Feast of Nativity this year

ezkiel

Peace and grace my fellow fathers, brothers and sisters,

this year nativity is Tuesday and Wednesday, is the liturgy will be Tuesday night? and break the fast on Wednesday or monday night and break the fast on tuesday?

In Christ

E

[Deleted User]

Liturgy is on Monday night and after 12 is the feast (New day - Tuesday). This year the feast is coming on both days the 7th and the 8th.

minatasgeel

There is no fasting on Wednesday since it's the feast Kiahk 29th day

mabsoota

that is happy news, dear brother :-)
i think that there is strict fasting Monday though (no fish) as it is the day before the feast, is that right?
and also strict fasting 18 and 19 Jan before feast of theophany.

ophadece

Absolutely right @mabsoota.. However, for the feast of Theophany the strict first degree fasting starts on Friday the 17th..
Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ

mabsoota

sure, i was assuming everyone fasts strictly on fridays anyway, maybe i should make it clear as there are lots of people who are fairly new to being orthodox (including me!)

[Deleted User]

The fasting before the Feasts is called Paramoun :). 

"“Paramon” is a Greek word that precisely means “Extraordinary preparation” as the word Paramount in English, which signifies something of great concern or importance. This naming is used for the day that precedes the feasts of Nativity or Epiphany. The rite of the Paramon is to fast with complete abstinence until sunset and the liturgy is prayed in the regular annual tune. However, in the liturgy, all hours of the book of Agpeya are prayed until the 12th hour, and fish is not allowed.

If the Paramon falls on a Saturday or Sunday, during which there is neither Metanoias nor abstinence from food, we should fast (with abstinence) the day before which is usually a Friday. In this case, the Paramon becomes two or three days, that is to say. If the Nativity Feast falls on a Sunday, we would have a two-day Paramon, Saturday and Sunday. If it falls on a Monday, we would have a three-day Paramon, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and no eating of fish during these Paramon days, however abstinence would be on Friday only. If the feasts of Nativity or Epiphany fall on any day other than Sunday or Monday, the Paramon becomes only one day." 

http://www.stmaryseattle.org/ArticlePages/kyahk.aspx

mabsoota

ok, so prolonging the aim of abstinence from 3pm to around 5 or 6 pm.

thanks, sis. 

[Deleted User]

@mabsoota, yup to about when we fast for the liturgy at night anyways ;) (depending on what time your liturgy ends).
Anytime :)

ophadece

Dear @Marenhoos_erof would you mind alerting the moderators of that website to this typo: "If the Nativity Feast falls on a Sunday, we would have a two-day Paramon, Saturday and Sunday." It should be Friday and Saturday.
Dear @mabsoota as @Marenhoos_erof pointed out strictly speaking Friday becomes part of the paramoun so one cannot choose to omit it before the major Lordly feast (not that it could be omitted at any other time) but that's the technical point of difference in that sense..
Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ

[Deleted User]

@ophadece, thanks for noticing that! I will try to contact them

mabsoota

extra point - if you are not able to get to liturgy this wednesday 15 jan (feast of circumcision of our Lord), there is no strict fasting (abstaining from food). i checked with our priest about that.

so we are still vegan that day, but you can eat breakfast when you wake up. you don't need to wait till later (3pm, or however long you fast until) as it is a major feast of the Lord. of course, if you can go to liturgy, you should fast 9 hours as usual if you are taking Holy Communion.

[Deleted User]

@mabsoota, that is weird because Bishop Youannis (the last Bishop of Gharbiya/ Tanta) told his congregation that it is a major Feast and so we do not fast/ aren’t vegan that day.

[Deleted User]

I have a question though, are prostrations permitted on Saturday and Sunday if they are paramoun?

Jojo_Hanna

Nope

Jojo_Hanna

Prostrations shouldn’t even be performed on any weekends, even when we’re not fasting ;)

[Deleted User]

Thanks! @Jojo_Hanna

ophadece

@Marenhoos_erof
Sorry, with all due respect bishop Youannis makes a grave mistake. If the first day of Theophany falls on a Wednesday or a Friday then that is a different matter, but not the second or third day. This is the case with the 29th of Kiahk which happens to fall on a Wednesday after the Coptic leap year making the first day of the Nativity feast officially two days.. Rites remain festive though until the 6th of Tubah, the feast of circumcision but fasting continues except without abstinence as is the case with the third day of Theophany this year contrary to what Bishop Youannis said..
Ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲡϭⲥ

mabsoota

we can prostrate on bright saturday (day before resurrection feast) 

:-)

however I am not sure if that is still true if you are at church all night and then take Holy Communion saturday morning, as you are not allowed to prostrate after Holy Communion. but you can fast that day after Holy Communion (after drinking a little water to wash it down).

minatasgeel

There are multiple types of prostrations. The one that is not allowed on saturday and sunday are the ones of repentance. you can always align that with days of fasting and none-fasting. this DOESN'T mean not to prostrate to the bishop or in front of the altar. The act and what other people see is the same, us bending the knees, but the difference is on the inner of the person. 

[Deleted User]

Thanks @ophadece. 

Alright thanks @mabsoota. 

Thanks for clarification @minatasgeel.