I would be interested to know, for those belonging to different TOC/GOC Synods, in which Synods is the traditional practice of one meal per day after 3pm during fasting periods practiced? I realize that one's spiritual father can relax this standard on an individual basis for medical reasons or other serious conditions, but I would be interested to know in general:
- Whether, along with the instructions on what to eat and what not to eat on a Fast day, you are also instructed in your church that one should only have one meal per day after 3pm on fast days, and
- What TOC/GOC Synod you belong to
In the intro to the Lenten Triodion, Met Kallistos says that while fasting rules have varied from time to time and place to place, the rule of one meal per day after 3pm on Fast days is a consensus. St. Gregory Palamas in his homilies also affirms that Christians have one meal per day in the evening during a fasting period, and he comments that this rule is light enough that anybody can do it without undue burden. St. Gregory is so insistent upon this practice that if someone claims that they are too ill to keep this rule, he instructs clergy not to take such claims at face value but to send such people to a trustworthy and honest, pious Orthodox physician for validation of such claims.
Thank you in advance for your contribution.