How Should We Best Prepare For Our Lord's Nativity?!

Why Fast Before Christmas? (Nativity Fast, St. Martin's Lent & Advent)

The Nativity Fast (or St. Martin’s Fast/Advent)

In the Christian East, the Nativity Fast begins with St. Philip’s Day and lasts until Christmas Eve. In the Christian West, the Advent Fast historically began the day after St. Martin’s Day (also called Martinmas) in many places until Christmas Eve. When you compare the two, it is amazing how similar (though not identical) the West was fasting like the East in ancient times. Author Matthew Plese writes,

"The most common, and almost universal, harvest and thanksgiving celebration in medieval times was held on the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours (Martinmas) on November 11. It was a holiday in Germany, France, Holland, England and in central Europe… the main feature of the meal being the traditional roast goose (Martin's goose). With the goose dinner they drank "Saint Martin's wine," which was the first lot of wine made from the grapes of the recent harvest. ***Martin's Day was more than just Thanksgiving as it also served as the "Mardi Gras" of Advent by ushering in the pre-Christmas fasting period known as St. Martin's Lent. St. Martin's Lent, a fasting period leading up to Christmas, originated as early as 480 AD. [St. Martin’s Lent] was formerly observed, even by the Laity, with Abstinence from Flesh, and with a rigorous Fast, in some Places, by Precept, in others of Devotion, and without any positive Obligation, though universal. The first Council of Maçon, in 581, ordered Advent from St. Martin’s to Christmas-day three Fasting Days a Week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; but the whole Term of forty Days, was observed with a strict Abstinence from Flesh Meat."¹

It is important to note that intense times of fasting also led to intense times of feasting when the Christmas season finally did arrive! The 12 Days of Christmas were originally the big time to celebrate the coming of our Lord from December 25th to Jan 6th. In the West, the Christmas season kept going until Candlemas (The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple) on February 2nd.

Of course, this comes with certain challenges in the United States where Christmas celebrations shifted back a month through secular influences (and perhaps even some Protestant ones) that forgot the purpose of Advent/the Nativity Fast. When I was a child, the American Christmas season began right after Thanksgiving, but today many people begin decorating on November 1st right after Halloween! Ironically, December 25th marks the end of the Christmas season for many instead of the beginning. Christmas trees come down, and people trade in feasting for fasting (or dieting) once the New Year of Jan 1st arrives.

So where does that leave traditionally and liturgically minded Christians?

It is critical that we remember that both of these fasts (the Nativity Fast or Advent fast) involve purifying our hearts and minds so that our own lives can become a nativity for the Lord. We do not want to be careless nor neglectful when it comes to fasting, but nor do we want it to be overly legalistic where our own spirits are crushed along with others around us. This is why it is so important that you consult your spiritual father on how to best approach this fasting season as well as find support, accountability, and lots of wonderful recipes from friends (or Facebook pages!)

It is my hope that as more and more of the next generation of Christians value the ancient liturgical calendars and the nature of sacramental worship that we might see a renewal of these traditional fasting and feasting seasons on a much bigger scale a few decades from now. Not only would this be a great source of stability for our own families, but also for our churches and country as a whole if Christ is kept the center of it all. This is certainly my daily prayer.

1. https://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2020/10/st-martins-lent-fast-of-advent.html