Fasting 020: Fasting before Presanctified Liturgy

During Great Lent, we briefly mentioned the concept of celebrating the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts at its proper time in the evening and keeping a eucharistic fast all day until Communion. Sadly, this is now very rare and even unheard of in some cases. This vesperal Liturgy is routinely served early in the morning, thus actually breaking the fast on Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent; or it is served in the evenings, but the parish priest instructs the flock to fast from noon as a matter of standard practice. Here is a typical announcement put out by one parish priest:

Just a reminder about tonight: Presanctified Liturgy at 6:00 p.m.

Fasting for those who plan to receive the Eucharist should begin at 12 noon.

Historically, the practice of Christian fasting had two simple parts: not eating and eating. The “not eating” part constitutes the actual fast, and the “eating” part is the means by which the fast is broken - for example, by eating a piece of bread or five figs or some other appropriate foodstuffs. In other words, as it relates to Lenten Presanctified Liturgies, they are purposefully designed to be celebrated following vespers - that is to say, after 3 or 4 pm - in order to accommodate fasting until evening, because partaking of Communion breaks the fast.

Paradoxically, the Church who prides itself on her patristic heritage and quasi-monastic worldview, has all but forgotten what fasting is and commonly transfers the very meaning of this word from the act of fasting to the act of breaking the fast; eating bread, or vegetables, or shrimp and fish is now called fasting, while the remnants of actual fasting can be found only on a couple of days a year, such as Great Friday, and as a short eucharistic fast on Sunday mornings for those taking communion.

It is generally agreed upon among all Orthodox traditions that before partaking of Communion on a typical Sunday morning, the faithful are to abstain from food and drink from midnight, until the fast is broken by the act of Communion. When it comes to the Presanctified Liturgy, however, opinions seem to differ. Below are some of the variations sorted by jurisdiction, brief commentary, the canonical context surrounding the practice, and some possible ways forward. I do not provide exact sources as I think it unnecessary; but since these are direct quotations, a curious Reader could easily paste selections into a search engine and find the relevant pages.