before Easter, known as Avak Shabat (Holy Week)

• The week before Transfiguration (Vartavar)

• The week of the Discovery of the Relic of St. Gregory

• The week before the Assumption of the Mother-of-God (Asdvadadzin)

• The week before the Exaltation of the Cross

• The week of Advent (50 days before Theophany)

• The week of the start of spring (vernal equinox), which will always occur during Lent

• The week of the start of the summer, also known as the Abstinence of the Feast of Elijah, which follows Pentecost

• The week of the start of autumn (autumnal equinox), which occurs before the feast of the Cross of Varag, and precedes the feast of St. George

• The week of the start of winter (winter solstice), also known as the Abstinence of St. James (Hacob) of Nisibis.

In addition to the one-day and week-long abstinences the Armenian Church has the forty-day period of abstinence, which is Lent (in Armenian, "Medz Bahk"), while other churches have virtually eliminated long-duration abstinence.

Medz Bahk in the Armenian Church starts on Monday and continues for forty days to and including the Friday before Palm Sunday.

Holy Week (Avak Shabat) is also a week of abstinence, and the forty-day period continues without interruption for that additional week, through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.  The whole period of abstinence lasts nearly seven weeks, or more accurately, 48 days.

During this long interval of abstinence, especially during the first forty days, the Armenian Church has prescribed soul-fulfilling services of prayer for its faithful.  These services, called "Arevagal" (Sunrise), and also "Khaghaghakan: (peace) and "Hangstyan" (Rest) are "Zhamergoutiun" (Liturgical Offices), and they are conducted usually on Wednesdays and Fridays, morning and evening, as dictated by local conditions and conveniences.

The sharakans (hymns) of the Sunrise Office were composed by Catholicos St. Nerses Full of Grace.  They embody profound meaning and are beautiful literary gems.  They are directed mainly to spiritual light, truth, and beauteous glorification.

These services conducted with the drawn veil concealing the altar during Medz Bahk direct the worshippers' attention to spiritual introspection and self-appraisal in place of the resplendence of the Divine Liturgy performed at other times by bishops in splendid vestments.

NOTE: As an exception, the Divine Liturgy is performed with the veil open during Lent for the feast day of St. Gregory the Enlightener's Entrance into the Deep Pit.  Also, the sacrament of marriage (Holy Matrimony), by canon law, is forbidden during the entire period of Lent.

References in the Gospel to Fasting                                                              Back to Religious History

Matt 4:1-4

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.  And the temper came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

Matt 6:16-18

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men.  Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matt 9:14-15

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

Matt 17:14-21

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.  And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him."  And Jesus answered, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long am I to be with you?  How long am I to bear with you?  Bring him here to me."  And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?"  He said to them, "Because of your little faith.  For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.  But this kind of power never comes except by prayer and fasting."

Mark 2:18-20

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?  As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day."

Matt 9:27-29

But Jesus took him by the land and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when he had entered the house, the disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting."

Luke 2:37

And as a widow till she [prophetess Anna] was eighty-four.  She did not depart from her temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day.

And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink."  And Jesus said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?  The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they fast in those days."