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Do the different Churches have different fasting traditions? Does it even vary between Eparchies in the same Church?

For instance from what I know of last year's Ruthenian calendar of the Eparchy of Parma; fasting during Great Lent was as follows: Clean Monday - Strict fast and abstinence from meat and dairy products, Wednesday and Fridays - simple abstinence from meat, Great and Holy Friday - strict fast and abstinence through the Vigil of Pascha.

I'm aware of the old fast of all meat and dairy products during Great Lent but was advised that this was a monastic practice and not binding on the lay faithful unless one chooses to take it upon themselves to follow it.

Is this the same for the rest of the Church or the other Churches or is there other guidelines available?

Peace,
James

The fasting guidelines of the Bulgarian Byzantine Catholic Church:
http://www.kae-bg.org/images/content/278/16.%20posti.pdf

1. Strict fast, i.e. abstinence from meat and dairy products on Great Friday and Great Saturday.
2. All other Fridays throughout the year - abstinence from meat.
3. Abstinence from meat: the first and the last day of the Apostles' Fast*, the first and the last day the Dormition Fast*, on the Feast of the Cross, on the Theophany Eve, the first day of the Great Lent, during the Holy Week, the first and the last three days of the Nativity Fast.
...
5. No abstinence from meat if one of the following feasts falls on a Friday: New Year, Theophany, St. George's Day*, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Sts. Peter and Paul, Dormition of the Theotokos, Immaculate Conception, Nativity and the rest official feasts.
6. No abstinence from meat on the Fridays after Nativity, after the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, after Pascha and after Pentecost.

* In Bulgaria the Apostles' Fast and the Dormition Fast are called respectively the Peter's Fast and the Theotokos' Fast. St. George's Day is celebrated on May 6th (which is according to the old calendar). Also there is no distinction between fast and abstinence as in the West.

We Russian Catholics are without any Eparchy. My parish follows what is posted on our website calendar [byzantinecatholic.org] which matches as far as I know the wall calendar we get every year, the "St. Tikhon's Lectionary Wall Calendar according to the Revised Julian 'New' Calendar." It's the same calendar/fasting at least some local OCA's parishes follow.

What people follow at home varies I'm certain. A number of regulars in the parish are canonically Latin, not that that means some of those don't also follow the fasting set out on the calendar. For our Sunday meals together all food is expected to conform to the fasting requirements of that day.

Last day of meat today!
And a week of cheese crêpes begins!

I use this MP Site as a guide through the year. HOLY TRINITY RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH - a parish of the Patriarchate of Moscow

http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/...;today=7&month=3&trp=0&tzo=8

Today is our traditional Oklahoma Byzantine Catholic Meatfare Sunday feast... BBQ!!!! LOL!

I see the traditional communion fast is from midnight the night before. What if you are going to Saturday evening liturgy, wouldn't that be an overly long time to go without food?

Traditionally, Eastern churches do not have Saturday evening Divine Liturgy but instead have a Great Vespers service.

I have heard of a few that do have regular Saturday evening Divine Liturgy but I do not know how fasting practices are handled in those cases.

I think Holy Resurrection Monastery had a really late (like ending at 11:30) DL for Easter Vigil, and, knowing them, I would assume they didn't eat until Holy Communion.
After Liturgy, they had quite a feast.

I don't know about HRM but after vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great on Holy and Great Saturday we do eat something in my parish, usually some soup. That Liturgy is the longest of the year, and then we go on to have reading of the Acts of the Apostles early evening and Paschal Vigil starting at midnight. The feast in the early morning after Liturgy is the first time we've had fish, meat, eggs, dairy, wine oil from which we have abstained since Meatfare Sunday and Cheesefare Sunday.

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is an evening Divine Liturgy, tho celebrated on weekdays, not on a Saturday.


That is stricter than what I've usually heard which would be to not eat/drink after a late breakfast or early lunch.

Just for clarification sake, I am not just referring to the Great Lent season, but throughout the entire year. I have attended Divine Liturgy on Saturday evening at the parishes in Las Vegas, and in St. Louis. I complied with at lest the 1 hour communion fast that I have been taught as a Roman Catholic; however, I did eat breakfast and lunch earlier in the day. Is this correct?

Traditionally, Eastern Christians observe a fast from midnight before receiving Holy Communion, much like Roman Catholics did prior to the Vatican II years, and most practice some kind of fast or abstinence on Wednesdays and Fridays of the year with some exceptions according to the calendar. Fasting traditions can vary by jurisdiction too. Don't get too hung up on all the details or you will miss the point of it all.

Since you seemed to be responding to my post, I'll say that what I wrote wasn't only about evening services during Great Lent, just that Presanctified is an evening service so it gives a kind of model for Eucharistic fast before any evening Divine Liturgy.

My suggestion is that you talk with the deacon or priest in these parishes where you are going for evening DL and ask for their guidance.