Question about the W/F fast

[JimCBrooklyn]

So, as a catechumen, I've been strictly fasting for Lent, and we have mostly observed the Wednesday/Friday fasts for some time in our house, even prior to my inquiry and subsequent catechism, out of respect to my wife's Orthodoxy.

I've heard that technically, after either Vespers or Compline (I forget which) on a given day, that day, liturgically speaking, is over, a concept that is not new to me what with having Sat. eve masses in the RC church. In light of this, ou of curiosity, exactly when is one technically supposed to fast? After a certain hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays until a certain hour on Wed and Fri, or just rising to sleeping on Wed and Fri? I'm sure there are threads that have addressed this, but I have an awfully poor time digging anything but the simplest of subjects out of the search function!

In Christ,
Jim

[Altar Server]

I believe the fasting day is the actual day (from midnight to midnight) and not the liturgical day 

[Asteriktos]

Yeah, generally people just fast according to the secular timing rather than the liturgical timing, with the only possible exception being that some people start their fast before communion after Saturday Vespers (as opposed to starting it at midnight).

[genesisone]

I've heard it expressed as "bedtime to bedtime". Of course that presumes you don't munch in bed  . That eliminates a kind of cheating whereby say, on Tuesday, I could eat a big meal with anything I like just before Vespers, and then on Wednesday right after Vespers again enjoying whatever I like. Rather defeats the whole point as there would never be a single complete day during ordinary waking hours of observing a fast.

[katherineofdixie]

...defeats the whole point as there would never be a single complete day during ordinary waking hours of observing a fast.

Exactly! See, that's the dead end of legalism. You could find loopholes but ask yourself, what's the point? Why are you fasting?

[Fr. George]

So, as a catechumen, I've been strictly fasting for Lent, and we have mostly observed the Wednesday/Friday fasts for some time in our house, even prior to my inquiry and subsequent catechism, out of respect to my wife's Orthodoxy.

I've heard that technically, after either Vespers or Compline (I forget which) on a given day, that day, liturgically speaking, is over, a concept that is not new to me what with having Sat. eve masses in the RC church. In light of this, ou of curiosity, exactly when is one technically supposed to fast? After a certain hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays until a certain hour on Wed and Fri, or just rising to sleeping on Wed and Fri? I'm sure there are threads that have addressed this, but I have an awfully poor time digging anything but the simplest of subjects out of the search function!

In Christ,
Jim

Fasting rules apply to the Calendar day (midnight to midnight) rather than the Liturgical day (Vespers to Vespers).  Perfect example: Christmas eve.  A vesperal liturgy is prescribed in the evening, but the Christmas fast does not end until after the morning Liturgy on Christmas Day.

[jah777]

Bed time to bed time makes since, as does midnight to midnight.  I think the latter expression is more commonly used, but one reason for the former expression is to discourage people from staying up late on Wed and Fri nights in order to stuff themselves with ice cream and other non-fasting foods at 12:01 am, so that an entire ordinary week will not have to pass without indulging the passion of gluttony. 

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