by Phoebe Farag Mikhail

In the Coptic Orthodox Church, we don’t have an Ash Wednesday to kick off the Lent the way the Catholics and some Protestant churches do, or a Forgiveness Sunday rite the way the Eastern Orthodox Churches do. We get a warning two weeks ahead in the form of Jonah’s Fast, but other than that, we just start the fast.

I’ve heard of a local practice in some villages in Egypt that I would love to reinvigorate. Every year on the day before the fast begins, the villagers stand in line and ask the priest at the door of the church, “Am I worthy to fast?” The priest answers yes to each person.

The only time a person is not “worthy” to fast? If that person has a quarrel with someone else. Then the priest tells them to reconcile. This works in small villages where everyone knows everyone and so the community quarrels are known. Of course, it is a big deal if the priest says “no,” so everyone makes sure to reconcile their differences before the fast begins.

I love this question: “Am I worthy to fast?” I confess to facing the fast with grumbling as I eye our lentil and fava bean stores and say goodbye to chicken and cheese. But what a question to turn this whole season up on its head. “Am I worthy to fast?” I’m complaining, when I might not even be worthy?

My husband, whose sister is a nun at St. Mercurius Monastery for Nuns in Egypt, told me that once, their confession priest told them that the nuns should prepare two types of food every day during the Great Lent: vegan food for the fast, and meat. Any nun that would not forgive her sister would be required to eat meat, an object lesson reminiscent of the famous quote by St. Basil of the Great:

But don’t limit the goodness of fasting by abstaining only from foods. For true fasting is the enemy of evil. “Loose the chains of injustice!” Forgive your neighbor’s offense, and forgive his debts. Don’t “fast unto judgment and strife.” You don’t eat meat, but you eat your brother.

About Fasting, Sermon 1, St. Basil the Great, https://www.omhksea.org/archives/2073

Forgive me, my brothers and sisters, for any way I have sinned against you. May I be worthy to fast with you, and God willing in a few weeks to feast with you, too.

Need some inspiration for Lent reading? Check out my 2022 Lent reading list.

Want children’s books to read with your children this Lent? Check out my updated Great Lent Picture Book Guide.

Want to learn about spiritual practices you can start this Lent to help you live a life of joy? Read more about my book, Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church here.